Dutch Language

Dutch Language, member of the Low-Franconian language group in the western branch of the Germanic languages, spoken by over 17 million people. More precisely called the Netherlandic language (Nederlands), it is a first language for more than 12 million inhabitants of the Netherlands (where it is the official language); the Netherlands overseas territories (official language of two of these territories: Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles); the former territory of Suriname; the northern half of Belgium; and the northern part of Nord Department in France, near Belgium. The Flemish Language (spoken in Belgium) and Cape Dutch, or Afrikaans, (spoken in South Africa) make up the rest of the Low-Franconian group and are considered separate languages. The name Dutch is derived from the word Dietsch, meaning the vernacular, as distinguished from Latin.

Both Belgium and the Netherlands use a common literary language, termed standard Netherlandic or standard Dutch. Local spoken dialects vary gradually from village to village across the Netherlandic-speaking region (that is, they form a dialect chain), shading into the regional Low German dialects of northern Germany. As a spoken language, Dutch does, in fact, exist in far more varieties than the English of North America. Modern standard literary Dutch developed under the successive influence of the dialects of Flanders, Brabant, and Holland, during the times of their respective political and economic hegemony. The Dutch language may be divided into three main periods—Old, Middle, and Modern Dutch.

Old Dutch extends to about AD 1150. The most important existing monument of this period is a translation of the Psalter; other existing texts are rare and tend to consist of just one sentence or two, although together they have offered linguists enough data to separate Old Dutch from Middle Dutch.

Middle Dutch extends from 1150 to 1500. The language during this period underwent changes in sounds and inflections; no standard written form was at first recognized, and writers used local dialects. In the 13th century a determined effort was made to establish a literary Dutch, the leader in the movement being the poet Jacob van Maerlant. The use of the different dialects for literary purposes, however, continued. Unlike Old Dutch, many Middle Dutch texts exist.

Modern Dutch extends from around 1500 to the present day. The most important event in the history of the language during this period was the publication from 1619 to 1637 of the Statenbijbel, the authorized version of the Scriptures, which did much to spread this form of Dutch in the Low Countries. The effect of this translation was similar to that of the High German version of the Bible by Martin Luther in establishing a standard of language and orthography that was generally recognized as authoritative (although many dialects remained as well as this standard). This standard language spread first in the Dutch Republic of the 17th century. In the Netherlandic-speaking part of Belgium, which was under successive Spanish, Austrian, and French domination between 1516 and 1814, the language lost its position as a vehicle of culture until its restoration by the Flemish national movement in the 19th century. After World War II, government-sponsored measures were taken to reform Dutch orthography and to effect uniformity of usage in the Netherlands and Belgium. See also Dutch Literature; Flemish Literature; Frisian Language.