Nederlands
Dutch
Germanic
Dutch (Nederlands) is a West Germanic language with ~25M speakers — official in the Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders), Suriname, and the Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten). Historical ancestor of Afrikaans (South Africa). Sister to German and English (West Germanic) but more conservative than English. Standard Dutch (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands, ABN) developed 19c. Distinguished from German by lack of Second Sound Shift (water vs Wasser). Spelling reformed 1995 (Groene Boekje). Notable for grammatical gender simplified to two (common/neuter), V2 word order, separable verbs.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Dutch
Water
water
/ʋaːtər/
Fire
vuur
/vyːr/
Sun
zon
/zɔn/
Moon
maan
/maːn/
Star
ster
/stɛr/
Mother
moeder
/mudər/
Father
vader
/vaːdər/
I
ik
/ɪk/
You
jij
/jɛi/
Name
naam
/naːm/
Eye
oog
/oːx/
Hand
hand
/ɦɑnt/
Heart
hart
/ɦɑrt/
Love
liefde
/lifdə/
Tree
boom
/boːm/
House
huis
/ɦœʏs/
Dog
hond
/ɦɔnt/
Cat
kat
/kɑt/
Eat
eten
/eːtə/
Drink
drinken
/drɪŋkə/
One
een
/eːn/
Two
twee
/tʋeː/
Hello
hallo
/ɦɑloː/
Thank you
dank je
/dɑŋk jə/
Good
goed
/ɣut/
Cuckoo
koekoek
/ˈkukuk/
Woof
waf waf
/ʋɑf ʋɑf/
Computer
computer
/kɔmˈpjutər/
Sushi
sushi
/ˈsu.ʃi/
Dopamine
dopamine
/doːpaˈminə/
At sign (@)
apenstaartje
/ˈaːpənstaːrtjə/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Germanic languages
| Meaning | Dutch | Dutch (Belgian) | Afrikaans | Low German | West Flemish | Frisian | Limburgish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | water /ʋaːtər/ | water /ʋaːtər/ | water /vɑːtər/ | Water /vɑːtɐ/ | woater /ˈwɔːtər/ | wetter /vɛtər/ | water /vatər/ |
| Fire | vuur /vyːr/ | vuur /vyːr/ | vuur /fyːr/ | Füer /fyːɐ/ | vier /viːr/ | fjoer /fjuːr/ | vuur /vyːr/ |
| Sun | zon /zɔn/ | zon /zɔn/ | son /sɔn/ | Sünn /zʏn/ | zunne /ˈzœnə/ | sinne /sɪnə/ | zón /zɔn/ |
| Moon | maan /maːn/ | maan /maːn/ | maan /mɑːn/ | Maan /maːn/ | moane /ˈmɔːnə/ | moanne /mwɑnə/ | maon /maːʊn/ |
| Star | ster /stɛr/ | ster /stɛr/ | ster /stɛr/ | Steern /steːrn/ | sterre /ˈstærə/ | stjer /stjɛr/ | sjter /ʃtɛr/ |
| Mother | moeder /mudər/ | moeder /muːdər/ | moeder /muːdər/ | Moder /moːdɐ/ | moeder /ˈmudər/ | mem /mɛm/ | mam /mam/ |
| Father | vader /vaːdər/ | vader /vaːdər/ | vader /fɑːdər/ | Vader /fɑːdɐ/ | voader /ˈvɔːdər/ | heit /hɛit/ | pap /pap/ |
| I | ik /ɪk/ | ik /ɪk/ | ek /ɛk/ | ik /ɪk/ | ik /ɛk/ | ik /ɪk/ | ich /ɪç/ |
| You | jij /jɛi/ | gij /ɣɛi/ | jy /jəi/ | du /duː/ | gie /hi/ | do /do/ | doe /du/ |
| Name | naam /naːm/ | naam /naːm/ | naam /naːm/ | Naam /naːm/ | noame /ˈnɔːmə/ | namme /ˈnamə/ | naam /naːm/ |
| Eye | oog /oːx/ | oog /oːx/ | oog /oːx/ | Oog /oːx/ | ooge /ˈoːhə/ | each /ɪəx/ | oug /ɔux/ |
| Hand | hand /ɦɑnt/ | hand /ɦɑnt/ | hand /ɦant/ | Hand /hant/ | and /ɑnt/ | hân /hɔːn/ | handj /hanʲ/ |
| Heart | hart /ɦɑrt/ | hart /ɦɑrt/ | hart /ɦart/ | Hart /haɐt/ | erte /ˈærtə/ | hert /hɛrt/ | hart /hart/ |
| Love | liefde /lifdə/ | liefde /lifdə/ | liefde /lifdə/ | Leev /leːf/ | liefde /ˈliːvdə/ | leafde /lɪəfdə/ | leefde /leːfdə/ |
| Tree | boom /boːm/ | boom /boːm/ | boom /boːm/ | Boom /boːm/ | boom /boːm/ | beam /bɪəm/ | boum /bʌʊm/ |
| House | huis /ɦœʏs/ | huis /ɦœs/ | huis /ɦœɪs/ | Huus /huːs/ | uus /ʏːs/ | hûs /huːs/ | hoes /huːs/ |
| Dog | hond /ɦɔnt/ | hond /ɦɔnt/ | hond /ɦɔnt/ | Hund /hʊnt/ | hound /hont/ | hûn /huːn/ | hóndj /hɔnʲ/ |
| Cat | kat /kɑt/ | kat /kɑt/ | kat /kat/ | Katt /kat/ | katte /ˈkɑtə/ | kat /kɑt/ | kat /kat/ |
| Eat | eten /eːtə/ | eten /eːtən/ | eet /eːt/ | eten /eːtn̩/ | eetn /ˈeːtn̩/ | ite /iːtə/ | ete /eːtə/ |
| Drink | drinken /drɪŋkə/ | drinken /drɪŋkən/ | drink /drɪŋk/ | drinken /drɪŋkn̩/ | drienkn /ˈdriŋkn̩/ | drinke /drɪŋkə/ | drinke /drɪŋkə/ |
| One | een /eːn/ | een /eːn/ | een /eːn/ | een /eːn/ | êen /eːn/ | ien /iːn/ | eine /ɛɪnə/ |
| Two | twee /tʋeː/ | twee /tweː/ | twee /tʋeː/ | twee /tveː/ | twêe /tweː/ | twa /twa/ | twee /tweː/ |
| Hello | hallo /ɦɑloː/ | hallo /ɦɑloː/ | hallo /ɦaˈlo/ | Moin /mɔɪn/ | goeiendag /ˌhujənˈdɑh/ | hoi /hɔi/ | hallo /halo/ |
| Thank you | dank je /dɑŋk jə/ | dank je /dɑŋk jə/ | dankie /daŋki/ | Dankschöön /daŋkʃøːn/ | merci /mɛrˈsi/ | tankewol /tɑŋkəvɔl/ | merci /mɛrsi/ |
| Good | goed /ɣut/ | goed /ɣut/ | goed /xut/ | good /ɡoːt/ | goed /hut/ | goed /ɡuət/ | good /ɡoːt/ |
| Cuckoo | koekoek /ˈkukuk/ | koekoek /ˈkukuk/ | koekoek /ˈkukuk/ | Kukuk /ˈkuːkuk/ | koekoek /ˈkukuk/ | koekoek /ˈkukuk/ | kókkók /ˈkoːkoːk/ |
| Woof | waf waf /ʋɑf ʋɑf/ | — | woef woef /vuf vuf/ | — | — | — | — |
| Computer | computer /kɔmˈpjutər/ | computer /kɔmˈpjutər/ | rekenaar /ˈreːkənɑːr/ | Computer /kɔmˈpjuːtɐ/ | computer /kɔmˈpjutər/ | kompjûter /kɔmˈpjuːtər/ | computer /kɔmˈpjuːtər/ |
| Sushi | sushi /ˈsu.ʃi/ | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | Sushi /ˈzuʃi/ | — | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ | sushi /ˈsuʃi/ |
| Dopamine | dopamine /doːpaˈminə/ | — | dopamien /dopaˈmin/ | Dopamin /dopaˈmiːn/ | — | dopamine /doːpaˈminə/ | — |
| At sign (@) | apenstaartje /ˈaːpənstaːrtjə/ | — | aapstert /ˈɑːpstɛrt/ | — | — | — | — |
Word order compared
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