Dutch language

**Dutch** () is a West Germanic language. It comes from the Netherlands and is the country's official language. It is also spoken in the northern half of Belgium (the region called Flanders), and in the South American country of Suriname. A language known as _Afrikaans_ was developed from Dutch by the people in southern Africa and is now spoken mainly in South Africa but also in nearby Namibia. About 22 million people around the world speak Dutch.

## History

Dutch is a West Germanic language The West Germanic branch is divided into English, Frisian, German and Dutch. Dutch has a similar vocabulary and grammar to English but is closer to German.

The North Germanic languages of Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic are also part of the Germanic language branch. Dutch is also in some cases like those languages.

The Dutch of before 1170 is called _Old Dutch_ (Oudnederlands). The Dutch between 1170 and 1500 is called _Middle Dutch_ (Middelnederlands), which is also called _Diets_ and so that is why it is called Dutch in English. The word "Dutch" itself came from the Proto-Germanic word _*þiudiskaz_, which means "of the common people" and then was also used to refer to the Germans and their language. Over time, the Modern English usage now refers to that the Netherlands, not the Germans. The Dutch word for German, _Duits_, comes from the same origin.

The oldest Dutch book known is _Wachtendonckse Psalmen_, which was written in 900. The first Dutch writer known by name is Hendrik van Veldeke, who was born around 1150.

## Letters

Dutch uses the letters of the same Roman alphabet as English.

### Vowels

|Short|Long|
| --- | --- |
|a – like the _a_ in art.|aa – somewhat like the "a" in _far_|
|e – like in _pet_|ee – like the "a" in _space_|
|o – like in _organic_|oo – like in _no_|
|u – somewhat like the "e" in _the_|uu – like the "ü" in the German word _für_|
|i – like in _lip_|i.e. – like in _piece_|
Note: The e can also be a schwa (like in _the_)

Note: The short vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are pronounced long in open syllables (explaned further down below).
- oe – like the "ou" in _you_
- eu – like the French "eu" in _fleur_
- ui – typical Dutch sound, but almost identical to the French word oeuil (= eye)
- ou/au – like in _sound_
- ij/ei – typical Dutch sound, the same as "ej" in Esperanto (not in Polish) In Amsterdam, the sound instead is "i" in ice.
- aai – like the "i" in ice
- eeuw – typical Dutch sound
- ieuw – somewhat like "iew" in _view_

### Open and closed syllables

Vowels are said differently on the if the syllable is _open_ or _closed_. If a syllable is open, short written vowels are said as long ones. However, short written vowels are said short if the syllable is closed.:
- The word _praten_ has two syllables: _pra|ten_. Because _pra_ is open, the a is pronounced like aa.
- The word _plat_ had only one syllables and so the a is short (just a).

There is, however, an exception to this rule. This is the "e". This is because "e" can also be a "mute e" (Schwa) (IPA character ə). In most words, where an open syllable ends with e it is a short e. Therefore, open syllables with a long e (ee) are written as ee. Example:
- The word "me" contains an e and is **not** pronounced as "mee". (Mee has a totally different meaning).

There are, however, exceptions to this rule as well. This can be seen in the word _meenemen_. This word can be divided into three syllables: mee|ne|men. The e's in the first two syllables are **long** ones, but the last one is a mute e.

The mute e also occurs in the ending of verbs (usually -en).

### Consonants

- b
- c
- d
- f
- g/ch – not pronounced as the English G; the Dutch G is pronounced in the back of the throat with a "scratching" sound. In the south of the Netherlands, the G is spoken differently (so called _soft G_) than in the north (_hard G_).
- h
- j – like "y" in _you_
- k
- l
- m
- n
- p
- q – only used rarely; spoken as k
- r – not like English; the Dutch R is a more rolling R
- s
- t
- v
- w
- x – only used rarely, mostly in foreign words, pronounced as ks
- z

Note: In words that end with "-d", the "-d" is pronounced like "-t".

## Grammar

The grammar of Dutch is slightly more complex than that of English. Word order in sentences is different in complex sentences. The basic simple sentence-structure is subject-verb.

### Verbs

Dutch has few grammatical _tenses_. These are most used:
- _onvoltooide tegenwoordige tijd_ (present simple)
- _onvoltooide verleden tijd_ (past simple)
- _voltooide tegenwoordige tijd_ (present perfect)
- _voltooide verleden tijd_ (past perfect)

### Onvoltooid tegenwoordige tijd

The most simple verb-time is the onvoltooide tegenwoordige tijd (ott; present simple). The ott is used when something happens _now_, or _regularly_ (like _Hij eet regelmatig_ (He eats regularly)). Most verbs are conjugated (changed) in a regular form (these verbs are called _regelmatige werkwoorden_ (regular verbs)). The word stem of the verb is still there in all of the conjugations (verb changes). The correct way of doing so is

|Person||Verb conjugation||Example with "lopen" (to walk)|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Ik (I)|Stem|Ik loop|||
|Jij (you)|Stem+**t**|Jij loopt|||
|Hij/Zij (he/she)|Stem+**t**|Hij loopt|||
|Wij (we)|stem+**en*** (infinitive)|Wij lopen|||
|Zij (they)|stem+**en***|Zij lopen|||
|Jullie (you, plural)|stem+**en***|Jullie lopen|||
|U (you, polite)|stem+**t**'|U loopt|||

Note: The stem of a verb is the infinitive of the verb without the _-en_. In some verbs, the first syllable is open and so any vowel is **long**. The stem changes to a written **long** vowel so the stem of _lopen_ becomes _loop_. If the _-en_ is then added to the stem (like with _wij_), the written form becomes short again, but it is still said as a long vowel).

### Onvoltooid verleden tijd

The past form of the ott is the _onvoltooid verleden tijd_ (ovt; past simple). How verbs are conjugated (changed) in the ovt is not easy to understand. Mistakes are common because some verbs are add a D, but others add a T. The "'t kofschip" rule is that the verb without _-en_ (the stem in most verbs) ends with a consonant, which is also in "'t kofschip", the verb is changed with a T:
- The verb _praten_ (to talk) is changed with a T because _prat_ ends with a T.

The verb can now be changed as the following:

|Person||Verb conjugation (with T)||Result with _praten_|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Ik|stem+**te**|Ik praatte|||
|Jij|stem+**te**|Jij praatte|||
|Hij/Zij|stem+**te**|Hij praatte|||
|Wij|stem+**ten**|Wij praatten|||
|Zij (they)|stem+**ten**|Zij praatten|||
|Jullie|stem+**ten**|Jullie praatten|||
|U|stem+**te**|U praatte|||

There are some words for which "'t kofschip" is not so easy. In _vrezen_ (to fear), the stem of the verb is _vrez_, but the singular form is _vrees_ and it looks as if it is changed with a T. However, it changes to a D because _vrezen_ without _-en_ is _vrez_. The Z is not in "'t kofschip" and so the verb is changed to a D.

The verb can now be changed as follows:

|Person||Verb conjugation (with D)||Result with _Vrezen_|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Ik|stem+**de**|Ik vreesde|||
|Jij|stem+**de**|Jij vreesde|||
|Hij/Zij|stem+**de**|Hij vreesde|||
|Wij|stem+**den**|Wij vreesden|||
|Zij (they)|stem+**den**|Zij vreesden|||
|Jullie|stem+**den**|Jullie vreesden|||
|U|stem+**de**|U vreesde|||

### Continuating verbs

Although Dutch has _present continuous_ (the -ing form of verbs in English), it is not used often:
- The senctence "I am eating", is in Dutch "Ik eet", which is literally "I eat".
- The present continuous in Dutch is "Ik ben etende", but it is almost never used.

Actually, there are three types of continuous verbs in Dutch.
1. The first type is a form of the verb _zijn_ (to be) with the actual continuous verb. That is done by adding _de_ on the infinitive. It is rare but correct to use it in Dutch, and it is used only in very formal texts.
1. The second type is a type in and which the verb actually functions as an adverb. Depending on the subject, the verb is changed by adding either a "d" or "de" to the infinitive. The verb then has the function of _while...._. An example: _Hij liep **drinkend** de supermarkt uit_. English uses _He walked out of the supermarket while **drinking** _.
1. The third type is a type that is often used. Its use can be compared with the English type of continuous. Something is being done at the moment but is not completed. The form of _zijn_ + _aan het_ comes before the infinitive: _Ik ben aan het lopen_, which means _I am walking (at the moment)_.

## Examples

_ hallo _ (hello)

_ Ik heet ... _ (my name is...)

_ Ik hou van je _ (I love you)

_ ja _ (yes)

_ nee _ (no)

### Numbers

_ een _ (one)

_ twee _ (two)

_ drie _ (three)

_ vier _ (four)

_ vijf _ (five)

_ zes _ (six)

_ zeven _ (seven)

_ acht _ (eight)

_ negen _ (nine)

_ tien _ (ten)

_ elf _ (eleven)

_ twaalf _ (twelve)

In number with three digits (e.g. 100), the Dutch change the u into o and replace 1 of the r's. Example:
- The number 100 becomes: _honderd_, which literally means _hundred_.

### Basic Dutch expressions

|Dutch||English|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Hallo|Hello||
|Hoi|Hi||
|Dag|Bye (formal)||
|Doei!|Bye! (informal)||
|Tot later!|See you later!||
|Goedemorgen/Goedemiddag|Good morning/Good afternoon||
|Goedenavond/Goedenacht|Good evening/Good night||
|Hoe gaat het met je?|How are you? (informal)||
|Hoe gaat het met u?|How are you? (formal)||
|Met mij gaat het goed!|I am fine!||
|Dank je/Dank u|Thank you (informal/formal)||
|Graag gedaan|You are welcome||
|Spreekt u Engels?|Do you speak English?||
|Spreekt u Nederlands?|Do you speak Dutch?||
|Ik begrijp het niet|I do not understand||
|Ik weet het niet|I do not know||
|Tot ziens|Goodbye||
|Tot straks|See you later||
|Mijn naam is...|My name is...||
|Ik ben...|I am...||
|Alsjeblieft|Please (informal)||
|Alstublieft|Please (formal)||
|Wat is je naam?|What is your name? (informal)||
|Wat is uw naam?|What is your name? (formal)||
|Waar kom je vandaan?|Where are you from? (informal)||
|Waar komt u vandaan?|Where are you from? (formal)||
|Ik kom uit Nederland/België|I'm from the Netherlands/Belgium||
|Wat is er?|What's wrong?||
|Sorry, waar is het station?|Excuse me, where is the train station?||
|Hoeveel kost deze trui?|How much is this sweater?||
|Mevrouw|Miss/Mrs.||
|Meneer|Mr.||
|Waar|Where||
|Misschien|Maybe||
|Goede reis|Have a good trip||
|Prettige dag|Have a nice day||

## Infobox (language)

- **name**: Dutch
- **nativename**: _Nederlands_
- **states**: Netherlands and Flanders
- **region**: Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname;
also in Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, French Flanders
- **speakers**: 22 million
- **date**: 2016
- **ref**: e19
- **speakers2**: Total (first language, L1 plus Second language, L2 speakers): 28 million (2018)
- **familycolor**: Indo-European
- **fam2**: Germanic languages, Germanic
- **fam3**: West Germanic languages, West Germanic
- **fam4**: Low Franconian languages, Low Franconian
- **ancestor**: Frankish language, (Old) Frankish
- **ancestor2**: Old Dutch
- **ancestor3**: Middle Dutch
- **sign**: Signed Dutch (_NmG_)
- **nation**: ----
- **agency**: Nederlandse Taalunie
(Dutch Language Union)
- **iso1**: nl
- **iso2b**: dut
- **iso2t**: nld
- **iso3**: nld
- **iso3comment**: Dutch/Flemish
- **lingua**: 52-ACB-a
- **glotto**: mode1257
- **glottorefname**: Modern Dutch
- **map**: Map of the Dutch World.svg
- **mapcaption**: Dutch-speaking world (included are areas of daughter-language Afrikaans language, Afrikaans)
- **map2**: Idioma neerlandés.PNG
- **mapcaption2**: Distribution of the Dutch language and its dialects in Western Europe
- **notice**: IPA