en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages
1 correction found
Dutch was until 1983 an official language in South Africa but evolved into and was replaced by Afrikaans
The timing here is wrong. Dutch did not remain an official South African language until 1983: Afrikaans had already been given official legal recognition in 1925, and the 1925 act was repealed in 1961.
Full reasoning
This sentence misdates the South African language change.
The Official Languages of the Union Act, 1925 states that the word “Dutch” in the South Africa Act “is hereby declared to include Afrikaans” and that this rule “shall be deemed to have been in operation from the thirty-first day of May, 1910.” The same source notes that this 1925 act was repealed on 31 May 1961 by the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961.
By the time of the 1983 Constitution, South African legislation was already being issued in English and Afrikaans; the act repeatedly refers to the two language texts as English and Afrikaans, not Dutch. So the article’s claim that Dutch remained an official language until 1983 is inaccurate: the legal transition away from Dutch had happened much earlier.
2 sources
- Official Languages of the Union Act, 1925 - Wikisource
The word “Dutch” in section one hundred and thirty-seven of the South Africa Act, 1909, and wheresoever else that word occurs in the said Act, is hereby declared to include Afrikaans... Repealed on 31 May 1961 by the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1961.
- Republic of South Africa Constitution Act 110 of 1983 | South African Government
As soon as may be after any law has been assented to by the State President, the Secretary to Parliament shall cause two fair copies of such law, one being in the English and the other in the Afrikaans language ... and in case of conflict between the two copies so enrolled that signed by the State President shall prevail.