Hi all!
While winding down for the day, I usually enjoy reading. This time around I was reading a story of a well-known SOL author that I really enjoy. (Well, I confess, I was reading it for the third time.)
Some readers do comment on the stories and since the last time I read it, the comments were updated. This had me raise an eyebrow.
The comment was about “bucks”, “does”, and “kids”, like in goats. That I know. But the reply of the author had me in stitches. He said that a goat male is a “buck”, and he knows this because he raised goats. Yes, well, that's in the English USA. (Please remember there are over 160 dialects of English in the world.)
Now that brings me to why I had to laugh. The reader that commented that a male goat is a ram, I know, as he comments on my stories as well. Thus, I know that he resides in Namibia, an independent African country. I presume that his spoken language is Afrikaans, English and he might speak or read some German, as Namibia was occupied by Germany many, many years ago before it became a South African Protectorate. Eventually Southwest Africa gained independence to become a sovereign country, renamed to Namibia. This reader sometimes emails me in Afrikaans, and we also confer on the WhatsApp social media group. (The same with my one reader in Seattle, USA, that also chat with me on WhatsApp.)
I grew up with Afrikaans and to us a goat is a “bok”, like in “Boerbok”, “Angora Bok” etc. I will not dwell on the other types of “bokke” that you get. We know that a male goat is a ram, a female goat is an ewe, and a baby goat is a lamb. (In Afrikaans.)
This morning, I paid special attention to the meat price index as presented by the South African Radio Station RSG (Radio Sonder Grense or translated: Radio Without Borders.) And there the presenter gave the goat meat prices as: “Rams at x Rand a kilogram, Ewes at x Rand a kilogram, Lambs at x Rand a kilogram, and Store Lambs at x Rand a kilogram.” Then he repeats the same classification for sheep. (I still want to know what is “Store Lamb” could be.)
A quick Google search explained that: “A male sheep or a goat is called a ram.” Huh?
ALSO: “A male goat is called a buck, or sometimes a Billy goat. You may also hear them referred to as a ram, but this is more commonly reserved for sheep. There are other names to refer to different kinds of males and females at different ages, but buck is the most commonly used for a male goat.”
So, my conclusion is that the Afrikaans language DO NOT differ between genders of Sheep, Goats and certain antelope. Thus, the names like “Boerbok”, “Springbok”, “Blesbok”, “Waterbok”, etc. A “bok” is a goat, a deer, antelope, etc. There are other exceptions also, like why do we call a Springbok female an ewe, and a springbok male a ram, while a Kudu female is called an ewe, but the male Kudu is called a bull?
There is a difference in the female deer or antelope in the Afrikaans language. That has to do with the number of teats she has. Two teats = “ooi” (ewe), while four teats = “Koei” or cow. But we all know that cattle cows are a different species than a female antelope, goat, sheep, or deer. LOL.
Language is a funny, interesting subject. So, my esteemed reader in Namibia and the esteemed author on SOL – ARE BOTH RIGHT! It just depends on what language you grew up with.
Also, I hope that sometimes when I use a term you are not familiar with, to ask me to explain. I DON’T write my stories in Afrikaans and then translate it. (Google Translate sucks!) I write directly in English. Sometimes to the amusement of my editors! Like when I DO call a male goat a Ram. LOL.
Here is chapter 13 of Star of Assisi. Enjoy!
I wish you all the best! Until next week!
Bye 4 now!