Dutch language

Dutch, or Nederlands, is a West Germanic language. About 25 million people speak it as their first language. You can mainly hear it in the Netherlands and Flanders, a part of Belgium.

Dutch was once an official language in South Africa. There, it changed over time and became Afrikaans. Today, Dutch is still the main language in Suriname in South America.

People also use Dutch in several Caribbean islands. These include Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. Some small islands nearby also use it.

Even though Dutch is not widely spoken in parts of Asia, like Indonesia, many Indonesian words come from Dutch.

Dutch is closely related to English and German. It shares some features with German but has simpler grammar. Its vocabulary includes many words from German and a few from Romance languages. This makes Dutch interesting for people who speak English or German.

Name

Main article: Terminology of the Low Countries

In Belgium, the Netherlands, and Suriname, people call their language Nederlands. In the past, it was also called Nederlandsch. In some parts of Belgium called Flanders, people sometimes use the word Vlaams, and in parts of the Netherlands, people might say Hollands.

In English, we simply say Dutch to talk about the language spoken in the Netherlands and Flanders. The word "Dutch" comes from an old Germanic word that meant "people." Over time, it was used to describe the common language people spoke, instead of Latin.

History

Old Dutch began around the same time as Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon. These languages started in similar ways. Dutch came from a group of Franconian dialects spoken by the Salian Franks in the 5th century. Over time, these dialects changed into what we now call Modern Dutch. During this time, Dutch replaced some other languages like Old Frisian and influenced Old Saxon. But Dutch was later replaced in some places in France and Germany.

The change from Old to Middle to Modern Dutch happened slowly. One clear moment was when the Dutch standard language emerged and became widely used. The development of Dutch is shown in sentences from Old, Middle, and Modern Dutch:

• Irlôsin sol an frithe sêla mîna fan thên thia ginâcont mi, wanda under managon he was mit mi (Old Dutch)
• Erlossen sal [hi] in vrede siele mine van dien die genaken mi, want onder menegen hi was met mi (Middle Dutch)
• Verlossen zal hij in vrede ziel mijn van degenen die genaken mij, want onder menigen hij was met mij (Modern Dutch, same word order)
• Hij zal mijn ziel in vrede verlossen van degenen die mij genaken, want onder menigen was hij met mij (Modern Dutch, default word order)
• He will deliver my soul in peace from those who approach me, because, amongst many, he was with me (English)

Origins

Main article: History of the Dutch language

Dutch belongs to the Indo-European languages, specifically the Germanic languages. This means it shares a common ancestor with languages like English, German, and the Scandinavian languages. All Germanic languages experienced sound changes called Grimm's law and Verner's law.

The Germanic languages are divided into three groups: East (now extinct), West, and North Germanic. Dutch is part of the West Germanic group, which also includes English, Scots, Frisian, Low German (Old Saxon), and High German. Dutch has unique sound and word structure changes.

Frankish (3rd–5th centuries)

Main article: Frankish language

The Frankish language is not well recorded, with the possible exception of the Bergakker inscription near the Dutch city of Tiel. This may be the oldest evidence of early Dutch. Some old place names in Roman texts might also be early Dutch words. The Franks lived in the southern Netherlands (Salian Franks) and central Germany (Ripuarian Franks), and later moved into Gaul.

Old Dutch (5th–12th centuries)

Main article: Old Dutch

Old Dutch refers to the Franconian dialects spoken in the Low Countries from the 5th to the 12th century. We know little about Old Dutch because most records are fragments. Old Dutch is the beginning of Dutch as a separate language. It was spoken by the Salian Franks in what is now southern Netherlands, northern Belgium, part of northern France, and parts of Germany along the Lower Rhine.

Old Dutch stayed close to the original Frankish language but changed in its own ways. Very few full sentences from Old Dutch survive. The oldest known Dutch sentence comes from the Salic law: Maltho thi afrio lito ("I say to you, I free you, serf"). The oldest saved Dutch text is the Utrecht baptismal vow from between 776 and 800.

Middle Dutch (12th–15th centuries)

Main article: Middle Dutch

Old Dutch naturally changed into Middle Dutch. Around the year 1150, Dutch writing became very common, and a rich Medieval Dutch literature grew. There was no single standard language at this time; Middle Dutch was a group of similar dialects. Middle Dutch texts are easier for modern Dutch speakers to read than Old Dutch fragments. A big change in Middle Dutch was vowel reduction, where vowels in unstressed parts of words became a similar sound.

Different areas of Middle Dutch were shaped by their rulers. The main dialect areas were:

• West Flemish centered around the County of Flanders.
• Brabantian spoken mainly in the Duchy of Brabant and nearby places.
• Hollandic with County of Holland as its center.
• Limburgish spoken in modern Dutch and Belgian Limburg, and nearby German lands.
• Dutch Low Saxon was not a true Dutch dialect but was influenced by Middle Dutch from the 1300s on.

Modern Dutch (15th century–present)

Standard Dutch began to form in the Middle Ages, especially under the influence of the Burgundian court. The dialects of Flanders and Brabant were most important. Standardization grew stronger in the 1500s, mainly based on the dialect of Antwerp. In 1637, the Statenvertaling, the first major Bible translation into Dutch, helped create a language that people across the new republic could understand.

In the Southern Netherlands (now Belgium and Luxembourg), Dutch standardization slowed under Spanish, Austrian, and French rule. In the 1800s, the Flemish Movement fought for the rights of Dutch speakers in Belgium. Today, Dutch in Belgium and the Netherlands is mostly the same, though there are pronunciation differences. In 1980, the Netherlands and Belgium signed the Language Union Treaty, agreeing to work together on language rules.

Classification

Dutch is part of the Indo-European languages family. It is in the West Germanic group. Dutch belongs to a smaller group called the Low Franconian languages. This group also includes Limburgish.

Dutch's closest relative is Afrikaans. Many Dutch speakers can understand Afrikaans easily. Other related languages are German, English, Low German, and Yiddish.

Dutch is special because it mixes traits from English and Frisian with traits shared with German. Unlike German, Dutch did not change in the same ways. These differences helped make Dutch its own unique language.

Dialects

Main article: Dutch dialects and varieties

Dutch has many dialects spoken mainly in the Netherlands and parts of Belgium. These dialects are influenced by the standard Dutch language but still have unique features.

Some dialects extend beyond country borders. For example, the Gronings dialect is spoken in the Netherlands and parts of Germany. Kleverlandish is spoken in the Netherlands and Germany, and Limburgish is spoken in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. West Flemish is spoken in Belgium and parts of France, though it is less common there now.

Hollandic is spoken in areas like Holland and Utrecht.

Brabantian is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant and is spoken in areas including North Brabant, Antwerp, and Flemish Brabant.

Limburgish is spoken in Belgian and Netherlands Limburg and nearby parts of Germany.

Two dialect groups, Dutch Low Saxon and Limburgish, have official status as regional languages in the Netherlands.

Afrikaans, while very similar to Dutch, is considered a separate language and is spoken in South Africa and Namibia. It developed from 17th-century Dutch dialects.

West Frisian is closely related to English and Scots and is considered a sister language to Dutch.

Geographic distribution

See also: Dutch diaspora and Geographical distribution of Dutch speakers

Dutch is an official language in the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, and several Caribbean islands like Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. It is also used in international groups such as the European Union. Many universities around the world teach Dutch.

In Europe, most people in the Netherlands and Belgium speak Dutch. It is also spoken by smaller groups in parts of Germany and France. Dutch is taught in schools near the Netherlands and Belgium, including in France and Germany.

In Asia, Dutch was once important in Indonesia but is now rarely spoken there. Some people, especially older adults, still know Dutch, and it is studied in schools and universities. Many Indonesian words come from Dutch.

In the Americas, Dutch is the official language of Suriname, where most people speak it. In the Dutch Caribbean islands, Dutch is the official language but not widely spoken by most people.

In Africa, Dutch influenced Afrikaans, a language spoken by many people in South Africa and Namibia. Afrikaans developed from Dutch and is now a separate language, but the two are still similar.

Phonology

Main article: Dutch phonology

Dutch has some special sounds and ways of speaking. Unlike other languages, Dutch does not change the sound of letters at the start of words in a special way. Dutch words can have many letters together, like in the word "slechtstschrijvend."

Dutch has many vowel sounds and some special mixes of vowels called diphthongs. One common mix is /ɑu/, found in words like "goud" (gold). Younger speakers in some parts of the Netherlands are changing how they say some sounds, making them a bit lower. This change is called "Polder Dutch."

Grammar

Main article: Dutch grammar

See also: DT-Manie

Dutch grammar is a bit like German. It works in similar ways for how sentences are built and how verbs change their shape. Some special word endings for certain words have mostly gone away, but a few older patterns are still used in everyday phrases.

Standard Dutch has three types of “genders” to group words. For most speakers outside Belgium, masculine and feminine genders have come together into one called the common gender. The neuter gender stays separate.

Verbs and tenses

Dutch has four main kinds of verbs. The most common kind, weak verbs, make past tenses by adding a special ending. Strong verbs change their vowel sound in the past tense. Some strong verbs are now starting to use weak endings.

Genders and cases

Like English, Dutch mostly does not use special word endings to show a word’s role in a sentence. But some older patterns stay in phrases and names. Dutch uses two main articles, similar to “the” in English.

Word order

Dutch sentence order is like German. The verb usually comes second in a sentence, which is different from English.

Diminutives

Dutch often adds small endings to nouns to make them seem smaller or cuter. This is a common feature and changes how some words sound and mean.

Pronouns and determiners

Dutch has different forms for pronouns depending on whether they are the subject or object of a sentence. There are also special emphatic forms to stress certain words.

Compounds

Dutch can join words together to make longer words, similar to German. These compound words can get very long but are still used in everyday language.

Vocabulary

Dutch words come from old Germanic roots. About 20% of Dutch words are from other languages. Since the 12th century, French and other similar languages have influenced Dutch. Latin adds words for science and religion. German also influenced Dutch, but many of those words changed over time.

Dutch has borrowed words from English since the mid-1800s. English words make up a small part of Dutch and keep growing. Some English words change to fit Dutch better. Dutch has also given some words to English.

The main Dutch dictionary is the Van Dale groot woordenboek der Nederlandse taal. Another important book for studying Dutch is the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal. It took many years to finish and includes many old Dutch words.

Spelling and writing system

Main articles: Dutch orthography, History of Dutch orthography, Dutch six-dot Braille, and Dutch eight-dot Braille

Dutch is written with the Latin script. It uses one extra character called ⟨ij⟩. Many Dutch words have doubled letters, like vowels and consonants. For example, the word voorraaddoos means "food storage container".

The diaeresis, also called trema in Dutch, shows when vowels are pronounced separately, like in beïnvloed or de zeeën. A hyphen is used in compound words, like zee-eend. Other special marks are mostly used in words from other languages. The acute accent is sometimes used to show importance or to tell apart words, like een and één.

Since the 1980s, groups have worked to make Dutch spelling consistent. Big changes happened in 1995 and 2005. In the Netherlands, the 2005 rules are used by schools and government offices. In Flanders, the same rules started in 2006. There is an official list of words called het groene boekje to help with spelling.

Example text

Here is the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Dutch:

Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren. Zij zijn begiftigd met verstand en geweten, en behoren zich jegens elkander in een geest van broederschap te gedragen.

And in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Main article: Universal Declaration of Human Rights