◆ Lexicon
A working lexicon of West Germanic memory.
A curated record of words attested in elder voices across Dutch, Afrikaans, German, English, and West Frisian. Some are genuinely vanishing — words a 75-year-old uses naturally that a 25-year-old has to ask about. Others are alive but illuminating: words that travel between languages, words with no clean equivalent, words that have quietly displaced their predecessors.
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dorp
/dɔrp/
noun
Village, small town; (South African English) a small provincial town, often implying backwardness or insularity.
cross cultural
NL
AF
EN
lekker
/ˈlɛkər/
adjective
Tasty, delicious; pleasant, nice, enjoyable; (South African English loan) good, great.
cross cultural
NL
AF
EN
plaas
/plɑːs/
noun
Farm, agricultural homestead (Afrikaans); distinct from the Dutch 'plaats' (place, spot).
cross cultural
AF
vuil
/vœy̯l/
adjective
Dirty, soiled; foul; (figuratively) obscene or dishonourable.
cross cultural
NL
AF
4 entries