ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about pronunciation, short vowels, long vowels, double vowels, diphthongs in diminutives, consonants, stress and spelling with examples. Possibly the most difficult aspect of Afrikaans is the pronunciation but that is unfortunately where the people have to start. The vowel a is a very short sound not unlike the vowel in 'but'. The vowel aa is similar to that in 'father' and is pronounced distinctly long. The diminutive of nouns is exceedingly commonly used in both spoken and written Afrikaans. The general rule is that indigenous Afrikaans words carry the main stress on the first syllable. Afrikaans spelling is more or less phonetic and is thus easy once people have mastered a few hard and fast rules which clarify the changes that often take place when one makes a noun plural by adding an -e or inflects an adjective by adding an -e.
