--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Rick McCallister <gabaroo6958@...> wrote:
>
> Dutch and Belgians have told me [Afrikaans] sounds like "baby talk",
which is what many Spanish-speakers say about Portuguese --mainly
because small kids in Latin America tend to pronounce <ie> as /e/ and
final -e as /i/, and also lisp or shush their /s/.
****
There may be more to this than just the impression it gives.
Somewhere a long time ago I read that Afrikaans developed as a nursery
language used by Dutch children and their Native nannies. Of course
this might be a wild guess or a snobbish putdown, but maybe there's
something to it.
Can anybody find this idea in the literature?
Dan