Dutch language

Description

Welcome to Vedic University! Here, we celebrate and promote the richness of the Dutch language, a West Germanic language spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium, where it stands alongside French and German as an official language.

Often referred to as “Dutch” in the Netherlands and “Flemish” in Belgium, these terms denote the same language, unified in both its standard and dialectal forms. Dutch is the primary language spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium, and a small region in France along the North Sea. It also serves as the administrative language in Suriname and the Caribbean islands of Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius, formerly the Netherlands Antilles. Additionally, Afrikaans, a derivative of Dutch, is one of South Africa’s official languages.

Historically, the Dutch language was known as Dietsc or Duutsc, which translates to “language of the people,” in contrast to Latin, the language of religion and scholarship. This term evolved into the modern English term “Dutch.” Officially, the language is called Nederlands or Netherlandic. In the Netherlands, it is also referred to as Hollands, acknowledging that the standard language largely stems from the old province of Holland (now North Holland and South Holland).

Dutch exists in numerous varieties, with Standard Dutch (Standaardnederlands or Algemeen Nederlands) used for public, official purposes, and educational instruction. Local dialects are widely spoken in informal settings among family and friends, displaying a broader variety than the English dialects of North America. Standard Dutch is noted for its grammatical simplicity, notably the loss of noun case endings.

In Belgium, significant efforts have been made to elevate Dutch to equal status with French, which dominated culturally during the French rule from 1795 to 1814. By 1938, Dutch became the sole official language of northern Belgium.

The widespread use of both Standard Dutch and local dialects is more prevalent in the Netherlands compared to Belgium. The dialects within the region encircled by Amsterdam, The Hague, and Rotterdam closely resemble Standard Dutch, more so than those in other dialect areas.

Dutch, along with English, Frisian, German, and Luxembourgish, belongs to the West Germanic language family. It traces its roots to Low Franconian, the language of the Western Franks, which was influenced by North Sea Germanic speakers around 700 CE. The earliest Dutch language documents date back to the late 12th century, though some earlier glosses, names, and words exist.