Dutch Nederlands
Pronunciation:	[ˈneːdərlɑnts]
Spoken in:	as native language in the Netherlands, Flanders and Brussels (Belgium), Suriname, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, French Flanders (France), Lower Rhine (Germany). The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela The Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch:) previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles French Flanders (La Flandre française Frans-Vlaanderen is a part of the historical originally Dutch-speaking region Flanders in present-day France. Low Rhenish (Nieder-Rheinisch is the collective name for the regional Low Franconian language varieties spoken along the Lower Rhine in the west of Germany as Afrikaans, albeit derived from Dutch, considered a separate standard language, in South Africa and Namibia. Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa on the Atlantic coast notable immigrant minorities in Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and the United States; small ex-colonial minority in Indonesia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. official language of the European Union, the Benelux and the Union of South American Nations
Total speakers:	Native: 23 million: 23 million speakers of Dutch as first language, plus 4 million with Dutch as second language, there are also 7 million speakers of Afrikaans as first language, plus 10 million with Afrikaans as second language [1] Total: 27 million (Dutch: 23/27 mill. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe that includes three neighboring monarchies, '''Be'''lgium, the '''Ne'''therlands, and __FORCETOC__The Union of South American Nations (Unión de Naciones Suramericanas - UNASUR, União de Nações Sul-Americanas - UNASUL, Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties , Afrikaans: 7/17 mill. )
Ranking:	40 of 6,000 languages on world list. This is a list of languages, ordered by the number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use [2] Other estimates: 48 (depending on counting method); 37 (according to the Nederlandse Taalunie[1])
Language family:	Indo-European  Germanic   West Germanic    Low Franconian     Dutch
Writing system:	Latin alphabet (Dutch variant)
Official status
Official language in:	Aruba  Belgium  Netherlands  Netherlands Antilles  Suriname Benelux  European Union Union of South American Nations
Regulated by:	Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union)
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	nl
ISO 639-2:	dut (B)	nld (T)
ISO 639-3:	nld
Dutch-speaking world
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English Low Franconian, or Low Frankish, is a group of several West Germanic Languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium ( A writing system is a type of Symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in Language. The Dutch alphabet has 26 letters five or six of which are Vowels The alphabet used for the Dutch language is the Latin alphabet. Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch:) previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe that includes three neighboring monarchies, '''Be'''lgium, the '''Ne'''therlands, and The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in __FORCETOC__The Union of South American Nations (Unión de Naciones Suramericanas - UNASUR, União de Nações Sul-Americanas - UNASUL, Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language See also Dutch orthography List of language academies ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's

Dutch (Nederlands (help·info)) is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people, mainly in the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname, but also by smaller groups of speakers in parts of France, Germany and several former Dutch colonies. The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Sometimes called the smallest world language,^[3] it is closely related to other West Germanic languages (e. A world language is a language spoken internationally which is learned by many people as a Second language. The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English g. , English, West Frisian and German) and somewhat more remotely to the North Germanic languages. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States West Frisian ( Frysk) is a Language spoken mostly in the province of Friesland ( Fryslân) in the north of the Netherlands. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages Dutch is a descendant of several Frankish dialects, that were spoken in the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Times, and to a lesser extent from the Frisian language, that was spoken by the original inhabitants of Holland (see Hollandic). The High Middle Ages was the period of European history in the 11th 12th and 13th centuries (AD 1000&ndash1299 The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between Holland is a region in the western part of the Netherlands. A maritime and economic power in the 17th century Holland today consists of the Dutch provinces of Hollandic or Hollandish (Hollands is together with Brabantian, the most frequently used dialect of the Dutch language. Dutch is the parent language of several Dutch-based creole languages as well as of Afrikaans, one of the official languages of South Africa and the most widely understood in Namibia. A Dutch creole is a Creole language that has been substantially influenced by the Dutch language. Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa on the Atlantic coast Dutch and Afrikaans are to a very large extent mutually intelligible, although they have separate spelling standards and dictionaries and have separate language regulators. In Linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between Languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific Writing system to write the language A dictionary is a book of alphabetically listed Words in a specific language with definitions etymologies pronunciations and other information or a book of alphabetically This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language Standard Dutch (Standaardnederlands) is the standard language of the major Dutch-speaking areas and is regulated by the Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union). See also Dutch orthography List of language academies A standard language (also standard dialect, standardized dialect, or standardised dialect) is a particular variety of a Language that See also Dutch orthography List of language academies Dutch is also an official language of the European Union and the Union of South American Nations. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in __FORCETOC__The Union of South American Nations (Unión de Naciones Suramericanas - UNASUR, União de Nações Sul-Americanas - UNASUL, Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties

Dutch grammar also shares many traits with German, especially in syntax, but has a less complicated morphology caused by deflexion, which puts it closer to English. This page outlines the Grammar of the Dutch language. Word order Structurally Dutch is a V2 language which means that the inflected verb This page outlines the Grammar of the German language. Grammar Genders In German all of the three genders of the Proto-Indo-European In Linguistics, syntax (from Ancient Greek grc συν- syn-, "together" and grc τάξις táxis, "arrangement" is the Morphology is the field of Linguistics that studies the internal structure of words Deflexion is a linguistic process related to Inflectional languages English grammar is a body of rules ( Grammar) specifying how phrases and sentences are constructed in the English language. Dutch has officially three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter, however, according to some interpretations these are reduced to only two, common and neuter, which is similar to the gender systems of most Continental Scandinavian languages. In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages

The consonant system of Dutch did not undergo the High German consonant shift and has more in common with English and the Scandinavian languages. In Articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a Speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper Vocal tract, the upper vocal In Historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development ( Sound change) which took place The North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages Like most Germanic languages it has a syllable structure that allows fairly complex consonant clusters. A syllable ( Greek:) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds Dutch is often noted for the prominent use of velar fricatives. Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together

Dutch vocabulary is predominantly Germanic in origin, considerably more so than English. This is to a large part due to the heavy influence of Norman French on English, and to Dutch patterns of word formation, such as the tendency to form long and sometimes very complicated compound nouns, being more similar to those of German and the Scandinavian languages. Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. The northern Norman can be classified in the septentrional Oil languages with Picard and In Linguistics, a compound is a Lexeme (less precisely a Word) that consists of more than one stem.

Names

Main article: Names for the Dutch language

In English the language of the people from the Netherlands and Flanders is referred to as Dutch; or sometimes as Netherlandic^[4], a term with multiple meanings. Because of the turbulent history of both The Netherlands and Belgium (mostly because of the frequent change of economical and military power within the Low Countries the names 'Dutch' as a word is derived from Middle Dutch duutsch, dūtsch and applied originally to continental Germanic speakers, be it of Dutch or German (cf. Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects (whose ancestor was Old Dutch) which were spoken and written between 1150 The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Pennsylvania Dutch). The Pennsylvania Dutch (perhaps more strictly Pennsylvania Deitsch, Pennsylvania Germans or Pennsylvania Deutsch) are the descendants of German By 1600, it had come to be used exclusively for the language (spoken in Flanders and the current Netherlands) and the people of the Dutch (only the people from the region now the modern Netherlands). The exclusive use of Dutch for the Netherlands occurred after the Netherlands became a united, independent state and the focus of English commercial rivalry^[5]

In Dutch, the language is called Nederlands (lit: 'Lowlands'). This name is drawn from the geographical situation of the region, de Nederlanden (the Low Countries), situated on the Northern European Plain. Though in use since the 1250s^[6] it did not become the main form until the 19th century when it largely outgrew the earlier and more common names: (northern) Duuts and (southern) Diets (Dietsch), the latter dropped due to its popular association and connotation with fascist ideologies. Dietsch ( "Diets" in modern Dutch) is a colloquial word for the Middle Dutch language.

The term Flemish is used to describe the majority of Dutch dialects of Belgium and is derived through Old Norse flæmskr from Middle Dutch vlāmisch, vlemesch "Fleming, Flemish person". Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age It has historically been used in contradistinction to Hollander, though the various dialects of Flanders are dialects of Dutch as well.

History

Main article: History of Dutch

The history of the Dutch language begins around AD 450–500, after Old Frankish, one of the many West Germanic tribal languages, was split by the Second Germanic consonant shift while at more or less the same time the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law led to the development of the direct ancestors of modern Dutch Low Saxon, Frisian and English. Dutch is a West Germanic language, that originated from the Old Frankish dialects Old Frankish was the language of the Franks and it is classified as a West Germanic language. The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English In Historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development ( Sound change) which took place In Historical linguistics, the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law (also called the Anglo-Frisian or North Sea Germanic nasal spirant law) is a description Dutch Low Saxon (Dutch Low Saxon Nedersaksisch) is a group of Low Saxon ( i The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500000 members of Frisian Ethnic groups who live on the southern

The northern dialects of Old Frankish generally did not participate in either of these two shifts, except for a small amount of phonetic changes, and are hence known now as Old Low Franconian; the "Low" refers to dialects not influenced by the consonant shift. Old Dutch (aka Old West Low Franconian) is a branch of Old Low Franconian spoken and written during the early Middle Ages (c The most south-eastern dialects of the Franconian languages became part of High, though not Upper, German even though a dialect continuum remained. 300px|right|thumb|The Franconian languages in Europe|'''Legend'''{{legend|#a0f288|Low Franconian dialects in [[the Netherlands]] The High German languages (in German, Hochdeutsch) are any of the varieties of standard German, Luxembourgish and Upper German Oberdeutsch is a family of High German Dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern A dialect continuum is a range of Dialects spoken across a large geographical area differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close and gradually decreasing The fact that Dutch did not undergo the sound changes may be the reason why some people say that Dutch is like a bridge between English and German. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Within Old Low Franconian there were two subgroups: Old East Low Franconian and Old West Low Franconian, which is better known as Old Dutch. Old Dutch (aka Old West Low Franconian) is a branch of Old Low Franconian spoken and written during the early Middle Ages (c East Low Franconian was eventually absorbed by Dutch as it became the dominant form of Low Franconian, although it remains a noticeable substrate within the southern Limburgish dialects of Dutch. In Contact linguistics, a substratum ( lat sub: under + stratum: layer → lower layer) is a Language Because the two groups were so similar it is often very hard to determine whether a text is Old Dutch or Old East Low Franconian, hence most linguists will generally use Old Dutch synonymously with Old Low Franconian and most of the time do not differentiate.

Continental Low Franconian (ǂ Dutch) language area. Low Franconian, or Low Frankish, is a group of several West Germanic Languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium ( This is smaller than the total Dutch language area, which also includes Dutch Low Saxon and the Frisian language area. Dutch Low Saxon (Dutch Low Saxon Nedersaksisch) is a group of Low Saxon ( i
French Flanders has become more and more francophone during the last century. French Flanders (La Flandre française Frans-Vlaanderen is a part of the historical originally Dutch-speaking region Flanders in present-day France. The adjective francophone (alternately Francophone) means French -speaking typically as primary language whether referring to individuals groups or places Brussels Capital Region is officially bilingual, but largely francophone

Dutch, coincidentally like other Germanic languages, is conventionally divided into three phases. In the development of Dutch these phases were:

• 450/500–1150 Old Dutch (First attested in the Salic Law)
• 1150–1500 Middle Dutch (Also called "Diets" in popular use, though not by linguists)
• 1500–present Modern Dutch (Saw the creation of the Dutch standard language and includes contemporary Dutch)

The transition between these languages was very gradual and one of the few moments linguists can detect somewhat of a revolution is when the Dutch standard language emerged and quickly established itself. Old Dutch (aka Old West Low Franconian) is a branch of Old Low Franconian spoken and written during the early Middle Ages (c Salic law ( Lat Lex Salica) was an important body of traditional Law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the Early Middle Ages Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects (whose ancestor was Old Dutch) which were spoken and written between 1150 Dietsch ( "Diets" in modern Dutch) is a colloquial word for the Middle Dutch language. Linguistics is the scientific study of Language, encompassing a number of sub-fields It should be noted that Standard Dutch is very similar to most Dutch dialects.

The development of the Dutch language is illustrated by the following sentence in 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)

(Using same word order)

"Verlossen zal hij in vrede ziel mijn van degenen die [te] na komen mij, want onder velen hij was met mij" (Modern Dutch)

(Using correct contemporary Dutch word order)

"Hij zal mijn ziel in vrede verlossen van degenen die mij te na komen, want onder velen was hij met mij" (Modern Dutch) (see Psalm 55:19)

"He will deliver my soul in peace from those who attack me, because, amongst many, he was with me" (English translation) (see Psalm 55:18)

A process of standardization started in the Middle ages, especially under the influence of the Burgundian Ducal Court in Dijon (Brussels after 1477). In Linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the different ways in which languages arrange the constituents of their sentences relative to each other and the systematic God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. A standard language (also standard dialect, standardized dialect, or standardised dialect) is a particular variety of a Language that Burgundy (Bourgogne Burgund is a region historically situated in modern-day France and Switzerland, inhabited in turn by Celts ( Gauls) The dialects of Flanders and Brabant were the most influential around this time. Standardization The first attempts on standardizing the Dutch language in the 1540s were based on the Brabantian dialect specifically that of Antwerp and its surroundings The process of standardization became much stronger at the start of the 16th century, mainly based on the urban dialect of Antwerp. ||-||-||-||} Antwerp ( Dutch:, French: Anvers) is a City and Municipality in Belgium and the capital of the In 1585 Antwerp fell to the Spanish army: many fled to the Northern Netherlands, especially the province of Holland, where they influenced the urban dialects of that province. In 1637, a further important step was made towards a unified language, when the first major Dutch Bible translation was created that people from all over the United Provinces could understand. The Bible has been translated into many languages from the Biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. It used elements from various, even Dutch Low Saxon, dialects but was predominantly based on the urban dialects of Holland. Dutch Low Saxon (Dutch Low Saxon Nedersaksisch) is a group of Low Saxon ( i Holland is a region in the western part of the Netherlands. A maritime and economic power in the 17th century Holland today consists of the Dutch provinces of

Classification

• Indo-European languages
  • Germanic
    • West Germanic
      • Low Frankish languages or Dutch → Nederlands
        • (Afrikaans, Dutch Creole languages)

Dutch is a Germanic language, and within this family it is a West Germanic language. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English Low Franconian, or Low Frankish, is a group of several West Germanic Languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium ( Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of Languages and include languages such as English Dutch did not experience the High German consonant shift (apart from the transition from /θ/ to /d/), and is a Low Franconian language. In Historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development ( Sound change) which took place Low Franconian, or Low Frankish, is a group of several West Germanic Languages spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium ( There was at one time a dialect continuum that blurred the boundary between Dutch and Low Saxon. A dialect continuum is a range of Dialects spoken across a large geographical area differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close and gradually decreasing In some small areas, there are still dialect continua, but they are gradually becoming extinct.

Dutch is grammatically similar to German, such as in syntax and verb morphology (for a comparison of verb morphology in English, Dutch and German, see Germanic weak verb and Germanic strong verb). In Germanic languages, including English, weak verbs are by far the largest group of verbs which are therefore often regarded as the norm though historically they In the Germanic languages strong verbs are those which mark their past tenses by means of ablaut.

Dutch has grammatical cases, but these are now mostly limited to pronouns and set phrases. A set phrase is an expression (ie term or Phrase) whose parts are fixed (see examples below Dutch has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter although masculine and feminine have merged to form the common gender (de), whilst the neuter (het) remains distinct as before. In the Dutch language, nouns have one of three Grammatical genders masculine feminine or neuter The inflectional grammar of Dutch, for instance in adjective and noun endings, has been simplified over time.

For many English speakers, basic Dutch, when written, looks recognizable, pronunciation may be markedly different. This is true especially of the diphthongs and of the letter <g>, which is pronounced as a velar continuant. In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with The rhotic pronunciation of <r> causes some English-speakers to believe Dutch sounds similar to a West Country accent; this is the reason for Bill Bryson's one hears Dutch one feels one ought to be able to understand it. Rhotic consonants, or "R"-like sounds are non-lateral Liquid consonants This class of sounds is difficult to characterise phonetically though most of them share William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, (born 8 December 1951 is a best-selling American Author of humorous books on Travel, as well Dutch pronunciation is, however, difficult to master for English speakers, its diphthongs and gutturals being the greatest obstacles.

Geographic distribution

The historic range of the Dutch language in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany

Dutch is spoken by almost all inhabitants of the Netherlands and Flanders (the northern half of Belgium); in Flanders, it is often referred to by the dialect name Vlaams (Flemish). The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those It is also spoken in the bilingual region of Brussels, together with French and other languages. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people In the northernmost part of France, the Dunkirk arrondissement in the Nord département, Dutch is still spoken as a minority language, also often called Vlaams. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Dunkirk ( French: Dunkerque, dœ̃kɛʀk or; Dutch:; is a harbour city and a commune in the northernmost part of France, in the Nord (North is a department in the far north of France. It is the country's most populated department On the Caribbean islands of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, Dutch is used, but is less common than Papiamento (Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire) and English (Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, Saba). The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela The Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch:) previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles Papiamento (or Papiamentu) is the Language spoken on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the so-called Curaçao (ˈkjuːrəsaʊ in English Dutch: Curaçao, Papiamento: Kòrsou) is an Island in the southern Caribbean Sea, The Island Territory of Bonaire ( Dutch: Eilandgebied Bonaire, Papiamento: Teritorio Insular di Boneiru) is one of five island areas English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States For the island of St Martin on the whole see Saint Martin, for the French side see Saint Martin (France and for other uses see Saint Martin (disambiguation Sint Eustatius, also known as Statia, or Saint Eustace, is one of the islands which make up the Netherlands Antilles; it is in the northern Leeward SABA was a German manufacturer for electronic equipment from the Black Forest up to the 1980s Dutch is spoken as a mother tongue by about 60% of the population in Suriname, most of whom are bilingual with Sranan Tongo or other ethnic languages (2005, Nederlandse Taalunie: [2], in Dutch). Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by Sranan (also Sranan Tongo "Surinamean tongue" Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole) is a Creole language spoken See also Dutch orthography List of language academies There are also some speakers of Dutch in countries with many Dutch and Flemish immigrants, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In South Africa and Namibia the closely-related language Afrikaans is spoken. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa on the Atlantic coast Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in There are also a number of Dutch speakers in Indonesia. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia.

Official status

Dutch is an official language of the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by Aruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela The Netherlands Antilles ( Dutch:) previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles The Dutch, Flemish and Surinamese governments coordinate their language activities in the Nederlandse Taalunie ('Dutch Language Union'). See also Dutch orthography List of language academies Dutch was an official language in South Africa up until 1961 (it had fallen into disuse after Afrikaans became an official language in 1925). Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in A noticeable minority of the inhabitants of New Zealand, 16,347 (0. 4%) claim sufficient fluency in Dutch to carry on an everyday conversation. ^[7]

Standaardnederlands or Algemeen Nederlands ('Common Dutch', abbreviated to AN) is the standard language as taught in schools and used by authorities in the Netherlands, Flanders, Suriname, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. A standard language (also standard dialect, standardized dialect, or standardised dialect) is a particular variety of a Language that The Dutch Language Union defines what is AN and what is not.

Since efforts to uplift people came to be considered rather presumptuous, the earlier name Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands ('Common Civilized Dutch') and its abbreviation ABN have been replaced with Algemeen Nederlands and thus AN. The implicit insinuation that people who spoke dialect or with an accent were not civilized was thus removed.

The Netherlands

Dutch is the official and foremost language of the Netherlands, a nation of 16. 4 million people. In the province of Friesland, Frisian is also recognized, but this language is only spoken by some hundreds of thousands of Frisians. Friesland ( West Frisian: Fryslân, Dutch Friesland) is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the bigger region known In the Netherlands there are many different dialects, but these are often overruled and replaced by the language of the media, school, government etc (i. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands e. , Standard Dutch). See also Dutch orthography List of language academies Immigrant languages are Indonesian, Turkish, Moroccan Berber, Papiamento, and Sranan. Indonesian or Bahasa Indonesia, based on the Riau version of Malay language, was declared the official language with the declaration of Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa Nomenclature The term Berber has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century and is still used today Papiamento (or Papiamentu) is the Language spoken on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the so-called Sranan (also Sranan Tongo "Surinamean tongue" Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole) is a Creole language spoken In the second generation these newcomers often speak Dutch as their mother tongue, but sometimes alongside the language of the parents.

Belgium

Language situation in Belgium

Belgium is divided along linguistic lines. In the north is the Dutch-speaking Flanders, the south of the country is French-speaking Wallonia. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Wallonia, or Wallonie, (Wallonie Wallonien Wallonië Waloneye is the Meridional part of Belgium belonging to the Romance linguistic field Dutch is one of the main two official languages (the other is French); German is the official language in the main part of the small eastern region of Eupen-Malmédy, the so-called East Cantons, two of which form the German-speaking Community of Belgium with an area of only 854 km², and a population of 73,000. Eupen-Malmedy, or the East Cantons (in German, die Ostkantone; in French, les Cantons de l'Est; in Dutch, de Oostkantons The German-speaking Community of Belgium (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens DGB) is one of the three federal communities in Belgium. Brussels, the capital and located in Flanders, is officially bilingual but mainly French-speaking.

Flanders

See also: Flemish (linguistics)

Flanders is the Dutch speaking northern half of Belgium. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Dutch is the official language there, and almost everybody speaks it, which makes a number of 6 million in total. The dialects spoken in Flanders are somewhat more divergent from standard Dutch than those spoken in the Netherlands, despite the fact that standard Dutch is mostly based on 16th century Flemish and Brabantic dialects. French-speakers have linguistic rights in 12 municipalities with language facilities. The municipalities with language facilities, occasionally called municipalities with linguistic facilities or shortly municipalities with facilities ( Dutch

Brussels

Dutch and French speaking Brussels

The place of Dutch in Brussels (yellow)

In Brussels Capital Region both Dutch and French are official languages. Many of the inhabitants are bilingual, but French is the dominant language of the city. Immigrants mostly adopt French as their language. Daily commuting from Flanders amounts to 250,000 people, which reinforces the bilingual situation. ^[8] Their bilingualism is often more hidden, just like it is in a city such as Cape Town with respect to Afrikaans and English. Cape Town (Kaapstad Xhosa: Ikapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the Historically, Brussels was Dutch speaking and the indigenous older generation still speaks the city dialect. Brussels Capital Region is surrounded by Flemish territory, where there are municipalities with facilities for French speaking people.

See also: Francization of Brussels

Wallonia

The official language of Wallonia is French and in the Eastern part of the province Liege German as well. Wallonia, or Wallonie, (Wallonie Wallonien Wallonië Waloneye is the Meridional part of Belgium belonging to the Romance linguistic field French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. There are four municipalities near the Dutch-French Language border where Dutch-speakers have special linguistic rights, known in Dutch as Edingen, Komen-Waasten, Moeskroen and Vloesberg. A language border (also language boundary) is the line separating two Language areas The term is generally meant to imply a lack of Mutual intelligibility For the suburb of Paris, France, see Enghien-les-Bains. For the title of nobility see Duke of Enghien. Comines-Warneton (Komen-Waasten is a Walloon Municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. Mouscron (Moeskroen is a Walloon City and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. Flobecq (Vloesberg is a Walloon Municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. This was settled in 1962, when Dutch as a language became equal to French. In the so-called Low Dietsch language area (Dutch: Platdietse streek) in the province of Liege – an "officially" French speaking area –an old Dutch/German dialect is used, called Low Dietsch (Dutch: Platdiets). Low Dietsch (Platdiets Platduutsj Thiois or fr ''Platdutch'' not to be confused with the generic term Plattdüütsch) is a term mainly used within the Flemish terminology Low Dietsch (Platdiets Platduutsj Thiois or fr ''Platdutch'' not to be confused with the generic term Plattdüütsch) is a term mainly used within the Flemish terminology The villages that are part of this area (Baelen, Plombières and Welkenraedt) do not belong to municipalities with language facilities, but facilities can be instituted by the federal government on the request of a majority in the municalities' councils. Baelen is a Belgian Municipality located in the Walloon province of Liège. Plombières ( German: Bleyberg or Bleiberg, Dutch: Blieberg) is a Walloon Municipality located in the Welkenraedt is a Walloon Municipality located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipalities with language facilities, occasionally called municipalities with linguistic facilities or shortly municipalities with facilities ( Dutch

Suriname

Suriname is a South-American country (geographically, but historically, culturally and economically a Caribbean one), which was a Dutch colony until 1975. Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. After Sranan, Dutch is the biggest and most widely spread language in the country. Sranan (also Sranan Tongo "Surinamean tongue" Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole) is a Creole language spoken More than 60% of the inhabitants have Dutch as mother tongue. The others speak Dutch very well to very poor, as a second or third language, with their ethnic language as first one, like Javanese, Saramacaans, Aucaans and Indian languages etc. Sranan is used as the lingua franca between those groups, while Dutch is the official language. Sranan (also Sranan Tongo "Surinamean tongue" Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole) is a Creole language spoken The Dutch spoken there is sometimes considered to be like Jamaican English. In 2005, Suriname became a member of the Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union). See also Dutch orthography List of language academies

Map of the Dutch language. Yellow is where it was once spoken, dark blue is where it is spoken today (officially), light blue where it is spoken by a minority, and green where it is spoken by a small community. Brown is the daughter language Afrikaans. Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in

International organisations

Dutch is, apart from the Dutch Language Union (NTU) itself, an official language of the European Union, the Benelux, the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union and the Union of South American Nations. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe that includes three neighboring monarchies, '''Be'''lgium, the '''Ne'''therlands, and The Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union (Belgisch-Luxemburgse Economische Unie Union économique belgo-luxembourgeoise, Belsch-Lëtzebuerger Wirtschaftsunioun abbreviated to __FORCETOC__The Union of South American Nations (Unión de Naciones Suramericanas - UNASUR, União de Nações Sul-Americanas - UNASUL, Unie van Zuid-Amerikaanse Naties It is used unofficially in the Caribbean Community. The Caribbean Community ( CARICOM) is an organization of Caribbean nations and dependencies Afrikaans is a working language in the Southern African Development Community. The Southern African Development Community ( SADC) is an Inter-governmental organization.

Afrikaans in South Africa and Namibia

One of the 11 official languages of South Africa, Afrikaans is derived from Dutch and is the mother tongue of about 15% of South Africa's population, a total of 6 million people. South Africa has 11 Official languages South Africa also recognises eight non-official languages as " National languages quot Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in It is also spoken or understood by more than 10 million other speakers. It has official status in Namibia as well, where it is understood by 60% of the population (more than 1 million). Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa on the Atlantic coast Afrikaans originated from modern Dutch (17th century-present) and is very similar to "European Dutch", the speakers of modern Dutch and of Afrikaans have only minor problems in communicating with each other.

The Afrikaners (or "Boers"), the Dutch colonists in Southern Africa, had used the same spelling up to 1925. Then the Afrikaners created their own spelling and this (Afrikaans, Dutch for African) replaced official Dutch. In 1925 Afrikaans and Dutch (declared as the same language) became the official language of the Union of South Africa. Dutch was totally replaced by Afrikaans in 1984 in legislation, but Dutch had no government function beyond 1961.

Before the United Kingdom took control of South Africa from the Netherlands in 1814, the Afrikaans language (which wasn't called or considered Afrikaans at that time) was exposed to a steady stream of Dutch language influence, and the two languages were therefore almost identical. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in The differentiation and major changes from Dutch, started when the Cape Dutch settlers moved North (Trek Boers). The Trekboers were nomadic pastoral descendants of Dutch (often Frisian) settlers of the Cape Colony, Flemish settlers French Boer (ˈbuːr in Dutch ˈbʊɚ/ /boʊɚ or /ˈbɔr/ in English is the Dutch word for Farmer which came to denote the descendants of the proto Afrikaans In addition, when the UK seized South Africa, the Dutch language spoken in South Africa was practically cut off from other Dutch-speaking areas, allowing the language to differentiate and evolve further. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

Bilingual sign in South Africa

Bilingual warning signs in South Africa

In 1925 the Afrikaans language was recognized as one of South Africa's official languages, alongside Dutch and English. The Afrikaans New Testament was published in 1927 and the first Afrikaans Bible was issued in 1933. This had an influence in consolidating the Afrikaans language. Dutch was only formally de-recognized in South Africa in 1984 (since 1961 it had merited only a mention in the legislation). By that time, however, it had no longer been in everyday official use for some time. The distinction of Afrikaans from the Dutch language appeared to be in danger just after the Second World War when a great number of Dutch immigrants chose South Africa as their new homeland. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term The Afrikaans language survived the new influx of Dutch speakers, however, which might otherwise have turned Afrikaans into a mixed language. A mixed language is a Language that arises through the fusion of two source languages normally in situations of thorough Bilingualism. Almost all of the Dutch immigrants and their descendants now speak Afrikaans instead of Dutch, albeit (in the case of the Dutch-born parents) with a slight accent because mutual intelligibility still exists. In Linguistics, mutual intelligibility is recognized as a relationship between Languages in which speakers of different but related languages can readily understand The differences between the two languages are considerably more than e. g. between European Portuguese and Brazilian or European and Latin-American Spanish.

A Dutch speaker can usually read Afrikaans easily, and to a slightly lesser degree, also orally understand it, especially when one's native dialect is Hollandic, Zealandic, Flemish or Brabantic. Hollandic or Hollandish (Hollands is together with Brabantian, the most frequently used dialect of the Dutch language. Zeelandic ( Zeêuws in Zeelandic Zeeuws in Dutch is a Regional language spoken in the Dutch province of Zeeland and on the Standardization The first attempts on standardizing the Dutch language in the 1540s were based on the Brabantian dialect specifically that of Antwerp and its surroundings Afrikaans can be considered a creole language. South Africans also contributed their part to Dutch literature and Dutch is still a very important colonial language. Universities teach Afrikaans and Dutch as a one-language study, and the only monument to the Dutch language can be found in South Africa.

Other (historical) names of Afrikaans are the following:

• Kaap-Hollands / Kaap-Nederlands (Cape Hollandic/Cape Dutch)
• Zuid-Afrikaans (South African)
• (Zuid-)Afrikaans-Nederlands ((South) African Dutch)
• Afro-Nederlands / Afro-Hollands (Afro-Dutch/Afro-Hollandic)
• Keukennederlands / Kombuistaaltje (Kitchen Dutch/Kitchen language)
• Koloniaal-Nederlands (Colonial Dutch)

Dialects

Main article: Languages of the Netherlands

An overview of the minority languages, regional languages and dialects spoken in the three countries of the Benelux is to be found in the main article. Minority languages regional languages and dialects in the Benelux Frisian dialects Westlauwers Frisian Wood Frisian The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe that includes three neighboring monarchies, '''Be'''lgium, the '''Ne'''therlands, and

Main article: Dutch dialects

Dutch dialects are remarkably diverse. Dutch dialects are primarily dialects that are cognate with the Dutch language and are spoken in the same language area as the Dutch standard language The Netherlands have quite a lot different regions and various dialects. To a less degree, the same applies to Flanders. A special series on Dutch dialects provides detailed information on this subject. Dutch dialects are primarily dialects that are cognate with the Dutch language and are spoken in the same language area as the Dutch standard language

Sounds

Main article: Dutch phonology

Dutch devoices all consonants at the ends of words (e. Dutch is a Germanic language and as such has a similar phonology with other Germanic languages (particularly Low German, Frisian, English, and to a lesser extent Final obstruent devoicing or terminal devoicing is a systematic phonological process occurring in languages such as German, Dutch, Polish g. a final /d/ becomes [t]), which presents a problem for Dutch speakers when learning English. This is partly reflected in the spelling, the singular of huizen (houses) becomes huis, and that of duiven (doves) becomes duif. The other cases, viz. "p"/"b" and "d"/"t" are always written with the voiced consonant, although a devoiced one is actually pronounced, e. g. sg. baard (beard), pronounced as baart, has plural baarden and sg. rib (rib), pronounced as rip has plural ribben.

Because of assimilation, often the initial consonant of the next word is also devoiced, e. g. het vee (the cattle) is /(h)ətfe/. This process of devoicing is taken to an extreme in some regions (Amsterdam, Friesland) with almost complete loss of /v/,/z/ and /ɣ/. Further south these phonemes are certainly present in the middle of a word. Compare e. g. logen and loochen /loɣən/ vs. /loxən/. In the South (i. e. Zeeland, Brabant and Limburg) and in Flanders the contrast is even greater because the g becomes a palatal. ('soft g').

The final 'n' of the plural ending -en is often not pronounced (as in Afrikaans where it is also dropped in the written language), except in the North East (Low Saxon) and the South West (West Flemish) where the ending becomes a syllabic n sound.

Dutch is a stress language; the stress position of words matters. Stress can occur on any syllable position in a word. There is a tendency for stress to be at the beginning of words. In composite words, secondary stress is often present. There are some cases where stress is the only difference between words. For example vóórkomen (occur) and voorkómen (prevent). Marking the stress in written Dutch is optional, never obligatory, but sometimes recommended.

The syllable structure of Dutch is (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C). Many words, like in English, begin with three consonants - e. g. straat (street). There are words that end in four consonants - e. g. herfst (autumn), ergst (worst), interessantst (most interesting), sterkst (strongest) - most of them being adjectives in the superlative form.

The greatest number of consonants in a single cluster can be found in the word slechtstschrijvend (worst writing) with 9 consonants (though there are only 7 phonemes since 'ch' represents a single phoneme, and in normal speech the number of phonemes is usually reduced to 6 because of assimilation of 'tschst' to 'schst', or even to 5 by many speakers who pronounce the cluster 'schr' as 'sr'). The phoneME project is Sun Microsystems reference implementation of Java virtual machine and associated libraries of Java ME with source licensed under the GNU

Vowels

The vowel inventory of Dutch is large, with 14 simple vowels and four diphthongs. In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract The vowels /eː/, /øː/, /oː/ are included on the diphthong chart because they are actually produced as narrow closing diphthongs in many dialects, but behave phonologically like the other simple vowels. [ɐ] (a near-open central vowel) is an allophone of unstressed /a/ and /ɑ/. The near-open central vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that

IPA chart Dutch monophthongs
IPA chart Dutch diphthongs

Consonants

Where symbols for consonants occur in pairs, the left represents the voiceless consonant and the right represents the voiced consonant. A monophthong ( Greek μονόφθογγος "monophthongos" = single note) is a "pure" Vowel sound one whose articulation at In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific Writing system to write the language In Phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a Consonant articulated with both Lips The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet In Phonetics, labiodentals are Consonants articulated with the lower Lip and the upper Teeth. Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior Alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets Postalveolar consonants are Consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the Alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the Palatal consonants are Consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the Hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth Uvulars are Consonants articulated with the back of the Tongue against or near the uvula, that is further back in the mouth than Velar consonants Glottal consonants are Consonants articulated with the Glottis. A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. A nasal consonant (also called nasal stop or nasal continuant) is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth allowing air to escape freely through the Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together Approximants are speech sounds ( Phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between Vowels and typical Consonants In the articulation of approximants Laterals are "L"-like Consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless Voice or voicing is a term used in Phonetics and Phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless

Notes:

1. [g] is not a native phoneme of Dutch and only occurs in borrowed words, like goal.
2. [ʔ] is not a separate phoneme in Dutch, but is inserted before vowel-initial syllables within words after /a/ and /ə/ and often also at the beginning of a word.
3. In some dialects, notably that of Amsterdam, the voiced fricatives have almost completely merged with the voiceless ones, and /v/ is usually realized as [f], /z/ is usually realized as [s], and /ɣ/ is usually realized as [x]. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west
4. [ʃ] and [ʒ] are not native phonemes of Dutch, and usually occur in borrowed words, like show and bagage (baggage). And even then they are usually realized as [sʲ] and [zʲ] respectively. However, /s/ + /j/ phoneme sequences in Dutch are often realized as [sʲ], like in the word huisje (='little house'). In dialects that merge s and z /zj/ often is realized as [sʲ].
5. The realization of the /r/ phoneme varies considerably from dialect to dialect. In "standard" Dutch, /r/ is realized as [r]. In many dialects it is realized as the voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] or even as the uvular trill [ʀ].
6. The realization of the /ʋ/ varies considerably from the Northern to the Southern and Belgium dialects of the Dutch language. In the South, including Belgium, it is sometimes realized as [w]. Some, mainly Hollandic, dialects nearly pronounce it like [v].

Historical sound changes

Dutch (with the exception of the Limburg dialects) did not participate in the second Germanic (High German) Sound Shift - compare German machen /-x-/ Dutch maken, English make, German Pfanne /pf-/, Dutch pan, English pan, German zwei /ts-/, Dutch twee, English two. The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific Writing system to write the language

Dutch underwent a few changes of its own. For example, words in -old or -olt lost the l in favor of a diphthong as a result of vocalisation. In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with Compare English old, German alt, Dutch oud.

Germanic */uː/ turned into /y/ through palatalization, which sound in turn became a diphthong /œy/, spelt 〈ui〉. Long */iː/ also diphthongized to /ɛi/, spelt 〈ij〉.

The phoneme /ɡ/ became a voiced velar fricative /ɣ/, or a voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/ (in the South: Flanders, Limburg). The voiced velar fricative is a type of Consonantal sound used in various spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet The voiced palatal fricative is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet

Grammar

Main article: Dutch grammar

Like all other continental West Germanic languages, Dutch has a word order that is markedly different from English, which presents a problem for some Anglophones learning Dutch. This page outlines the Grammar of the Dutch language. Word order Structurally Dutch is a V2 language which means that the inflected verb A simple example often used in Dutch language classes and text books is "Ik kan mijn pen niet vinden omdat het veel te donker is" which word-for-word translates to "I can my pen not find because it much too dark is" but actually translates to "I can't find my pen because it's much too dark". This can be explained by saying that the first (main) verb goes at the beginning of a clause while the remaining verbs go at the end of the clause. It must also be noted that Dutch (like German) often splits larger sentences into smaller ones, each of which can have distinctly different grammatical rules depending on what is actually being said and where the emphasis is placed. Because of Dutch resembling German more than English in both sentence structure and vocabulary, this also means that English speakers who study German extensively (meaning the equivalent of about three years of university courses) can often understand written Dutch fairly well.

The Dutch written grammar has simplified over the past 100 years: cases are now mainly used for the pronouns, such as ik (I), mij, me (me), mijn (my), wie (who), wiens (whose: masculine or neuter singular), wier (whose: feminine singular, masculine or feminine plural). In Grammar, the case of a Noun or Pronoun indicates its Grammatical function in a greater Phrase or Clause; such as the Nouns and adjectives are not case inflected (except for the genitive of proper nouns (names): -s, -'s or -'). In the spoken language cases and case inflections had already gradually disappeared from a much earlier date on (probably the 15th century) as in all continental West Germanic dialects.

Inflection of adjectives is a little more complicated: nothing with indefinite neuter nouns in singular and -e in all other cases:

een mooi huis (a beautiful house)

het mooie huis (the beautiful house)

mooie huizen (beautiful houses)

de mooie huizen (the beautiful houses)

een mooie vrouw (a beautiful woman)

More complex inflection is still found in certain lexicalized expressions like de heer des huizes (literally, the man of the house), etc. These are usually remnants of cases (in this instance, the genitive case which is still used in German, cf. Der Herr des Hauses) and other inflections no longer in general use today. In such lexicalized expressions remnants of strong and weak nouns can be found too, e. g. in het jaar des Heren (Anno Domini), where “-en” is actually the genitive ending of the weak noun. Also in this case, German retains this feature. This page outlines the Grammar of the German language. Grammar Genders In German all of the three genders of the Proto-Indo-European

Dutch nouns can take endings for size: -je for singular diminutive and -jes for plural diminutive. A diminutive is a formation of a Word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning smallness of the object or quality named encapsulation intimacy or endearment Between these suffixes and the radical can come extra letters depending on the ending of the word:

boom (tree) - boompje

ring (ring) - ringetje

koning (king) - koninkje

tien (ten) - tientje (a ten euro note)

Like most Germanic languages, Dutch forms noun compounds, where the first noun modifies the category given by the second, for example: hondenhok (doghouse). An affix is a Morpheme that is attached to a stem to form a word In Linguistics, a compound is a Lexeme (less precisely a Word) that consists of more than one stem. Unlike English, where newer compounds or combinations of longer nouns are often written in open form with separating spaces, Dutch (like the other Germanic languages) either uses the closed form without spaces, for example: boomhuis (Eng. tree house) or hyphenated: VVD-coryfee (outstanding member of the VVD, a political party). Like German, Dutch allows arbitrarily long compounds, but the longer they get, the less frequent they tend to be. The longest serious entry in the Van Dale dictionary is wapenstilstandsonderhandeling (ceasefire negotiation). Leafing through the articles of association (Statuten) one may come across a 30-letter vertegenwoordigingsbevoegdheid (right of representation). Sometimes hottentottensoldatententententoonstellingsterreinen (hottentot soldiers tents exhibition terrains) is jocularly quoted as the longest Dutch word (note the four times consecutive ten), but outside this usage it actually never occurs. Notwithstanding official spelling rules, some Dutch people nowadays tend to write the parts of a compound separately, which is sometimes dubbed “the English disease” or "de Engelse ziekte". ^[9][10]

Vocabulary

Main articles: Wiktionary:Category:Dutch language, Wiktionary:Category:Dutch derivations, and Wiktionary:List of Romanic words in the Dutch language with a Germanic alternative

The Dutch vocabulary is one of the richest in the world and comprises at least 186,000 headwords. See also Lemma (linguistics A headword, head word, lemma, or sometimes catchword is the word under which a set of related Dictionary ^[11]

Like English, Dutch includes words of Greek and Latin origin. Its number of Romance-based loanwords is higher than in German, but much lower than in English. A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one Language from another with little or no translation Even more than in English, a Romance alternative exists for many Germanic words, and the Romance word is primarily used in more formal contexts (e. g. "rechtvaardigheid" and "justitie", "verdediging" and "defensie"). Somewhat paradoxically, most loanwords from French have entered into Dutch vocabulary via the Netherlands and not via Belgium, in spite of the cultural and economic dominance exerted by French speakers in Belgium until the first half of the 20th century. This happened because the status French enjoyed as the language of refinement and high culture inspired the affluent upper and upper-middle classes in the Netherlands to adopt many French terms into the language. In Belgium no such phenomenon occurred, since members of the upper and upper-middle classes would have spoken French rather than Frenchify their Dutch. French terms heavily influenced Dutch dialects in Flanders, but Belgian speakers did (and do) tend to resist French loanwords when using standard Dutch. Nonetheless some French loanwords of relatively recent date have become accepted in standard Dutch, also in Belgium, albeit with a shift in meaning and not as straight synonyms for existing Dutch words. For example, "blesseren" (from French blesser, to injure) is almost exclusively used to refer to sports injuries, while in other contexts the standard Dutch verbs "kwetsen" and "verwonden" continue to be used.

Especially on the streets and in many professions, there is a steady increase of English loanwords, rather often pronounced or applied in a different way (see Dutch pseudo-anglicisms). Pseudo-anglicisms are words in languages other than English which were borrowed from English but are used in a way native English speakers would not readily recognize or understand The influx of English words is maintained by the dominance of English in the mass media and on the Internet. Unlike some other languages, Dutch adopts these new English terms with little or no resistance. Efforts to develop Dutch alternatives for English loanwords have extremely little success and indeed are often met with derision.

Writing system

Main articles: Dutch alphabet and Dutch orthography

Dutch is written using the Latin alphabet. The Dutch alphabet has 26 letters five or six of which are Vowels The alphabet used for the Dutch language is the Latin alphabet. Dutch orthography uses the Latin alphabet according to a system which has evolved to suit the needs of the Dutch language. Arguably the Dutch have one additional character beyond the standard alphabet, the digraph IJ. It has a relatively high proportion of doubled letters, both vowels and consonants. This is due to the formation of compound words and also to the spelling devices for distinguishing the many vowel sounds in the Dutch language. An example of five consecutive doubled letters is the word voorraaddoos (supply box).

The diaeresis (Dutch: trema) is used to mark vowels that are pronounced separately. In Linguistics, diaeresis, or dieresis, is the pronunciation of two adjacent Vowels in two separate Syllables rather than as a Diphthong In the most recent spelling reform, a hyphen has replaced the diaeresis in compound words (i. e. , if the vowels originate from separate words, not from prefixes or suffixes), e. g. zeeëend (seaduck) is now spelled zee-eend.

The acute accent occurs mainly on loanwords like café, but can also be used for emphasis or to differentiate between two forms. History An early precursor of the acute accent was the apex, used in Latin inscriptions to mark long vowels. Its most common use is to differentiate between the indefinite article 'een' (a, an) and the numeral 'één' (one); also 'hé' (hey, also written 'hee').

The grave accent is used to clarify pronunciation ('hè' (what?, what the . Pitch The grave accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, where it occurred only on the last syllable of a word in cases where the . . ?, tag question 'eh?'), 'bèta') and in loanwords ('caissière' (female cashier), 'après-ski'). In the recent spelling reform, the accent grave was dropped as stress sign on short vowels in favour of the accent aigu (e. g. 'wèl' was changed to 'wél').

Other diacritical marks such as the circumflex only occur on a few words, most of them loanwords from French. A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation Pitch The circumflex accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, where it occurred (subject to certain rules on the accented syllable French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people

The most important dictionary of the modern Dutch language is the Van Dale groot woordenboek der Nederlandse taal,^[12] more commonly referred to as the Dikke van Dale ("dik" is Dutch for "fat" or "thick"). However, it is dwarfed by the 45,000-page "Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal", a scholarly endeavour that took 147 years from initial idea to first edition. Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (English "Dictionary of the Dutch language" is a Dictionary of the Dutch language and the largest dictionary

The official spelling is set by the Wet schrijfwijze Nederlandsche taal (Law on the writing of the Dutch language; Belgium 1946, Netherlands 1947; based on a 1944 spelling revision; both amended in the 1990s after a 1995 spelling revision). The Woordenlijst Nederlandse taal, more commonly known as "het groene boekje" (i. e. "the green booklet", because of its colour), is usually accepted as an informal explanation of the law. However, the official 2005 spelling revision, which reverted some of the 1995 changes and made new ones, has been welcomed with a distinct lack of enthusiasm in both the Netherlands and Belgium. As a result, the Genootschap Onze Taal (Our Language Society) decided to publish an alternative list, "het witte boekje" ("the white booklet"), which tries to simplify some complicated rules and offers several possible spellings for many contested words. This alternative orthography is followed by a number of major Dutch media organisations but mostly ignored in Belgium.

Dutch as a foreign language

The number of non-native speakers of Dutch who voluntarily learn the language is small. Dutch is not geographically widespread and in its home countries, the Netherlands and Belgium, most of its speakers are proficient in other European languages. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Most of the many Languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European Language family. There are far fewer Francophone Belgians who speak Dutch than Flemings who speak French, although quite recently the number of the former is slightly on the rise. The terms Fleming and Flemings ( Vlaming and Vlamingen in Dutch) denote respectively a person and people and the Flemings or

Pronunciation

Pronunciation can be a challenge as many of the Dutch vowel sounds are difficult for non native speakers. Diphthongs such as the "ui" sound in such words as "zuid" (south) or "huis" (house), the "eu" in "keuze" (choice) or "sleutel" (key), and the "ij" sound in words like "mijt" (mite) or "wijn" (wine) present difficulties. In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with Even though some of these words are superficially like their English equivalents the correct sound is very different.

Another issue with pronunciation is the "ch"-sound, which Dutch native speakers pronounce as /x/. The voiceless velar fricative, informally known as the hard ch, is a type of Consonantal sound used in some spoken Languages The symbol in the It has no counterpart in English. Particularly the voiced equivalent /ɣ/ is rare among other European languages. The voiced velar fricative is a type of Consonantal sound used in various spoken Languages The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet Anglo-Saxons sometimes make fun of this feature of the Dutch language, and even speakers of Dutch who are well aware of this phonological speciality sometimes ironise it — for example Tom Meyer, a radio commentator, used to say on air that "Dutch isn't a language; it's a disease of the throat. "

There is a well-known Second World War anecdote in which the name of Dutch town Scheveningen was used as a Shibboleth by the Dutch Resistance, as there is also no phonetic counterpart of this word-initial combination in German. Scheveningen (ˈsxeːfənɪŋə is one of the eight Districts of The Hague, as well as one of its subdistricts ( wijken) Shibboleth (ˈʃɪbəlɛθ or ˈʃɪbələθ is any practice which is indicative of one's social or regional origin Dutch Resistance to the Nazi occupation during World War II developed relatively slowly but its counterintelligence domestic sabotage and communications networks Native German speakers will pronounce the consonant cluster sch in Scheveningen as /ʃ/ (as in the English word short), while Dutch native speakers will pronounce it as /sx/. According to the legend, this linguistic difference provided an excellent instrument to uncover German spies in the ranks of the Dutch resistance. It is a nice, Hans Brinker-like story, well-known, but little more than that. Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates is a novel by American author Mary Mapes Dodge, first published in 1865. It rather shows a deeply felt need for the Dutch to ready contrast themselves with Germans. The linguistic significance of this articulatory problem for foreigners, however, stays beyond doubt.

Consonant clustering

The morphologic versatility and cohesiveness of Dutch sometimes also produces words that might baffle speakers of other languages due to the high amount of consecutive consonants, such as the word "angstschreeuw" (help·info) (ɑŋstsxreːɥ) (scream in fear), which has grand total of eight in a row (ngstschr) (although the ng and ch are digraphs). A digraph, bigraph, or digram is a pair of characters used to write one Phoneme (distinct sound or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond It has to be noted though that the pronunciation of a word can differ greatly from its written form. In this case, "angstschreeuw" actually features 6 consonants (ng-s-t-s-ch-r) originating from two distinct compounded words ("angst" and "schreeuw"), which is reduced further in everyday pronunciation by blending consecutive consonants into one sound - e. In Linguistics, a compound is a Lexeme (less precisely a Word) that consists of more than one stem. g. "ch" and "r".

See also

Footnotes

External links

• History of the Dutch Language
• Sampa for Dutch
• Dutch and Afrikaans with Japanese translation incl. sound files

Dictionaries

• John and Grayson's Dutch Dictionary