Name used by its speakers (Endonym): Nederlands
Native speakers (estimated): 25 million
Total speakers, including second-language (estimated): 30 million
Where it’s spoken: Dutch is the national language of the Netherlands, and is one of the three official languages of Belgium (where it is spoken by about 60% of the population, and sometimes referred to as Flemish or ‘Vlaams’.) Small Dutch-speaking minorities remain in bordering France and Germany. It is also the official language of Suriname, where 60% speak it as a native language. In the Caribbean, Dutch is an official language in six islands historically known as the Dutch West Indies—independent nations Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, and Dutch municipalities of Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius—but is not commonly spoken there.
Language family: Indo-European, Germanic branch. Dutch is the third most spoken Germanic language after English and German.
Related languages: Frisian (closest), English, German. The Dutch dialects brought by settlers to South Africa evolved over time into the distinct Afrikaans language, spoken by up to 23 million people.
Writing and pronunciation tips: Writing and pronunciation tips: Dutch uses the common Latin-based alphabet, though the combination IJ is often treated as one letter. As in German, the letter J is pronounced ‘Y’, V is pronounced similarly to ‘F’, and W is pronounced ‘V’—thus the phrase ‘mijn vader’ (my father) sounds like “miyn fah-der”. The letter G is pronounced gutturally, from the back of the throat, as it is in European Spanish. Accent marks can be used for emphasis, but are seen infrequently. Pronunciation varies between different regional dialects.
Words shared with English:
Same spelling and meaning: Hand, ring, warm, water, snack, holster, splinter, hard, blind, plant, lip, walrus, God. Different spelling, but pronounced nearly the same as in English: Melk, appel, wafel, bier, vinger (“finger”), vader (“father”), boot (“boat”), boek (“book”), muis (“mouse”) and huis (“house”).
Words exported to English:
FOOD & DRINK: Only a few foods are known by their Dutch names in English, like stroopwafel (‘syrup waffle’) and the Dutch-Indonesian rijsttafel (‘rice table’). Gouda and Edam are well-known cheeses named after their Dutch towns of origin. Several baking-related words are derived from Dutch: Cookie (from koekje, ‘little cake’); cruller (from krullen, ‘to curl’); pancake (pannenkoek); waffle (wafel); scone (from schoon brood, ‘fine bread’); and buckwheat. Coleslaw comes from the Dutch koolsla (‘cabbage salad’). Gin comes from jenever, a juniper-flavored spirit; brandy comes from brandewijn (‘burned wine’). (See also: the Korean spirit, soju.)
SHIPS & TRAVEL: Reflecting their historical prominence as a seafaring nation, many Dutch nautical terms have been adapted to English: Ship (from schip); skipper (from schipper); deck (related to dekken, ‘to cover’); boom (the word for ‘tree’); rowing (from roeien); cruise (from kruisen, ‘to cross’); and yacht, from jachtschip (‘hunting ship’). Maelstrom comes from malen (‘to grind’ or ‘to mill’) and stroom (‘current’). The word boss comes from baas, an old Dutch title for ship’s captain. Iceberg comes from the Dutch ijsberg (‘ice mountain’). Caboose comes from Dutch kabuis, originally a word for ship’s galley, but eventually coming to mean the little car behind a train.
ANIMALS: From African Dutch, wildebeest (‘wild beast’) and aardvark (‘earth pig’).
PEOPLE: Yankee today refers to Americans, but has its roots in a Dutch nickname—either Jan Kees, Janke (‘Little Jan’), or Jan Kaas (‘Jan Cheese’). Santa Claus is originally Sinterklaas, based on the legend of the 3rd-century Saint Nicholas of Myra.
OTHER: Fittingly, the word skates is of Dutch origin (schaats). Other nouns include mannequin (from manneken, ‘little man’); spook (‘ghost, phantom’); rucksack (from rugzak, ‘back sack’); knapsack; scum (from schuim, ‘froth, foam’); and geek (probably from gek, meaning ‘crazy’ or ‘fool’). Verbs derived from Dutch include hustle, from husselen (‘shake, shuffle’); bluff, from bluffen (‘brag, boast’); and frolic, from vrolijk (‘happy, cheerful’). A possible origin for the term ‘playing hooky’ may be the Dutch hoekje (‘corner’)—a place around which a truant schoolboy would be tempted to hide.
PLACE NAMES: The 17th century colony of New Netherland included parts of the modern-day states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island; its largest settlement was New Amsterdam, later renamed New York by the British. Many places in and around New York City thus have Dutch-derived names: boroughs (Brooklyn, Staten Island); neighborhoods (Harlem, Flushing, Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Flatbush, Red Hook, Spuyten Duyvil); and streets (the Bowery, Bleecker Street, Amsterdam Avenue). Coney Island comes from konijn (‘rabbit’), while Greenwich Village was originally named Groenwijck (‘green district’).
Other places names of Dutch origin are Yonkers, Fishkill, Peekskill, and the Catskill Mountains in New York (‘kill’ meaning ‘stream’ or ‘creek’); Bergen County, NJ; and Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River. One story behind the naming of Rhode Island credits Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, who described “a reddish island” (“rodlich Eylande” in the Dutch of that era); he also named Block Island (off the RI coast) after himself. Towns and cities with Dutch names were scattered through the rest of the United States by immigrants, including in Michigan (Holland, Zeeland, Vriesland, and Overisel)—the US state with the most residents of Dutch ancestry.
Culture & pop culture:
ART: Dutch-speaking lands (the Netherlands and Flanders, now part of Belgium) have contributed prominently to art since the early Renaissance. Early painters include Jan van Eyck; Hieronymus Bosch, known for his elaborate and fantastic scenes; and Pieter Brueghel the Elder, a pioneer in elevating everyday life to art. The 17th century “Golden Age” featured Dutch masters like Rembrandt (his first name) and Vermeer (his last name, who painted “Girl with a Pearl Earring”) as well as Flemish Baroque painters Rubens, Jan Brueghel (son of Pieter), and van Dyck, who became the leading court painter of England.
Two centuries later, Vincent van Gogh’s bold colors and expressionistic brushwork made him one of Western art’s most influential figures. In contrast, Piet Mondrian (a founder of De Stijl or ‘The Style’ movement) pared his paintings down to simple geometric lines and primary colors. Dutch-born Willem de Kooning moved to New York and became a leading abstract expressionist in the years after WWII.
MUSIC: The Netherlands is not as prominent in classical music as some of its European neighbors. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was an early Baroque organist and composer. Jacob van Eyck composed during the Dutch Golden Age, overlapping with Rembrandt. (Though he was German, Ludwig van Beethoven owed the Dutch ‘van’ in his family name to a grandfather born in what is now Flanders.) Louis Joseph Andriessen was the most influential Dutch composer in the 20th century; Ton Koopman is a musician and conductor well known as a proponent of baroque music.
SCIENCE: For a small country, the Netherlands has punched well above its weight in science and discovery. In the 16th century, Flemish cartographer Mercator created the map projection that bears his name, and Vesalius was considered the founder of modern anatomical study. In the 17th century, Dutch microscopy pioneer van Leeuwenhoek was the first to see bacteria, and Dutch mathematician-physicist-astronomer Huygens discovered Saturn’s first moon and described its rings (beating out Galileo). Flemish physician Jan Baptist van Helmot coined the word ‘gas’ (from Dutch geest, ‘spirit or ghost’), while Dutch physician de Graaf made key discoveries in ovarian biology. In the 18th century: Dutch biologist-chemist Ingenhousz discovered photosynthesis; physicist Daniel Bernoulli (Swiss-French, but born Dutch) described the principle later applied to airplane lift.
Scientists in the 19th-20th centuries include physicist Johannes van der Waals, physical chemist Jacobus van ‘t Hoff, physicist Hendrik Lorentz, and animal behavior pioneer Niko(laas) Tinbergen—all of whom won Nobel prizes, and there are even more laureates than we have room to mention here. Other prominent scientists include Martinus Beijerinck, discoverer of the first virus, and astronomers Jan Oort and Gerard Kuiper, the latter regarded as the father of modern planetary science.
WRITERS: The best-known writer in Dutch, at least internationally, is probably Anne Frank, whose posthumously published “Diary of a Young Girl” described life under Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Journalist and poet Jan Campert also fell victim to German occupation. Though few are recognized outside the Dutch-speaking world, other prominent writers include poets Willem Bilderdijk and Hendrik Tollens; playwright Herman Heijermans; and post-WWII writers Gerard Reve, W.F. Hermans, Harry Mulisch, and Jan Wolkers. Two writers beloved for their children’s books are Annie M.G. Schmidt and Dick Bruna, the creator of Miffy the rabbit (her name is Nijntje or ‘Little Rabbit’ in Dutch), who was possibly an inspiration for Sanrio’s Hello Kitty line—though, naturally, this is a matter of dispute.*
POP MUSIC: Like artists from other small countries, many Dutch musicians have chosen to write and perform in English for broader appeal. Dutch rock band Golden Earring, who started playing together as teenagers in 1961, had international hits with “Radar Love” in 1973 and “Twilight Zone” in 1982. Anouk Schemmekes, known by her first name alone, is a singer and songwriter known for hit songs in English but has recorded in Dutch as well. Two Dutch-American immigrant brothers, Alex and Eddie Van Halen, formed an eponymous rock band in 1974 (which you may have heard of?) and went on to massive success. The popular Dutch electronic music scene includes such DJs and record producers as Tiësto (real name: Tijs Michiel Verwest), Afrojack (Nick van de Wall), R3HAB (Fadil El Ghoul), and many others.
MOVIES: Paul Verhoeven may be the best-known Dutch director. He rose to prominence with “Turkish Delight” (1973), based on a novel by Jan Wolkers (see Writers), and starring Dutch actor Rutger Hauer. The director and star also collaborated on the Dutch World War II thriller “Soldier of Orange” (1977). Both made the transition to Hollywood, with Verhoeven going on to direct “RoboCop” (1987), “Total Recall” (1990), “Starship Troopers” (1997), and “Basic Instinct” (1992); Hauer may be best known for “Blade Runner” (1982) but has also appeared in a number of other American movies and TV series. “The Vanishing” (1988) is a psychological thriller by Dutch director George Sluizer; he remade it in English in 1993, but as is usually the case, the original Dutch version is much better. The Academy Award-winning 1995 film “Antonia’s Line” follows the life story of an independent Dutch woman in a small village.
World War II has been a common subject in Dutch film. Following his string of American movies, Verhoeven returned to the Netherlands to make “Black Book” (2006), about a young Jewish woman turned resistance spy. The lead was Carice van Houten, better known to much of the world as Mélisandre from “Game of Thrones”—but also the star of “Miss Minoes” (2001), a delightful family film in which she plays a cat magically turned human. Other movies set against the backdrop of WWII are “The Resistance Banker” (2018), based on the real-life financier of the Dutch resistance; “The Forgotten Battle” (2020) about the bloody Battle of the Scheldt; and “The East” (2020), set in post-war Indonesia. “Captain Nova” (2021) is a recent kid-friendly sci-fi movie. One of the few English movies set in the Netherlands was “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (2003), based on the novel which was in turn inspired by the painting; it starred Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth as Vermeer.
SHOWS: The crime drama series “Undercover” follows Flemish undercover agents attempting to infiltrate a drug-dealing network, and has three seasons available. Another streaming Dutch-language show is “Toon”, a comedy about a socially awkward jingle composer dealing with sudden fame; both are on Netflix. Again, very few English-language shows are set in the Netherlands; “Going Dutch” is a Fox sitcom about a loudmouthed US Army colonel reassigned to a Dutch military base, but from all accounts, it doesn’t exactly aim for cultural authenticity.
Other Fun Facts:
Only one U.S. president spoke English as a second language: Martin Van Buren, eighth President, whose first language was Dutch. This was also the case for another surprising figure from American history: abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who was born as a slave to the Hardenbergh family in New York State, and spoke only Dutch until age nine.
Names beginning with ‘van’, which means ‘of’ or ‘from’, generally indicate family origin from a Dutch-speaking country. Famous Americans of Dutch descent thus include the Vanderbilt dynasty; comedian Dick Van Dyke; and actor James Van Der Beek, who rose to fame with “Dawson’s Creek”. Some have noticed that ‘van der beek’ is Dutch for ‘of the creek’ (other translations are ‘brook’ or ‘stream’, but close enough)…Coincidence? Or is that why they cast him?
Also amusing: Dutch is close enough to English that some short sentences sound just like English spoken with an accent. To see for yourself, type (or paste) these phrases into Google Translate and have it read them back in Dutch, compared to their English translations:
- Wat is dat?
- De bruin muis in de vriezer.
- Is dat zo?
- Hier is je water.
- Waar is de telefoon?
- Je viel onder de bus.
NOTES
*Yahoo! News, 8 June 2011. Japan’s Hello Kitty resolves bunny battle with Miffy.