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This is taken from my homepage: http://huizen.nhkanaal.nl/~rickdos
Double Dutch and how to speak it?
First of all the book "the Undutchables" by authors Boucke and White
shows a clear picture of the strange peculiarities the Dutch have as a
people.
"Dutch is impossible to learn, it's completely different from English,
the grammar is very complicated, the Dutch sounds are impossible to
pronounce and, after all, you don't really need Dutch of you're living
in the Netherlands, because they all speak perfect English." To the
unaccustomed ear Dutch appears to constitute from a bunch of grunts and
growls,occassionally added with snarls and k-sounds. That, however, is
far from true. At this page I'll try to show the ridicule and origin of
our language.
Chapters:
1. Prejudices in English
2. It looks familiar, but...
3. Land of confusion?
4. Origin
5. Grammar and stuff
6. A little bit of understanding
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1. Prejudices in English
Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter had the nerve to sail up the
Thames in order to hijack a ship. This he didn't manage, but
he left his traces in English.
. Double Dutch = speaking inscrutable gibberish
. Dutch comfort = cold comfort
. Dutch concert = pandemonium
. Dutch courage = the courage of drink
. Dutch crossing = crossing the street slantewise
. Dutch treat = each pays for their own expenses
. Going Dutch = sharing the bill
. Dutch wife = long rollshaped pillow
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2. It looks familar, but... what does it mean?
Dutch-English
Dutch word sounds/looks like but means
angel angel sting
as ass ashes, axle
bier bier beer
boon bone bean
boot boot boat
brief brief letter
broek brook trousers
die die demonstrative pronoune,
e.g. that
dik dick fat, thick
doop dope baptize
dove dove deaf person
drop drop liquorice
fabriek fabric factory
fiets feats bicycle
fok fuck breed
heet hate to be named
hoor whore hear
ijdel idle vain
jurk jerk dress
kaak cake jaw
kok cock cook
kou cow cold
kip kip chicken
kont cunt buttocks
krap crap skint, penniless
kwik quick mercury
lijm lime glue
loof loaf folliage
mais mice corn
meet mate mark, measure
mes mess knife
modder mother mud
neem name take
neus noise nose
nevel navel mist, nebula
overal overall everywhere
paarden pardon horses
peen pain carrot
pieper beeper potato
prik prick tonic water
rare rare weird (person)
reep rape chocolate bar
rente rent account, interest
sectie sexy section
shag shag cigarette tobacco
smart smart grieve
snoep snoop sweets, candy
spiek speak to copy off
stuk stuck broken, bit, pretty one
teek take tick
tof tough great
toneel toenail theatre, play
vaart fart sail, speed
vlaai fly fruit pie
warenhuis warehouse department store
wee way pain
wig wig wedge
wil will want
winkel winkle shop
wip whip quicky, seesaw
wissel whistle change
zeef safe/save sieve, strainer
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English-Dutch
English word sounds like Dutch which means
all al already
back bek mouth, snout
bill bil buttock
brick brik very old rickety car
blue bleu being shy
boar boor drill
coke kook cook
come kam comb
cut kut vagina
dear dier animal
dote dood dead
flicker flikker insult for homosexual, gay
freight vreet to eat like an animal
fry vrij free, (I) make love
fryin' vrijen (to) make love
get far getver oh my, yuch
got far godver damn
lame leem loam
lane leen borrow
leap liep walked
leg leg lay
life lijf body
like lijk corpse
love laf cowardly
lull lul penis
magazine magazijn warehouse
oar oor ear
of of or
offer offer sacrifice
oversight overzicht survey
paper peper pepper
peace, piece pies piss
pick pik penis
pimple pimpel boozing
play plee lavatory
proof proef test, experiment
prove proeven taste
pull poel pool, puddle
rate reet backside, arse
rest rest remain
ritz rits zipper
roam room cream
room roem fame
rove roven to rob
slate sleet wear and tear
slim slim clever
slip slip underpants
slope sloop wreck, pillowcase
spring spring jump
steak steek stab
stain steen brick
stride strijden to battle
tipple tippel streetwalk
we will need wie wil niet who doesn't want
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3. Land of confusion
Expressions often are an impossibility when it comes to translating
them.
Our politcicians, however don't really seem to bother if they freely mix
up both languages. In the following I'll make an attempt to clear some
of these obscurities.
Nobody will deny that many Dutch people master English to some
reasonable degree. But how skilled are they really? What are the most
common pitfalls that victimize the unsuspecting Dutch lingual wonders?
English Expressions
Expression What does it mean? Well, in fact it means
You can say that again I have to say it Agreement with what I said
again?
He takes the cake He is hungry? He is the best
That's not my cup of
tea Whose is it then? It's not for me
It looks like rain Is it watery? It looks like it is going
to rain
Double Dutch Mix ups
Expression in Dutch Double Dutch The right expression
De voorzitter hief de The chairman lifted The chairman cancelled
vergadering op the meeting the meeting
We moeten beide leden We have to change We'll have to change both
wijzigen both lids paragraphs
Maak dat de kat wijs Make that the cat Try fooling somebody else
wise
We moeten water bij de We must put water to We'll have to moderate
wijn doen the wine our demands
Ik ken het uit mijn I know it from my
hoofd head I remember it by heart
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4. Origin
Strangely enough it has been the development of the English language
that has been the cause of today's problems with Dutch word order and
pronunciation.
After the withdrawal of the Romans in the 5th century the Celtic king
Vortigern entered into an agreement with a few Germanic mercenaries and
asked them to help him drive out the Scots and the Picts. But after
doing so the continental tribes decided to stay.
From the 5th century onwards, English and Dutch were basically dialects
of the same language, which explains why they share a basic Germanic
vocabulary. many dutch words will look familiar to you because they are
similar (e.g. to sink=zinken; sun=zon; moon=maan; land=land;
father=vader;
mother=moeder; blind=blind; to shine=schijnen etc.)
If William the Conqueror would have stayed at home in Normandy in 1066
nothing would have happened and we should still be speaking more or less
the same language. But, he didn't and defeated the British at the Battle
of Hastings.
From that day, French was the official language among nobility, gentry
and the upper classess for almost two hundred years. The commoners,
however, continued to speak English.
But, when in the 14th century English was reinstituted as the official
language, it had by then changed too much to resemble Dutch.
Major changes:
The loss of grammatical gender, of endings on adjectives and nouns (see
shine and schijnen), and of inflictions (cases), and last but not least
an enormous amount of French words that had become common usance and the
disappearance of many native English words.
Some English words to have become extinct: (but still present in Dutch)
lichama=lichaam (body); gefaer=gevaar (danger); cnapa=knaap (boy);
gesynt=gezond (healthy).
15th century noun shift:
A strange thing about English is that many nouns don't represent the
pronunciation anymore, which makes it difficult for foreigners to learn.
Who, in fact, have to learn all these words by heart.
e.g.:
angel vs angle
apple vs apply
beat vs great
gather vs father
double vs noun
doing vs going
wound vs foundation
The very same difficulty happens to English people trying to pronounce
Dutch words, not because they can't pronounce them, but simply for the
same reasons I stated above. (hey:)
Ok, the Dutch got occupied by the French as well (from 1795 to 1813) and
in this period french was actually the official language, but apart from
importing a lot of French words, nothing dramatic happened to the
language itself.
On the other hand, over the last couple of centuries many French, German
and English words have been adopted into our language.
Best of all:
More than 2000 words in English are of Dutch origin.
This goes back till the socalled 'Dutch Golden Age' when the Dutch
sailed across the seven seas founding many colonies.
Logically, many words origin from maritime trade:
(dok=dock; boei=buoy; wijting=whiting; jacht=yacht; kielhalen=keelhaul).
The American Liberation War, when they were assisted by the Dutch:
(koekje=cookie; koolsla=coleslaw; the names Jan and Kees made up the
term Yankees and last but not least: daalder=dollar.
South Africa, a former Dutch colony, where they left a whole language:
e.g.:
aardvarken=aardvarken
apartheid=apartheid
boer(farmer)=boer
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5. Gammar and stuff
Both Dutch and English have over the centuries got rid of the most of
their grammatical complexities, but English takes the cake: it is by far
the simplest European language.
Articles
The case system has made it difficult to learn other languages. If you
think German is difficult with four cases, which results in six
articles:
der, des, dem, den, die das, whereas english has one(the) and Dutch two
(de, het), try Finnish with more than ten cases. The case system has
been abolished almost entirely from English and Dutch. As a result
English nouns and adjectives have dropped thier endings, and most Dutch
adjectives only have an e-ending. German adjectives can end in -e, -er,
-es, and -en.
Verb tenses
Like English, Dutch has four basic verb tenses:
I work = ik werk
I worked = ik werkte
I have worked = ik heb gewerkt
I had worked = ik had gewerkt
Irregular verbs in English are irregular in Dutch (well, most of them).
A confusing part, that plays nasty little tricks with both English and
Dutch is that Dutch lacks the rather complex system with auxiliary
verbs.
So, the terms can/be able to = kunnen
may/be allowed to = mogen
Asking questions
In contrary to English, Dutch doesn't work with the verb to do in
questions. Which, in some cases can be the cause of some confusion (even
to the Dutch).
For instance a simple question:
1. Spreekt u nederlands? is Do you speak Dutch?
The confusion arises when a question is asked in negative form:
2. Spreekt u geen nederlands? would be literally translated: Don't you
speak Dutch?, which could by an Englishman be interpreted as a rather
blunt accusation.
3. U spreekt geen nederlands? would literally be translated: You don't
speak Dutch?, the same problem here.
I can tell you it even is hard for a Dutchman to answer these questions.
Sustaining with a simple yes or no will leave the person asking the
question with uncertainty whether the person means yes or no. Therefore
most Dutch people will stick to the number 1. form of asking a question.
English has solved that problem with adding the verb to do. The question
asked would be:
You do speak Dutch, don't you or You don't speak Dutch, do you?
Answering a such question will by again adding the verb to do make
things absolutely clear to both persons:
No, I don't speak Dutch or yes, I do speak Dutch
The unability of the average Dutch to adapt to the general British
custom of raising the voice at the end of a sentence will only add to
the impression that the Dutch are rude.
Word order
Another point of confusion is word order. Both English and Dutch spoken
people find it hard to put the words in sentences in the proper order,
which will, to the native, sound comical.
Basic English structure: Subject - Verb - Object (I am reading a book)
Dutch structure: well, there is a slight problem: When a sentence
doesn't start with the subject, subject and verb change places.
At night I watch t.v. = 's Avonds kijk ik tv
(Verb - Subject - Object).
Another thing, which is an ancient relict from Germanic, Dutch like to
put the verb at the end of a sentence. Infinitives and past participles,
e.g., are always at the end, and in sub-clauses all verbs are at the
end.
. In Shakespearian times this kind of sentence-structure still was
present:
"Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended." (past participle at the
end)
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6. A little bit of understanding
"The more you try to learn Dutch, the more the Dutch refuse to speak
Dutch to you, and the more they complain that you haven't learned it
yet."
Is this really necessary?
Everybody seems to speak English perfectly.
The famed Dutch skills to master any language they come across is a
severe exaggeration. Sure, at first years of highschool every Dutch
student has to attend to the subjects dutch, french, German and English.
If strudents are going to a Gymnasium they're likely to attend to the
subject Latin and ancient Greek as well. But this doesn't mean that the
dutch master these languages, and I can know. Sure, in daily life,
superficially it appears this way. And the Dutch are the first to
address you in what assumeis your native tongue. But this is no more
than Dutch politeness.
Shopping
A little knowledge of Dutch might help you going around, even though it
may seem you can manage perfectly well, the following should stun you a
little bit. And I amnot going to explain all the differences between all
these Dutch cheeses.
"I would like to have some cheese."
"Sure, what do you want? Edammer, Leidse, Goudse, Komeine kaas,
Graskaas, Rookkaas, belegen, jong belegen, oude kaas, jonge kaas,
smeerkaas?"
"I would like to have a loaf of bread."
"Sure, what do you want? Witbrood, bruinbrood, volkoren brood, grof
volkoren brood, pandabrood, tijgerbrood, melk wit, vloermik, bolletjes,
viergranenbrood, meusslibrood.
Television and the media
Witch the exception of the news, the weather and the like, Dutch
networks prefer to add Dutch subtitles instead of synchronizing the
shows. Since most television series are from either the States or the
UK, and not to forget Australia there is no problem here. But knowledge
of Dutch could rise some question on the quality of the subtitling.
Newspapers and magazines, of course, are an impossibility when you can't
read it.
)Rick Vermunt/clees
Suggestions? comments? please send me a note, I^Rll add it to my
homepage.
12 responses total.
Uhhh...sorry, didn't have time to read all that. Doesn't boot (Dutch) sound like boat (English)? I'll be back to read the rest....(no promises..)
Clees, thank you. Well done. Your explanation, history and examples of mis-matches are wonderful. Your English is very polished,too- until you start to get tired. Then we can tell you're human... Lovely.
Thanks kami.
I enjoyed reading it too. I always thought that the disagreement that the English had with the Dutch over New (Amsterdam) York was what led to the disparaging English expressions involving the word "Dutch". (Dutch treat, etc.) My home state of NY and my current state of residence, MI, are probably the two states with the greatest Dutch influence. There are so many colorful Dutch place names in the NY area. (Kill van Kull, Spuyten duyvil, Schenectady, Catskill Mts.) as well as family names, like Rensellaer. (spelling only approximate throughout) Hey, Schenectady is Dutch, no? (suddenly I'm not sure) The term "Double Dutch" has always meant to me a very specific jibberish-sounding way of disguising English so that ones parents could not understand what one was saying. It's connection to Dutch is roughly the same as pig-latin's connection to latin, and what-the Swedish-Chef-speaks is to Swedish. (i.e. nil)
True, but Dutch must sound double Dutch to you. As far as I knew it was the Michiel de Ruyter thing (certainly when you take into account the British boast on the fact they have never been conquered; conveniently forgetting about the Battle of Hastings or the Romans), but lore definitely finds more ways.
Hollanders Unite! (as long as someone else pays... ;-)
In the phrase "Pennsylvania Dutch", the "Dutch" doesn't mean Netherland-ish at all, but "Deutsch" i.e. German. Is there anything else like that? "Double Dutch" to me suggests a kind of two-rope jump rope, more than gibberish, though I've heard both.
Wow, I'd forgotten about that two-rope business, but now that you mention it, that is how I've heard the term used.
hey, less of this 'british boast' - that's the english you're thinking of, and they weren't even around when the romans visited...)
Semantics. Byt he way, Dutch is a translation of the word Diets, which comes from Duits (Deutsch i.e. German.) Mind our anthem: ....Ben ik van Duitsen bloed; but originally it used to be: ....Ben ik van Dietzen bloed (...am I from Dutch blood/origin) Maybe in Pennysylvania there *are* Dutch people around.
if that 'semantics' in #10 refers to british/english in #9, then it would appear that clees does not know many welsh, scottish or northern irish people. the word 'british' comes from the original welsh name for the islands, and was adopted by the english for political reasons after their act of 'union' with the scots. the celtic languages share almost nothing, twentieth century loan words excepted, with english. vortigern's principal battles, incidentally, are thought to have been against the saxons, angles and jutes, rather than the picts - and those 'few germanic tribes' were engaged in settling the entire eastern and southern seaboards of the islands, as evident in present day english place names, counties particularly - sussex from south saxons, etc. 'english' as a language in the fifth century did not exist in a form recognisable to the modern speaker, and it grew from the amalgamation of those continental languages - the angles almost definitely provided the root for the word 'english'... and old english is, presumably thanks to the viking influence, closely related to old icelandic.
On my pages it goes too far to include origins. The used British refers to what's being commonly accepted as a reference to English. Of course by doing so I denie Welsh, Scots, and Irish (and not to forget Frysian and Basque). Never had a problem with people from these parts, though. Btw, I still regard American-English as English even though there is a distinction.
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