The Dutch Language

**Frans_Jozef** · Tuesday, April 6th, 2004

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dutch/dutch/history/pages/od.html

**Agrippa** · Tuesday, April 6th, 2004

Old dutch was just a German dialect and when finally German was standardized and "Hochdeutsch" replaced the old "Plattdeutsch" the difference grow although he was not too big between northern Germans and Dutch before the standardization.

**Frans_Jozef** · Tuesday, April 6th, 2004

Originally Posted by Agrippa

Old dutch was just a German dialect and when finally German was standardized and "Hochdeutsch" replaced the old "Plattdeutsch" the difference grow although he was not too big between northern Germans and Dutch before the standardization.

Old Lower German was just a Diets dialect, the western dialacts at least survived the many gallicisms that threatened the existence and very identity of our language, while Low German fell apart, got highly corrupted by provincialism and absorbtion of High German.

**Agrippa** · Tuesday, April 6th, 2004

while Low German fell apart, got highly corrupted by provincialism and absorbtion of High German.

That sounds so negativ.

Well, to me from an racial and ethnical point of view Dutch are (as their name Dutch - Deutsch) more or less still not just Germanic but Germans or at least the next relatives.

It was a pity that the Dutch fell apart from the old Reich...

**Frans_Jozef** · Tuesday, April 6th, 2004

Originally Posted by Agrippa

That sounds so negativ.

Well, to me from an racial and ethnical point of view Dutch are (as their name Dutch - Deutsch) more or less still not just Germanic but Germans or at least the next relatives.

It was a pity that the Dutch fell apart from the old Reich...

Ah, my friend, but our Austrian rulers in the 18th century did little to nothing to keep the Dutch-speaking part of the Southern Netherlands from the talons of the francophony, although I have to admit that we until JosephII came by and intervened in our particularist traditions, we enjoyed an endearing and peaceful time at last with Karel van Lotharingen and Maria Theresa.

**Aragorn** · Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Dutch (Nederlands)

Dutch is a West Germanic language with about 20 million speakers mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium. There are small Dutch-speaking communities in northern France around Dunkerque and Dutch is also spoken in Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and in Indonesia.
The official or standard form of Dutch is known as Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands (ABN), 'general civilized Dutch'. It is taught in schools and used by authorities in the Netherlands, Flanders (Belgium), Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. An association known as the Taalunie (Language Union) set up by governments of the Netherlands and Flanders regulates the orthography and spelling of ABN. Alternative names for ABN are Algemeen Nederlands (AN), general Dutch, and Standaardnederlands, standard Dutch.
The Dutch dialects spoken in Belgium are collectively know as Flemish (Vlaams). They differ to some extent from the Dutch spoken in the Netherlands in terms of intonation and pronunciation, and there are minor differences in vocabulary, including loanwords from French and English not found in Standard Dutch.
The Dutch language developed from the Lower Franconian (Niederfränkisch) dialect of Low German. The earliest known example of written Old Franconian appears in a 9th century Latin manuscript, the Laws of the Salic Franks, and in translations of the Psalms. Some poetry written in Middle Dutch dating from the 12th and 13th centuries survives. The Dutch translation of the Bible, the Staten-Bijbel, of 1619-1637 was one of the first major works in Modern Dutch.
Dutch alphabet (Nederlands alphabet)A aB bC cD dE e F fG gH hI iabecedeeefgehaiJ jK kL lM mN nO oP pQ qR rjekaelemenopekuerS sT tU uV vW wX xY yĲ ĳZ zesteuveweiksylange ĳzet
Note

Ĳ ĳ was once written Y y, which is now only used in foreign loanwords.
Dutch pronunciation (Nederlandse uitspraak)

Sample text in Standard 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.
Listen to a recording of this text

Translation

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.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Longer sample text (Tower of Babel)
Useful phrases in Dutch