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Dutch phonology



 
 
Dutch is a Germanic language and as such has a similar phonology to other Germanic languages (particularly Low German
Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is any of the regional language varieties of the West Germanic languages spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands....
, Frisian, English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, and to a lesser extent, German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
). (See the West Germanic languages
West Germanic languages

The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic languages family of languages and include languages such as English language, Dutch language and Afrikaans, German language, the Frisian languages, as well as Yiddish language....
.)

The Dutch as spoken in Haarlem is popularly said to be closest to northern “Standard” Dutch, not the Amsterdam dialect. Amsterdam dialect is different from northern Standard Dutch in that, for example, is replaced by .

vowel
Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis....
 inventory of Dutch is large, with 13 simple vowels and four diphthongs.






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Encyclopedia


Dutch is a Germanic language and as such has a similar phonology to other Germanic languages (particularly Low German
Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is any of the regional language varieties of the West Germanic languages spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands....
, Frisian, English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, and to a lesser extent, German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
). (See the West Germanic languages
West Germanic languages

The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic languages family of languages and include languages such as English language, Dutch language and Afrikaans, German language, the Frisian languages, as well as Yiddish language....
.)

The Dutch as spoken in Haarlem is popularly said to be closest to northern “Standard” Dutch, not the Amsterdam dialect. Amsterdam dialect is different from northern Standard Dutch in that, for example, is replaced by .

Vowels

The vowel
Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis....
 inventory of Dutch is large, with 13 simple vowels and four diphthongs. The vowels , and are included on the diphthong chart because they are actually produced as narrow closing diphthongs in many dialects, but behave phonologically like the other simple vowels. In front of these vowels are pronounced as , and respectively. (a near-open central vowel
Near-open central vowel

The near-open central vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some Speech communication languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is 6....
) is an allophone of unstressed and .
Dutch Monophthongs
Dutch Diphthongs
Dutch Vowels with Example Words
SymbolExample
Vowel
Vowel

In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis....
IPAorthography
Dutch orthography

Dutch orthography uses the Latin alphabet according to a system which has evolved to suit the needs of the Dutch language. The regular relationship of graphemes to phonemes is listed in the article on Dutch language....
Gloss
bit'bit'
biet'beetroot'
hut'cabin'
fuut'grebe'
bed'bed'
beet'bite'
de'the'
neus'nose'
bad'bath'
baad'bathe'
bot'bone'
boot'boat'
hoed'hat'
bijt, ei'bite', 'egg'
buit'booty'
bout, faun'bolt', 'faun'
  1. Pronounced as in Standard Belgian Dutch


Consonants

 Bilabial
Bilabial consonant

In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...
Labio-
dental
Labiodental consonant

In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants Place of articulation with the lower lip and the upper teeth. The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...
Alveolar
Alveolar consonant

Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the Dental alveolus of the superior teeth....
Post-
alveolar
Postalveolar consonant

Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate ....
Palatal
Palatal consonant

Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate . Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex consonant....
Velar
Velar consonant

Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the Soft palate)....
Uvular
Uvular consonant

Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the Palatine uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants....
Glottal
Glottal consonant

Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricatives, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider them to be consonants at all....
Nasal
Nasal consonant

A nasal consonant is produced with a lowered soft palate in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The oral cavity still acts as a resonance chamber for the sound, but the air does not escape through the mouth as it is blocked by the tongue....
     
Plosivevoiceless    
voiced     
Fricative
Fricative consonant

Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two Place of articulation close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German language , the final consonant of Bach; or the side of the tongue ag...
voiceless   
voiced 
Trill
Trill consonant

In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr > as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular trill....
      
Approximant
Approximant consonant

Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and "typical" consonants. In the articulation of approximants, articulatory organs produce a narrowing of the vocal tract, but leave enough space for air to flow without much audible turbulence....
    


Notes:

  1. is not a separate phoneme in Dutch, but is inserted before vowel-initial syllables within words after and and often also at the beginning of a word.
  2. is not a native phoneme of Dutch and only occurs in borrowed words, like goal or when is voiced, like in zakdoek .
  3. and are not native phonemes of Dutch, and usually occur in borrowed words, like show and bagage ('baggage'). And even then they are usually realized as and respectively. However, + phoneme sequences in Dutch are often realized as , like in the word huisje ('little house'). In dialects that merge s and z often is realized as .
  4. The sound spelled is a uvular fricative in northern Standard Dutch and velar in Belgian Standard Dutch.
  5. In some dialects, the voiced fricatives have almost completely merged with the voiceless ones; is usually realized as , is usually realized as , is usually realized as . In the North is usually realized as , whereas in the South the distinction between and has been preserved.
  6. The realization of the phoneme varies considerably from dialect to dialect. In "standard" Dutch, is realized as the alveolar trill
    Alveolar trill

    The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, alveolar consonant, and postalveolar consonant trill consonant is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r....
     . In some dialects it is realized as the alveolar tap
    Alveolar tap

    The alveolar tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, alveolar consonant, and postalveolar consonant flap consonant is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is 4....
     , the voiced uvular fricative
    Voiced uvular fricative

    The voiced uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some Speech communication languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is R....
     , the uvular trill
    Uvular trill

    The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some Speech communication languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R....
     , or even as the alveolar approximant
    Alveolar approximant

    The alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents alveolar consonant and postalveolar consonant approximant consonant is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r....
     .
  7. The realization of the varies considerably from the Northern to the Southern and Belgium dialects of the Dutch language. A number of Belgian dialects pronounce it like a bilabial approximant . Other, mainly Northern Dutch, dialects pronounce it as a labiodental approximant: .
  8. The lateral is slightly velarized postvocalically.


Dutch Consonants with Example Words
SymbolExample
IPAIPAorthography
Dutch orthography

Dutch orthography uses the Latin alphabet according to a system which has evolved to suit the needs of the Dutch language. The regular relationship of graphemes to phonemes is listed in the article on Dutch language....
Gloss
pen'pen'
biet'beetroot'
tak'branch'
dak'roof'
kat'cat'
goal'goal' (sports)
mens'human being'
nek'neck'
eng'scary'
fiets'bicycle'
oven'oven'
sok'sock'
zeep'soap'
chef'boss, chief'
jury'jury'
acht'eight'
gaan'to go'
rat'rat'
hoed'hat'
wang'cheek'
jas'coat'
land'land / country'
beamen'to confirm'
  1. Often the final 'n' is not pronounced.


Dutch language
Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...
 devoices
Final obstruent devoicing

Final obstruent devoicing or terminal devoicing is a systematic phonology process occurring in languages such as German language, Dutch language, Polish language, and Russian language, among others....
 all obstruents at the ends of words (e.g. a final becomes ), which presents a problem for Dutch speakers when learning English. This is partly reflected in the spelling, the singular huis ('house') has the plural huizen and duif ('dove') becomes duiven. The other cases, viz. ‘p’/‘b’ and ‘d’/‘t’ are always written with the voiced consonant, although a devoiced one is actually pronounced, e.g. singular baard ('beard'), pronounced as , has plural baarden and singular rib ('rib'), pronounced as , has plural ribben .

Because of assimilation, often the initial consonant of the next word is usually also devoiced, e.g. het vee ('the cattle') is .

Some regions (Amsterdam, Friesland) have almost completely lost the voiced fricatives , and . Further south these phonemes are certainly present in the middle of a word. Compare e.g. logen and loochen vs. . In the South (i.e. Zeeland, Brabant and Limburg) and in Flanders the contrast is even greater because the becomes a palatal. ('soft g').

The final 'n' of the plural ending -en is often not pronounced (as in Afrikaans where it is also dropped in the written language), except in the North East (Low Saxon) and the South West (West Flemish) where the ending becomes a syllabic n sound.

Stress

When the penultimate syllable is open, stress may fall on any of the last three syllables. When the penultimate syllable is closed, stress falls on either of the last two syllables. While stress is phonemic, minimal pairs are rare. For example vóórkomen ('occur') and voorkómen ('prevent'). In composite words, secondary stress is often present. Marking the stress in written Dutch is optional, never obligatory, but sometimes recommended.

Phonotactics


The syllable structure of Dutch is (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C). Many words, like in English, begin with three consonants - e.g. straat ('street'). There are words that end in four consonants - e.g. herfst ('autumn'), ergst('worst'), interessantst ('most interesting'), sterkst ('strongest') - most of them being adjectives in the superlative form.

Historical sound changes

Dutch (with the exception of the Limburg dialects) did not participate in the second Germanic consonant shift
High German consonant shift

In historical linguistics, the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift was a phonological development which took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, and was almost complete before the earliest written recor...
 except for the last stage - compare > : German machen vs. Dutch maken, English make > : German schaf vs. Dutch schaap, English sheep > : German wasser vs. Dutch water, English water > : German das, Dutch dat vs. English that Dutch generalised the fricative variety of Proto-Germanic * as , in contrast with German which generalised the plosive , and English which lost the fricative variety through regular sound changes.

Dutch underwent a few changes of its own. For example:
  • Words with -old or -olt lost the in favor of a diphthong
    Diphthong

    In phonetics, a diphthong, or , is a contour vowel?that is, a unitary vowel that changes vowel quality during its pronunciation, or "glides", with a glissando of the tongue from one articulation to another, as in the English words eye, boy, and cow. This contrasts with "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, where the tongue is held s...
     as a result of l-vocalization
    L-vocalization

    In linguistics, l-vocalization is a process by which an sound is replaced by a vowel or semivowel sound. This happens most often to ....
    . Compare English old, German alt, Dutch oud.
changed to , spelled , but this was later reverted in many words by analogy with other forms. Compare English loft, German luft, Dutch lucht.
  • Proto-Germanic * turned into through palatalization, which, in turn, became the diphthong , spelled . Long * also diphthongized to , spelled .


See also

  • Dutch orthography
    Dutch orthography

    Dutch orthography uses the Latin alphabet according to a system which has evolved to suit the needs of the Dutch language. The regular relationship of graphemes to phonemes is listed in the article on Dutch language....
  • Hard and soft G in Dutch
    Hard and soft G in Dutch

    In the Dutch language the terminology Hard and soft G refers to not only a phonology phenomenon of the pronunciation of the letters g and ch but also indicates a major geographical accent division within the language....


Bibliography