Namibian Black German (German: Küchendeutsch, "kitchen German") is a pidgin language spoken in various parts of Namibia. It is a non-standardized variety. Namibian Black German is based on standard German.
Namibian Black German is presently near extinction. It was spoken mostly by Africans who served their colonial masters when Namibia was known as German South-West Africa but who did not learn standard German.
Example sentences:
- Lange nicht sehen - long no see (standard German: "Lange nicht gesehen")
- Was Banane kosten? - What cost banana? ("Was kostet die/eine Banane?")
- spät Uhr - 'late clock', meaning 'it's late' ("es ist spät")
- Herr fahren Jagd, nicht Haus - Man go hunt, not house ("Der Herr geht zur Jagd, und ist nicht zu Hause")
Today, speakers of Namibian Black German usually also speak German, Afrikaans or English.
Famous quotes containing the words black and/or german:
“Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires!
The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“That nameless and infinitely delicate aroma of inexpressible tenderness and attentiveness which, in every refined and honorable attachment, is contemporary with the courtship, and precedes the final banns and the rite; but which, like the bouquet of the costliest German wines, too often evaporates upon pouring love out to drink, in the disenchanting glasses of the matrimonial days and nights.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)