White marsh/swamp (photo) | village

Comments

• 
  Jacks (guest)

  'Vlei' is the Afrikaans word for a shallow depression filled with water. The word "Vlei" comes from Dutch and Afrikaans and is the word used to describe certain classes of bodies of inland waters in southern Africa. The pronunciation is "Flay". The word occurs by itself as a noun or as a suffix forming the names of bodies of water (e.g. Rondevlei (Round vlei), Zeekoevlei (Hippopotamus vlei) or Brandvlei (Burning vlei)). It appears on occasion as a prefix, e.g. Vleifontein (Vlei Fountain). The word is difficult to translate into a single equivalent word in English, because vlei is used in a variety of senses. Vleis are never pools in rivers. (The word for that is kuil). They are not bogs or swamps either. A vlei does not cease to be a vlei when it dries up for a while. low-lying area that rarely holds water and typically has a broad, flat, bare, salty floor is a pan rather than a vlei. (The word is spelled the same in Afrikaans and English but in the former it is pronounced 'pun').

  17 years ago | reply | hide comment