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Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012
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Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Mar 31, 2015

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Page 1: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands

John Nerbonne,

Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen

Curious about the Dutch? 2012

Page 2: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Double Dutch

Basic facts History Structure Influence on English Varieties Color Future

Page 3: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Basic Facts about Dutch

21 million speakers in The Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders)– more in Suriname, Aruba, Indonesia– approx. 140,000 in US (1990 census)– 48th in list of most widely spoken languages (2000)

Afrikaans is related, nearly intelligible (but speakers not the counted in the 21 mill.)

“Plattdeutsch” likewise closely related (Low German spoken in Northern Germany)

Frisian also related, but less closely

First documents ca. 1100 AD

Page 4: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Genealogy of Dutch

R om an ceL atin , F ren ch ,...

S lavicR u ss ian , C zech ,...

E n g lish F ris ian

A frikaan s

D u tch G erm an

W es t-G erm an ic2 0 0 B C

N orth G erm .S w ed ish , ...

E as tG oth ic

G erm an ic ...

In d oeu rop ean3 ,0 0 0 B C

Page 5: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

How Do We Know Prehistory?

Dutch German English Latin

voet Fuß foot pedes

vol voll full plenus

vis Fisch fish pisces

vader Vater father pater

/f/ /f/ /f/ /p/

Page 6: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Influences Statenbijbel (1637) standardization Celtic -- rijk ‘kingdom’, ijzer ‘iron’, klok

‘clock’, ambacht ‘craft’ Latin -- keizer ‘emperor’, straat ‘street’,

school ‘school’, poort ‘gateway’, pond ‘pound’, peper ‘pepper’

Frisian -- tjalk ‘small boat’, sjokken ‘trudge’, klunen ‘walk w. skates on land’, kapen ‘capture (as a pirate)’

Page 7: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

French Borrowings enquête ‘questionaire’, bureau ‘office’,

bureaucratie, administratie, officieel, procedure

avontuur ‘adventure’, blazoen ‘coat of arms’, lans ‘lance’, rivier ‘river’, kampioen, ‘champion’

buffet, kasteel ‘castle’, matras ‘mattress’, meubel ‘furniture’, feest ‘feast’, plantsoen ‘plantation’

Page 8: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

French Cuisine, Family

asperge ‘asparagus’, azijn ‘vinegar’, citroen ‘lemon’, compote ‘stewed fruit’, fazant ‘pheasant’, meloen ‘melon’, prei ‘leek’, rijst ‘rice’, saus ‘sauce’, taart ‘cake’

papa, mama

Page 9: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

More Influences

Spanish -- cargo, tornado, commando, orkaan ‘hurricane’

Russian -- doerak ‘fool’, mammoet ‘mammoth’, apparatsjik

Japanese -- japon ‘gown’, samoerai, sjogoen, geisha, zen, mikado

Page 10: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Yiddish

smeris ‘cop’, gesjoemel ‘dishonest dealings’, jatten ‘steal’, stiekem ‘secretly’, bajes ‘jail’, gokken ‘gamble’

smoes ‘dodge, excuse’ kapsones ‘insolence, rudeness’

lef ‘guts’, ‘mazzel ‘luck’, gein ‘joke’ mies ‘bad, poor’ tof ‘nice, fine’

Page 11: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Colonial Influences

Sranan -- bo-bo ‘big shot’ Indonesian, Malaysian -- pakkie-an

‘task’, piekeren ‘worry’, pienter ‘smart’, nasi (goreng), bami (goreng), sambal oelek, sate, ketjap, rames

Page 12: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

German Influences

Medical: arts, allergie, chromosoom, secreet `secretion’, polikliniek, heilgymnastiek `physical therapy’, homeopathie

Psychology: autisme, paranoia, waanzin `madness’, narcisme, gestaltpsychologie

General: Nachwuchs `younger generation’, überhaupt, Kater (meaning hangover)

Page 13: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

English Influences

Too many modern borrowings to count– Technology, politics, pop culture, science– Some resistance: webstek/‘website’

no way, whatever, anyway (fill words) “Reborrowings”

– cruise `pleasure trip on a boat’– gin `genever’ made popular in England by William

III of Orange (taxed French imports)– cookie ‘entry in textual log of web browser’

Page 14: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

“Improved” English Borrowings

stationcar ‘station wagon’ cola light ‘diet coke’ folder ‘brochure’ liften ‘hitchhike’ globaal ‘rough’ (globale schatting) beamer ‘lcd projector’ picknick ‘picnic’, showbizz `show biz’ lat (relatie) ‘living apart together’ relation, i.e.

that of a non-cohabitating couple

Page 15: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Other “improvements”

gráfiti (note stress), maffia ‘mafia’ occasion ‘used car’ (French meaning,

English pronunciation)

Page 16: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Double Dutch

Basic facts History Structure Influence on English Varieties Color Future

Page 17: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Distinctive Structure

Sounds Spelling Words Phrases Meanings

Page 18: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Unusual Sounds

Diphthongs (combined vowels)

hij huishou

haai

hooi

boei

leeuw

nieuwe

schuweMinimal combinations

huis, schuwe, leeuw - involve front rounded vowel like German ‘ue’ or French ‘u’

Complex Combinations?

i u

a…groeien

i

e

u

o

a

Spanish,Russian

Page 19: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Unusual Sounds

‘harde g’ as in Groningen, lage landen ‘Low Lands’, rug ‘back’, acht (8)

noisier than German Bach, Russian xopoшo

combination with ‘s’ used as a Shibboleth ‘test’ for foreigners (and spies): Scheveningen

Page 20: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Spelling

Dutsj is essensjullie a Loo Sjurmennik lenkwitsj wis det vunkie letter (det riepleezes Y) plus a serieuslie koel ortografie.

regular reforms,last ’95, ’06

Page 21: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Unusual Words Can anything be a verb?

– voetballen, tennissen, bridgen, sudokuen, fitnessen, etc.

– computeren `do something w. computers’– musiceren `make music’– klussen `do odd jobs’– opsexen `make sexy’– kerken `go to church’– uitzieken `let an illness run its course’– rijstafelen ‘dine on rijstafel’– sonjabakkeren, montingnaccen ‘be a on diet by ..”

gebiologeerd `biologized’ (fixated)

Page 22: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Can just anything be diminutive?

lam/lammetje `lamb/lammykins’ eventjes `shortly’-kins tussendoortje `in the midst of’-kins onder ons-je ‘[a conversation etc.]

between you and me’-kins

Page 23: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Portmanteau words & “Splinter compounds”

Telematica – Telecommunicatie + informatica Burkini – Burkha + bikini Brangelina – Brad & Angelina

Horeca – Hotel, restaurant [or] cafe Benelux – België, Nederland & Luxemburg stufi – Studiefinanciering ‘student loans’

Page 24: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Endings or compounds? Unusual compounds (using verbs)

– koffiezetapparrat (coffee-brewV-machine) ‘coffee machine’– brandblusinstallatie (fire-extinguishV-installation) ‘fire extinguisher’– aardappelschilmesje (potato-peelV-knife) ‘potato peeler’

Intensifier “prefixes” – reuze- ‘giant’: reuze-slim ‘very smart’, reuze-leuk ‘very nice’– wereld- ‘world’ wereld-meid ‘great girl’– reduplication: in- en in triest ‘very sad’; dood- en doodziek ‘very ill’

(lit. ‘deathly and deathly ill’) Missing preposition

– lid raad van bestuur ‘member [of] council’– hoofd communicatie ‘head [of] communications’– adjunct directeur juridische zaken ‘adjunct dir. [of] legal affairs’

Productive processes– mammoet-wet ‘all-encompassing (educational) law– -baron ‘baron’: afvalbaron ‘rich trash dealer’ (cf. Engl. ‘czar’)– bliksem- ‘lightning’: bliksem-bezoek ‘quick visit’

Page 25: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Unusual Phrase Structure “Verb Second”

– like German

vestiges in English

Hans gaat morgen naar huisHans goes tomorrow to home‘Hans is going home tomorrow’

Morgen gaat H. naar huisNaar huis gaat H. morgen

In the forest lived a woodsman.Never have I been so shocked.

Page 26: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Unusual Phrase Structure Cross-Serial Dependence

Subject-Verb Relations Cross Hans vermoedt dat (H. suspects that) Piet Marie leert zwemmen

teach to swim

‘Hans suspects that P. is teaching M. to swim’

Page 27: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Cross-Serial Dependence Crossing Relations Iterate

Theoretically hard to processHans vermoedt dat Jantje Piet Marie zag leren

zwemmen saw teach swim

‘H. suspects that J. saw P. teach M. to swim.’

Page 28: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

“Repeating Construction”

herhalingsconstructie We zijn het min of meer zijn we het eens We are it more or less are it agreed Aka “mirror construction”, “overflow

construction” (ANS)

Overlapping templates?

Page 29: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Empty sentence endings?

Dat is de zoon van [X]. ‘That’s X’s son’ (X a celebrity). ‘Het is Jean Sarkozy. Hij is de zoon van.

We zullen het steunen mits [X]. ‘We’ll support it as long as [X]’

We kunnen het niet accepteren tenzij [X]. ‘We can’t accept it unless [X]’

U moet begrijpen dat we deze maatregelen niet zomaar nemen, maar in het kader van [een reorganisatie]. ‘…in the context of [a reorganisation]’

Je kunt hem schrijven, bij wijze van [spreken] ‘You could write to him

Page 30: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Unusual Meanings

‘Negative items’ occur only with negation– English ‘ever’, ‘any’, ‘budge’, ‘give a hoot’

Dutch has at least 100 of these– Groningen research Hoeksema, Zwarts

(former rector)

Page 31: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Double Dutch

Basic facts History Structure Influence on English, relations with English Varieties Color Future

Page 32: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dutch Borrowings in English Shipping and naval

– boom, bow, buoy, commodore, cruise, dock, freight, keel, keelhaul, pump, skipper, sloop, yacht, smuggle

Textiles– bale, duck (cloth), nap, spool, stripe

Art– easel, etching, landscape, sketch

War– beleaguer, holster, freebooter, onslaught

Page 33: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dutch Borrowings in English

Food and Drink– booze, brandy, coleslaw, cookie, crullers, waffle

Other– bluff, bully, boss, derrick, dollar, drill, dike,

frolic, grime, hunk, kink, runt, scum, slim, snap, spook, stoop

Page 34: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dutch Accents in English

Dutch “English” is excellent—generally this [dIs]/[zIs], thin [sIn] Dutch [dytš] (like French u, German ü)

– “spelling” mispronunciation– Balkenende’s “flut-u’s” (Paola Escudero, Heineken

award winner) Bob [bop], God [got], dog [dok] bad/bed [bεt], language [lεŋk.fItš] (Eng.

[læŋ.gwədž])

Page 35: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

‘Dutch’ in English

‘double Dutch’ - nonsense ‘in Dutch with her’ - in trouble with ‘Dutch treat’, ‘go Dutch’ - split costs (no treat) ‘dutchman’ - cover-up for construction error ‘Dutch courage’ - from alcohol ‘Dutch bargain’ - deal made w. alcohol ‘Dutch uncle’ - someone with unwanted advice ‘Dutch disease’ - politics of consensus (W.Laqueur)

also ‘Dutch oven’, ‘Dutch doors’ -- but mostly negative

Page 36: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Double Dutch

Basic facts History Structure Influence on English Varieties Color Future

Page 37: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dutch Dialects

Experts distinguish 3-5 main areas, approx. 30 areas in total (in only 40K km2)

Frisian recognized as second language of the Dutch kingdom, and as European “minority language”

Lower Saxon, Limburgs recognized as “regional languages”

Lay interest enormous– clubs, songs, web sites, publications

Page 38: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dutch Dialect Areas

Page 39: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

How different are dialects from each other? Standard Dutch Groningen Zeeland Frisia Flanders Twente

Ons oude huis is afgebrandOur old house [is] burned down

Page 40: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dialect Differences

oude / ouwe / olle huis / hus (ü) / hoes afgebrand / afbraat / outband / afabraat

Page 41: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

How different are dialects from each other? Standard Dutch Groningen Zeeland Frisia Flanders Twente

De pastoor heeft goede wijnThe minister has good wine

Page 42: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dialect Differences

wijn / win xoede / xoeje / xoje / xoeoe / hoede /

goede / beste heeft / het / ai / hat

Page 43: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Other major differences

final n ‘lopen’– standard lope, Groningen lop’m

hard/soft g ‘laag’, ‘goede’– how much “noise” in the g/ch (and how far

forward in the mouth it’s pronounced) aspirated (English-like) vs. unaspirated

(French-like) p,t,k– phaard, paard

Page 44: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dialects vs. Standard Dutch

Page 45: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dialect Continuum?

Page 46: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Double Dutch

Basic facts History Structure Influence on English Varieties Color Future

Page 47: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Color

Interest in Language Coinages with cultural speculation Humor Obscenity/Cursing? Idioms, Proverbs

Page 48: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Interest in Language Onze Taal - private foundation for language issues Taalunie - government organization for questions of

standards, technology Algemeen Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal - 45K

pages! World’s largest Dictionary. Six semi-regular language columns in newspapers

Huib Boogert De Telegraaf

Peter Burger Algemeen Dagblad

Jan Kuitenbrouwer Volkskrant

Liesbeth Koenen NRC Handelsblad

Wim Daniels Eindhovens Dagblad

Ewoud Sanders Pauline Cornelisse

Nederlands Stadscourant Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding

Page 49: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Interest in Language

Foreign languages – 5 in college-prep. schools (gymnasia)

Excellent facility with English (even TV) Foreigners trying to learn Dutch find it

difficult to find Dutch who are willing (they all want to practice English)– but Dutch are critical of foreign residents

“who don’t take the trouble to learn Dutch”

Page 50: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Culture & Coinage vergadercultuur - ‘meetings culture’ alle neuzen dezelfde kant op - ‘all noses in the same

direction’ -- the goal of decision makers is consensus gedoogbeleid - ‘policy of tolerance’, esp. w.r.t. soft

drugs & sex, sometimes also w.r.t. zoning & safety maaiveld ‘mowing field’ - whatever pokes out above

the rest is cut back– derogatory terms for show-offs, braggarts, etc - kapsones;

kakkineus, elitair of dik doen; opscheppen; naast je schoenen lopen; spatjes hebben; jezelf op de borst kloppen

Page 51: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Culture and Coinage

inspanningsverplichting - ‘responsibility to try’ verworven rechten - ‘acquired rights’ planologie - ‘urban planning’ onthutst, verontwaardigd, verbijsterd, ontgoocheld -

lots of words covering indignation wildplassen ‘urination outside usual facilities’

Page 52: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Humor

About the Dutch - miserly– How to break up a demonstration? Pass a

collection plate.– Why are Dutch nostrils so big? --The air is free.– What’s a Dutchman do if he wins the lottery?

--Recounts the money.

In fact the Dutch donate generously

Page 53: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dutch Humor

Strong “maaiveld” streak -- humor that cuts big shots down to size

“Gonzo” elements, free fantasy– Youp van ‘t Hek on Maxima even makes

fun of the royal family (uncommon target)

Page 54: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Everyone loves Cruijff

"Italianen kennen niet van je winnen, maar je ken wel van ze verliezen.” (Italians can’t beat you, but you can lose to them.)

“Als je wilt scoren, moet je schieten” (If you want to score, you have to shoot)

“Ieder nadeel heeft z’n voordeel” (Every disadvantage has its advantage)

Page 55: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Obscenity/Cursing

lots of cursing, obscenity obscenities focus on genital rather anal area less sensitive

– no “forbidden words” for radio, TV cursing - wishing disease

– krijg de tering/kanker/tyfus/pokken/stuipen/beroerte! `get TB/cancer/typhoid/smallpox/convulsions/stroke’

– Van der Waals ‘Dutch Terms of Abuse’ Maledicta 13, 2005• Ellending, Pestpokkentyfuskankerteringwijf!

Bond tegen het Vloeken ‘Anti-Cursing League’ campaigns in train stations– religious focus

Page 56: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Idioms and Proverbs Appreciated in speech and prose Idioms often based on water and shipping Water

Dat zet geen zoden aan de dijkThat sets no sod on the dikeThat doesn’t help.

oude koeien uit het sloot halenold cows out of the trench haulBring up painful memoriesvan de wal in de slootfrom the bank into the trenchout of the frying pan, into the fire

Page 57: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Idioms and Proverbs

Idioms based on shipping, fishingtussen wal en schip vallenbetween shore and ship fallfall between the cracks

de beste stuurlui staan aan de walthe best helmsmen stand ashoreTalk is cheap

Achter het net vissenbehind the net fishgo through the motions with little chance of success

Page 58: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Idioms and Proverbs

Idioms based on shipping, fishingde boot missen, afhoudenmiss the boat, keep the boat awaymiss an opportunity, prevent something happening

de stormbal hijsenHoist the storm ballWarn of impending danger

het roer omgooienturn the rudderchange radically

Page 59: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Proverbs

Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638) created a painting dedicated to Proverbs

Copied his father’s work Many other versions -- popular topic

Page 60: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.
Page 61: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

Dutch -- The Future Unrest about influence of English

– Minister of Education Ritzen proposed that universities switch to English (1993)

– Lots of English in everyday Dutch• Ik heb alle hits gedownload van de web• I downloaded all the hits from the web

– English “more attractive” in experiments, but not more reliable, knowledgeable

• Giftshop Marianne / Cadeauwinkel Marianne

Will Dutch survive? Unquestionably!

Page 62: Double Dutch: Language in the Lowlands John Nerbonne, Former Director, Linguistic Research, Univ. of Groningen Curious about the Dutch? 2012.

A Bit of Gronings

Groningers known for laconic understatement Het kon minder -- high praise

unlike Eng. ‘It could have been worse’

My wish: when you summarize your stay here, you’ll want to say “Het kon minder”

‘It could have been less’