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Dutch dialects and varieties

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This article is a part of a series on
Dutch
Low Saxon dialects
West Low Franconian dialects
East Low Franconian dialects

Dutch dialects are primarily the local varieties of the Dutch language

First dichotomy

In the east, there is a Dutch Low Saxon dialect area: in Groningen (Gronings), Drenthe, Overijssel, and major parts of Gelderland, Low Saxon is spoken. The group is not Low Franconian and is very close to its neighbor, Low German.

  • Map of traditional Low Franconian dialects Map of traditional Low Franconian dialects
  • Low Saxon in the Netherlands Low Saxon in the Netherlands

Extension across the borders

Holland and the Randstad

In Holland, Hollandic is spoken, though the original forms of this dialect (which were heavily influenced by a West Frisian substratum and, from the 16th century on, by Brabantian dialects) are now relatively rare. The urban dialects of the Randstad, which are Hollandic dialects, do not diverge from standard Dutch very much, but there is a clear difference between the city dialects of Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam or Utrecht.

Dutch dialects and their peripheries to the West (French Flemish) and to the East (Low Rhenish)

In some rural Hollandic areas more authentic Hollandic dialects are still being used, especially north of Amsterdam. Another group of dialects based on Hollandic is that spoken in the cities and larger towns of Friesland, where it partially displaced West Frisian in the 16th century and is known as Stadsfries ("Urban Frisian").


Recent use

Dutch dialects and regional languages are not spoken as often as they used to be. Recent research by Geert Driessen shows that the use of dialects and regional languages among both Dutch adults and youth is in heavy decline. In 1995, 27 percent of the Dutch adult population spoke a dialect or regional language on a regular basis, while in 2011 this was no more than 11 percent. In 1995, 12 percent of the primary school aged children spoke a dialect or regional language, while in 2011 this had declined to 4 percent.

Flanders

In Flanders, there are four main dialect groups:

Some of these dialects, especially East Flemish, have incorporated some French loanwords in everyday language. An example is fourchette in various forms (originally a French word meaning fork), instead of vork. Brussels is especially heavily influenced by French because roughly 85% of the inhabitants of Brussels speak French. 

Dialect borders of these dialects do not correspond to present political boundaries, but reflect older, medieval divisions.
Minority languages, regional languages and dialects in the Benelux

The Brabantian dialect group, for instance, also extends to much of the south of the Netherlands, and so does Limburgish. West Flemish is also spoken in Zeelandic Flanders (part of the Dutch province of Zeeland), and by older people in French Flanders (a small area that borders Belgium).

Non-European dialects, and daughter languages

  • Until the early 20th century, variants of Dutch were still spoken by some descendants of Dutch colonies in the United States. New Jersey, in particular, had an active Dutch community with a highly divergent dialect spoken as recently as the 1950s. See Jersey Dutch for more on this dialect.


Further reading

  • Bont, Antonius Petrus de (1958) Dialekt van Kempenland 3 Deel Assen: van Gorcum, 1958-60. 1962, 1985

References

  • Ad Welschen 2000-2005: Course Dutch Society and Culture, International School for Humanities and Social Studies ISHSS, Universiteit van Amsterdam
  • Cornelissen, Georg (2003): Kleine niederrheinische Sprachgeschichte (1300-1900): eine regionale Sprachgeschichte für das deutsch-niederländische Grenzgebiet zwischen Arnheim und Krefeld (in German)
  • Driessen, Geert (2012): Ontwikkelingen in het gebruik van Fries, streektalen en dialecten in de periode 1995-2011. Nijmegen: ITS.
  • Elmentaler, Michael ( ? ): "Die Schreibsprachgeschichte des Niederrheins. Forschungsprojekt der Uni Duisburg", in: Sprache und Literatur am Niederrhein, (Schriftenreihe der Niederrhein-Akademie Bd. 3, 15-34).(in German)
  • Frins, Jean (2005): Syntaktische Besonderheiten im Aachener Dreiländereck. Eine Übersicht begleitet von einer Analyse aus politisch-gesellschaftlicher Sicht. Groningen: RUG Repro (in German)
  • Frins, Jean (2006): Karolingisch-Fränkisch. Die plattdůtsche Volkssprache im Aachener Dreiländereck. Groningen: RUG Repro (in German)
  • Frings, Theodor (1916): Mittelfränkisch-niederfränkische Studien I. Das ripuarisch-niederfränkische Übergangsgebiet. II. Zur Geschichte des Niederfränkischen in: Beiträge zur Geschichte und Sprache der deutschen Literatur 41 (1916), 193-271; 42, 177-248.
  • Hansche, Irmgard (2004): Atlas zur Geschichte des Niederrheins (= Schriftenreihe der Niederrhein-Akademie; 4). Bottrop/Essen: Peter Pomp. ISBN 3-89355-200-6
  • Ludwig, Uwe & Schilp, Thomas (eds.) (2004): Mittelalter an Rhein und Maas. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Niederrheins. Dieter Geuenich zum 60. Geburtstag (= Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur Nordwesteuropas; 8). Münster/New York/München/Berlin: Waxmann. ISBN 3-8309-1380-X
  • Mihm, Arend (1992): Sprache und Geschichte am unteren Niederrhein, in: Jahrbuch des Vereins für niederdeutsche Sprachforschung; 1992, 88-122.
  • Mihm, Arend (2000): "Rheinmaasländische Sprachgeschichte von 1500 bis 1650", in: Jürgen Macha, Elmar Neuss, Robert Peters (eds.): Rheinisch-Westfälische Sprachgeschichte. Köln (= Niederdeutsche Studien 46), 139-164.
  • Tervooren, Helmut (2005): Van der Masen tot op den Rijn. Ein Handbuch zur Geschichte der volkssprachlichen mittelalterlichen Literatur im Raum von Rhein und Maas. Geldern: Erich Schmidt ISBN 3-503-07958-0
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