Namibian Black German, also NBG, (German: Küchendeutsch, "kitchen German") is a pidgin language of Namibia that derives from standard German.^[1] It is nearly extinct.^[2] It was spoken mostly by Namibians who did not learn standard German during the period of German rule. It was never a first language. It is currently spoken as a second language by people generally over 50 years old, who today usually also speak Standard or Namibian German, Afrikaans, or English.^[3] Along with general learning in the metropolitan environments of Southern Namibia where Namibian German is spoken, NBG may be preserved nominally through parent-to-child or in-house transmission.

History

Colonial acquisition of German in Namibia often took place outside of formal education and was primarily self-taught. Like many pidgin languages, Namibian Black German developed through limited access to the standard language and was restricted to the work environment.

Currently several hundred thousand Namibians speak German as a second language – many, but not most of them Black, and while Namibian German often does not adhere to standard German, it is not pidgin.^[4]

Prepositions

English and Afrikaans have left an influence on the development of NBG, leading to three primary prepositional patterns:^[5]

• adding a preposition where Standard German would use the accusative
• dropping prepositions which are usually present in Standard German
• changing the preposition that is required by the verb

Examples

Examples of phrases with Standard German equivalents:

• Lange nicht sehen - long no see ("Lange nicht gesehen")
• Was Banane kosten? - How much does the banana cost? ("Was kostet die/eine Banane?")
• spät Uhr - 'late hour', meaning 'it's late' ("es ist spät")
• Herr fahren Jagd, nicht Haus - "Master went hunting and he's not at home" ("Der Herr ist zur Jagd gefahren und ist nicht zu Hause")