Cape Argus (3 August 1929)

Cape Argus (3 August 1929)

Newspaper Clippings

clipping of newspaper article

3 August 1929

Dorothea Bleek (loose clippings ), clippings (D. Bleek's loose ), African language (in letter from "a student" ), neglected study of Bushman, other "native" languages (in Dorothea Bleek's loose clippings), Wilhelm Bleek (Bushman language work )

"The Study of Native Languages. By a Student." A "student" [who states they spent years collecting songs, lore and history in the native vernaculars] bemoans the "Cinderella" status of African language study - evident at the recent meeting of the British and South African Science Associations - and the lack of appreciation shown by the scientific associations to the study of Bantu philology. They refer to the Bushmen and Hottentots (relics) as well as the large (living) Bantu group languages. Bushman languages in particular, the author points out, lay buried in Dr Bleek's manuscript notebooks until ladies from his family resurrected them. African languages are studied "second-hand" and all will suffer from this neglect when it is too late. Slip of paper pasted underneath clipping reads: "International Press-Cutting Bureau, 51, Red Lion St., London, W.C.I. Extract from Cape Argus Cape Town S.A. Date 3 Aug 1929 [stamped]."