A short history of the Dutch language

Low Countries Studies, Ghent University

Prof. Dr. Jacques Van Keymeulen Department of Dutch Linguistics

BENELUX BElgium, NEtherlands, LUXembourg

BENELUX

Economic context

Overall population figures (2008)

Netherlands: 16,471,968 Belgium: 10,666,866 Flanders: 6,161,600 Wallonia: 3,456,775 Brussels: 1,048,491 Luxembourg: 483,800 total: 27,622,634

Languages in the Benelux

Summary
Dutch French German 22,738,417 4,810,217 557,800 = = = 81% 17% 2%

Frisian

Ltsebrgisch

Germanic languages
Northern group: Icelandic Danish Swedish Norwegian English Frisian German Dutch 300,000 5,500,000 9,300,000 4,700,000 350,000,000 (worldwide) 500,000 110,000,000 23,000,000

Western group

Dutch: between English and German

eng. I know he has worked very hard. ger. Ich wei, da er sehr viel gearbeitet hat.
du. Ik weet dat hij heel hard heeft gewerkt. or Ik weet dat hij heel hard gewerkt heeft.

Flemish
- Is NOT a separate language - Is an informal term for Belgian Dutch - Informal, non-prestigious term - Belgium has three official languages:
- Dutch - French - German

Pluricentric languages
= languages with several interacting centres, each providing a national variety with at least some of its own (codified) norms (Kloss 1978 II: 66-67)

Examples of pluricentric languages

i.e. a language spoken in more than one country > national varieties
Irish English Belgian French Austrian German Argentinian Spanish Swiss Italian Australian English Belgian Dutch

Natiolect
= a national standard of a language that is spoken in more than one state (Laureys 1997) E.g. Belgium: three natiolects - Belgian Dutch - Belgian French - Belgian German

Dutch = pluricentric language Dutch Dutch Hollandic Belgian Dutch Flemish Surinam Dutch

Differences between Dutch in the Netherlands and Flanders

- Mainly difference in pronunciation and vocabulary Intonation, slight differences in vowels / consonants In Flanders: influence of dialects official Belgian terminology

- In Flanders: influence of French (on the vocabulary)

Linguistic nationalism
Some people like to stress the language differences between Belgian Dutch (calling it Flemish) and Dutch Dutch, whereas others stress the unity. Depends on the level of nationalist feeling.

Dutch Language Union Treaty (Taalunieverdrag)

In 1980 the Dutch and the Flemish regional governments signed a treaty to safeguard the language unity between North (the Netherlands) and South (Flanders).

A bit of history

Oldest Dutch: words and phrases in a Latin text: the Lex Salica (6th-8th century)

Cultural heart of Dutch area

County of Flanders: 13th-14th century
Urbanisation (Brugge, Gent, Ieper, Lille, )

Emergence of texts in Dutch.

1236: Ghent: Regulations of the house of the lepers. 90% of 13th century Dutch texts originate from the southwestern corner of the Dutch speaking area.

(Very old literary texts (12th century) in the east (Veldeke) in a German/Dutch language variety).

1249: Contract of Bochoute

Burgundic / Habsburg period

1348 - 1555

Cultural heart of Dutch area

Duchy of Brabant: 15th-16th century
Antwerpen: Most important port of Western Europe Brussel: capital of the Duke of Burgundy Leuven: first university of the Low Countries (1425) Mechelen: seat of the Burgundic High Court

Attempts at standardization of Dutch

Basis: Brabantic dialect

Abdication of Charles V (1555)

Philips II inherits Spain and the Low Countries
Beginning of the Spanish period

Protestantism
Struggle between catholic Spain and protestant rebels. Led to the splitting up of the Low Countries in two parts:
A catholic South (present-day Belgium) A protestant North (present-day Netherlands)

Spanish period
1555-1713
1555: Philip II succeeds Charles V as King of Spain (and inherits the Low Countries) 1568: Start of the revolt in the Low Countries 1585: Surrender of Antwerp / split north (Holland) south (Belgium)

1588: de facto Independence of Republic of the Seven Provinces (= the Netherlands)

1648: Treaty of Mnster: Independence of the Republic accepted by Spain Southern provinces (present-day Flanders) remain Spanish till 1713

A succesful Dutch Nation

- Military success against Spain - Economically successful - Colonial expansion
Indonesia Caribbean Isles (Dutch Antilles) Northern South America (Surinam) Southern Africa

Dutch colonial empire

Dutch: the smallest world language

The colonial expansion of the Dutch left traces in:
Surinam (Dutch is still official language) Dutch Antilles (Curaao, Aruba, Bonaire) Indonesia (high class older generation) South Africa / Namibia

Afrikaans
Third language of South Africa (as a homelanguage) Lingua franca of Namibia for about 80% of the population (official language, however, is English)

HOME LANGUAGE

1996

2001

Zulu (isiZulu) Xhosa (isiXhosa) AFRIKAANS Southern-Sotho (Sepedi / SeSotho sa Leboa) English Tswana (Setswana) Southern-Sotho (Sesotho) Tsonga (Xitsonga) Swati (Siswati) Venda (Tshivenda) Ndebele (isiNdebele)

9.200.144 (22,9%) 7.196.118 (17,9%) 5.811.547 (14,4%) 3.695.846 (9,2%)

10.677.305 (23,8%) 7.907.153 (17,4%) 5.983.426 (13,3%) 4.208.980 (9,4%)

3.457.467 (8,6%) 3.301.774 (8,2%) 3.104.197 (7,7%) 1.756.105 (4,4%) 1.013.193 (2,5%) 876.409 (2,2%) 586.961 (1,5%)

3.673.204 (8,2%) 3.677.016 (8,2%) 3.555.186 (7,9%) 1.992.207 (4,4%) 1.194.430 (2,7%) 1.021.757 (2,3%) 711.821 (1,6%)

Other (Aziatic, European, etc.)

unknown Totaal

228.275 (0,6%)

217.293 (0,5%)

100% = 40.583.573

100% = 44.819.778

Blacks

Coloured

Indians

Whites

total

Afrikaans

253.282

3.173.972

19.266

2.536.906

5.983.426

English

183.631

756.067

1.045.845

1.687.661

3.673.204

%Afrikaans

0,7%
0,5%

79,5%
18,9%

1,7%
93,8%

59,1%
39,3%

13,3%
8,2%

%Engels

Cultural heart of Dutch area

Province of Holland: 17th century (Golden Age);
Emergence of standard Dutch language

A general cultural decline in the south

Spanish period till 1713
- southern protestants left the country to the north; - re-catholization of the south; - the Scheldt was closed; the port of Antwerp dwindled;

A general cultural decline in the south

Austrian period (1713 1795) - French became a socal evidence for the urban upper class in Flanders. French period (1795 1815) - Annexation of the Southern Netherlands by France. - Compulsory measures in favour of French. - 1815: Waterloo!

Northern and Southern Low Countries: coming together again

United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815 1830) - Willem I introduces Dutch as an official language in Flanders (1823); - Schooling system is improved; - Heavy opposition of French-speaking Belgians (Walloons and Flemish upper class).

The Belgian State

Belgian Revolution (1830)
A French-speaking state; Flemish Movement; Frenchification of Brussels; Evolution towards a federal state.

Flemish Movement
Reaction against linguistic oppression of Dutch in Flanders
Romantic phase Political phase

Middle class movement: no French (=upper class), no dialects (lower class) > Dutch standard of The Netherlands adopted.

Language Laws
1873: First language law. Law-Cooremans: Dutch became tolerated in courts in Flanders. 1898: Equality Law: since then French and Dutch enjoy the same legal status in Belgium. 1930: The introduction of Dutch at the Ghent University as language of instruction. 1962: the language border was drawn.

A federal state
State reforms in1970, 1980, 1988-1989, 1993, 2001, 2012 - four linguistic zones (Dutch, French, German, bilingual Brussels) - three cultural communities (Flemish, French, German) - three regions (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels).

A federal state with 6 governments

(1) federal Belgian government, (2) Flemish government (region + community) (3) Walloon government (region) (4) goverment of the French-speaking community (= Wallonia + French-speaking Brussels), (5) Brussels government (region), (6) government of the German-speaking community.

Competences
The different parliaments / goverments differ with regard to their competences
eg. social security is a federal matter eg. education is a community matter eg. economy is a regional matter

Total independence with regard to the competences A centrifugal federation (Flemings demand more autonomy)

Fundamental equilibrium
In the Belgian federation:
French-speaking community is a minority, but protected by law.

In Brussels (the capital):

Dutch-speaking community is a minority, but protected by law.

Thank you for your attention