Dutch language

Dutch, or Nederlands, is a West Germanic language spoken by around 25 million people as their first language. It is mainly spoken in the Netherlands and Flanders, a part of Belgium. Dutch was once an official language in South Africa, where it evolved into Afrikaans, and it is still the main language in Suriname in South America.

Dutch is also used in several Caribbean islands, such as Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten, and in some small islands close to them. Though it is no longer widely spoken in parts of Asia, like Indonesia, many words in Indonesian come from Dutch.

Dutch is closely related to both English and German. It shares some features with German but has simpler grammar and a vocabulary that includes many words from German and a few from Romance languages. This makes Dutch interesting for people who speak either 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, which was used for writing and in the church.

History

Old Dutch began around the same time as Old English, Old High German, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon. These languages share similar beginnings. Dutch started as a group of Franconian dialects spoken by the Salian Franks in the 5th century. Over time, these dialects evolved into what we now call Modern Dutch. During this long period, Dutch pushed back other languages like Old Frisian and influenced Old Saxon. However, Dutch was later replaced in some areas of present-day 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, which happened around the mid-first millennium BCE in the pre-Roman Northern European Iron Age.

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 not found in North or East Germanic.

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. Their kingdom’s name lives on in France. Though their language, Frankish, disappeared in most of France, it continued in the Low Countries and evolved into what is now called Old Dutch.

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. Words have been guessed from later Dutch and loans in other languages. 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.

Changes in Western Europe caused Old Dutch to differ from Central and High Franconian in Germany. At the same time, changes led to the creation of Old English, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon. 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"). Another old piece of Dutch is Visc flot aftar themo uuatare ("A fish was swimming in the water"). 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 in the old Old Dutch area. 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, who also made the language more uniform in their regions. The main dialect areas were:

• West Flemish centered around the County of Flanders. It was important earlier but lost influence to Brabantian in the 1300s.
• Brabantian spoken mainly in the Duchy of Brabant and nearby places. It was very influential most of the Middle Ages.
• Hollandic with County of Holland as its center. Originally Old Frisian was spoken there. It became more important in the 1500s, especially after the Eighty Years' War.
• Limburgish spoken in modern Dutch and Belgian Limburg, and nearby German lands. It changed a lot due to different rulers and is the most different from later standard Dutch.
• Dutch Low Saxon was not a true Dutch dialect but was influenced by Middle Dutch from the 1300s on. It was spoken in areas of Utrecht and Guelders.

Modern Dutch (15th century–present)

Standard Dutch began to form in the Middle Ages, especially under the influence of the Burgundian court, first in Dijon and later in Brussels. The dialects of Flanders and Brabant were most important. Standardization grew stronger in the 1500s, mainly based on the dialect of Antwerp. When Antwerp fell to Spanish forces in 1585, many people moved to the northern Netherlands, affecting the dialects there. In 1637, the Statenvertaling, the first major Bible translation into Dutch, helped create a language that people across the new republic could understand. It mixed elements from many dialects but was mostly based on Holland’s urban dialects after the 1500s.

In the Southern Netherlands (now Belgium and Luxembourg), Dutch standardization slowed under Spanish, Austrian, and French rule. The government, laws, and schools used French, even though most people spoke Dutch. In the 1800s, the Flemish Movement fought for the rights of Dutch speakers in Belgium. Because standardizing a language takes time, Belgian Dutch speakers joined the standard language that had already developed in the Netherlands. Today, Dutch in Belgium and the Netherlands is mostly the same, though there are pronunciation differences, like between British and American English. In 1980, the Netherlands and Belgium signed the Language Union Treaty, agreeing to work together on language rules, including spelling.

Classification

Dutch is part of the Indo-European languages family, specifically in the West Germanic group. It belongs to a smaller group called the Low Franconian languages, which also includes Limburgish. Dutch's closest relative is Afrikaans, a language that many Dutch speakers can understand easily. Other related languages are German, English, Low German, and Yiddish.

Dutch is special because it mixes some traits from English and Frisian with traits shared with German. Unlike German, Dutch was not affected by certain sound changes that happened in German. Over time, these differences helped shape Dutch into 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. In the Netherlands, there is a difference made between dialects and regional languages, though this is more about politics than language itself.

The use of dialects and regional languages has been decreasing. In 1995, 27% of Dutch adults spoke a dialect regularly, but by 2011, this dropped to 11%. Among children, the use fell from 12% in 1995 to just 4% in 2011. Limburgish is the most spoken regional language, while Dutch Low Saxon is the least spoken.

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.

The West Flemish group of dialects is quite different and might be seen as a separate language variant. A special feature is that certain sounds change when speaking standard Dutch, making some words sound the same.

Hollandic is spoken in areas like Holland and Utrecht. The urban dialects of cities such as Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, and Utrecht do not differ much from standard Dutch, but rural areas have more traditional Hollandic dialects. In Friesland, a version called Stadsfries is spoken in cities.

Brabantian is named after the historical Duchy of Brabant and is spoken in areas including North Brabant, Antwerp, and Flemish Brabant. It also influences some nearby dialects.

Limburgish is spoken in Belgian and Netherlands Limburg and nearby parts of Germany. It has been influenced by Ripuarian varieties like the Colognian dialect.

Two dialect groups, Dutch Low Saxon and Limburgish, have official status as regional languages in the Netherlands. Dutch Low Saxon covers several provinces and has been influenced by Dutch over time. Limburgish is recognized as a regional language in the Netherlands but not in Belgium.

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 and was influenced by other languages in South Africa.

West Frisian is closely related to English and Scots and is considered a sister language to Dutch, though it is not easily understood by Dutch speakers. It has been heavily influenced by 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 some other languages, Dutch does not change the sound of consonants at the start of words in a certain way. Also, Dutch words can have many consonants together, like in the word "slechtstschrijvend."

Dutch has many vowel sounds and some special combinations of vowels called diphthongs. One common diphthong 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 in pitch. This change is called "Polder Dutch."

Grammar

Main article: Dutch grammar

See also: DT-Manie

Dutch grammar is similar to German in areas like sentence structure and how verbs change their form. Special word endings for certain words have mostly disappeared, though some older patterns remain in everyday phrases.

Standard Dutch uses three types of “genders” to group words, but for most speakers outside Belgium, masculine and feminine genders have combined into one called the common gender. The neuter gender remains separate.

Verbs and tenses

Dutch has four main types of verbs. The most common type, weak verbs, form past tenses by adding a special ending. Strong verbs change their vowel sound in the past tense. There is also an ongoing trend where some strong verbs start using weak endings.

Genders and cases

Like English, Dutch mostly does not use special word endings to show the role of words in a sentence. However, some older patterns remain in phrases and names. The Dutch language uses two main articles, similar to “the” in English.

Word order

Dutch sentence order is similar to German. The verb usually appears in the second position in a sentence, which is different from English.

Diminutives

Dutch often adds small endings to nouns to make them smaller or cuter. This is a common feature and changes the way 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 combine words to form longer words, similar to German. These compound words can get quite long but are still used in everyday language.

Vocabulary

Dutch words mostly come from old Germanic roots, with about 20% coming from other languages. Since the 12th century, French and other similar languages have had a big effect, giving Dutch around 6.8% of its words. Latin, used for science and religion, adds another 6.1%. German also influenced Dutch until the mid-1900s, but many of those words changed to sound more Dutch.

Dutch has also borrowed from English since the mid-1800s because of Britain and the United States' growing power. English words make up about 1.5% of Dutch and keep growing. Over time, some English words change to fit Dutch better. Dutch has also given some words to English, making up about 1.3% of its vocabulary.

The main Dutch dictionary is the Van Dale groot woordenboek der Nederlandse taal, with around 268,826 main words. Another important book for studying Dutch is the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, which took 147 years to finish and includes all Dutch words from old times onward.

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 words in Dutch have doubled letters, like vowels and consonants, because of how words are put together and to show different sounds. For example, the word voorraaddoos means "food storage container" and has five letters in a row that are doubled.

The diaeresis, also called trema in Dutch, is used to show when vowels are pronounced separately, like in beïnvloed (influenced) or de zeeën (the seas). A hyphen is used in compound words, like zee-eend (sea duck). 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 (a, an) and één (one).

Since the 1980s, groups have worked on making sure Dutch spelling is consistent. Big changes happened in 1995 and 2005. In the Netherlands, rules from 2005 are used by schools and government offices. In Flanders, the same rules were put in place in 2006. There is a official list of words called het groene boekje that helps people know the correct 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