The term was first used by Erasmus as a pejorative to characterize certain elements of African Latin works.
[1] In the 20th century, the concept of Africitas was discussed by scholars, who often analyzed African authors like Saint Augustine, a Church Father, and the grammarian Marcus Cornelius Fronto in regard to this hypothetical dialect.
[2] Those who argue in favor of an Africitas claim that the dialect is demarcated by "peculiarities of vocabulary, syntax, sentence-structure, and style".
"[4] Catherine Conybeare of Bryn Mawr argues that singling out Africitas can be viewed as racist.
[5] In regards to this, Vincent Hunink of Radboud University Nijmegen notes that, while it is undeniable that regional variants of spoken Latin existed, "no similar scholarly debate discussion" about the vocabulary, syntax, sentence-structure, and style of "'Germanitas' or 'Brittanitas' has ever come up", suggesting that a fixation on Africitas is problematic.