Dutch/Alfabet

Het alfabet ~ The alphabet
The Dutch alphabet, like English, consists of 26 basic letters. However, there are also a number of letter combinations. The following table includes a listing of all these letters and a guide to their pronunciation. As in English, letter sounds can differ depending upon where within a word the letter occurs. The first pronunciation given below (second column) is that in English of the letter (or combination) itself. Reading down this column and pronouncing the "English" words will recite the alphabet in het Nederlands (in Dutch). Note that letter order is exactly the same as in English, but pronunciation is not the same for many of the letters. Trouble areas for Anglophones are marked in red

Diacritics
Diacritics are not very numerous in Dutch and they are mostly limited to loans, but the orthography does for example demand a diaeresis, mostly on ë and ï in words like geërgerd, geïnteresseerd. It marks the boundary of two syllables and is fairly common. It is not to be confused with the German umlaut that only occurs on a few German loans like überhaupt.

Less commonly, the orthography also allows stress marks to be added. Acute accents can be used for that purpose, but only then if:
 * 1) special and unusual emphasis in sentence is to be indicated, e.g. to express surprise
 * Heb je een áúto?!
 * 1) the context leaves doubt about the identity of the word:
 * Een school doorlópen is niet hetzelfde als een school dóórlopen.

There are some 200 words and word forms that occur in two forms that only differ in stress pattern, where that can be an issue.

For diphthongs and doubled vowels both vowels are marked as in áúto. In principle this holds for the digraph ij as well. The j should also get an acute, but computers usually do not facilitate that. Here we will write íj if the need arises.

A stress mark is not be confused with an accent grave, aigu or circonflex as it can occur on the more numerous French loans like café, à propos or maîtresse. Interestingly Dutch orthography maintains the î in the latter, although French dropped it in 1990. The grave is also used on the verb blèren. It is an indigenous onomatopoeia that mimics the bleating of sheep with an unusual long [ɛ:] sound.



The cedille is rare but occurs in a few French and Portuguese loans like façade, Curaçao

A useful tip is to install a Dutch international keyboard. For Microsoft operating systems this will tell you how to proceed.

Klinkers
Dutch has quite a few vowels (13). To be well understood by a native speaker it is imperative to master them, which can be quite challenge for native speakers of languages that rely more on their many consonants such as Russian. One general observation is that they are always pronounced as more or less pure (or only slightly diphthongized) vowels as in French, never quite as drawled or 'chewed upon' as in many varieties of English. Admittedly this does vary from speaker to speaker and region to region, but for Anglophones it is certainly advisable to limit the 'drawling'.

Most vowels occur in pairs that are traditionally indicated by the terms short and long. Unfortunately, this nomenclature is rather misleading because the difference is not so much a matter of length, but rather a difference in the position of the tongue root (lax vs. tense, or in Dutch: gedekt and open, covered and open).

Which variety occurs in a word is shown pretty systematically in Dutch spelling, using the spelling rule a described below.

In addition there is a neutral vowel that occurs in almost all unstressed syllables, the schwa /ə/ as is does more or less in English as well. It is spelled with an 'e', so that this letter has three meanings: the above two in stressed syllables, the schwa in unstressed ones.

The spelling rule
The vowels oe and eu are single, but as we saw above five vowels occur in open/covered pairs: a, e, i, o, u. There is a systematic way in the spelling to indicate which of the two varieties is intended.
 * An open syllable ending in a vowel has the 'long' open variety,
 * A closed syllable ending in one or more consonants has the 'short' covered variety..


 * Example:

If a conflict arises, either the vowel or the consonant is doubled:


 * zaak - zaken both have /a/ (business - businesses)
 * zak - zakken both have /ɑ/ (bag- bags)

Notice how the formation of the plural necessitates a good mastery of this principle. The vowels oe and eu do not exhibit the dual quality of the other vowels.

The case of the letter i is a bit special. There has been a double ii in the past but to avoid confusion with a hand-written u it was replaced by ij. Afterwards the long /i:/ sound it represented became a diphthong /ɛɪ̯/ (although many dialects retain /i/). To write the /i/ sound Dutch mostly uses -ie.

The covered version as in rit corresponds more to the English sound in will or rid, than to the German sound in mit or Kind.

As said above, the distinction 'short'-'long' has little to do with pure length, because the change from open to closed is much more important. There is an exception. In front of -r the long vowel may indeed just be the same vowel held a bit longer:

In front of -r there are a few other oddities:

The u
Notice the value of the open letter 'u' in Dutch. As in French it denotes the /y/ sound. Thus, in German it corresponds to ü.

Open variety It is relatively rare in Dutch because most words that used to have it have shifted it to the diphthong ui. It occurs mostly at the end of words like u, nu or in front of a w or r: ruw, stuur.


 * Trick: whistle a high note; freeze your lips, tongue and sing instead of blowing. Your tongue should be right behind your front teeth and your lips strongly rounded as gripping a small straw.

Closed variety


 * North Carolinians have no problem with this sound. They use it all the time in words like but, buddy, Jesus etc. It is a bit farther back in the mouth than in most American speech.

The oe
This combination represents the [u] sound in German Mut or Spanish tu. Most languages use 'u' as German and Latin. (French uses 'ou', English often used 'oo', although it does have words like shoe). The Dutch /u/ sound is strongly rounded and dark with the tongue pretty far retracted back in the mouth. American 'oo' sounds tend to be intermediary between /u/ and /y/ and that is a problem. Compare:

The eu
This combination represents another difficult vowel for Anglophones. In German it is written as ö as in Möwe. In IPA as [ø].

Before "r" vowels have a tendency to be modified:

Diphthongs

 * ei and ij are both /ɛɪ̯/


 * au and ou are both /au/ as in English now


 * ui is /ʌy/ needs to be learned by ear, it is a bit like in French l'oeil.


 * aai is /aɪ̯/


 * ooi is /oɪ̯/


 * ieu is /iu/ or /iy/


 * eeu is /eu/


 * uw is /yu/

Diphthongs like /ɔɪ̯/ (as in English toy) or /ɑɪ̯/ (as in English my) are not used in the standard language. In various dialects they do occur and producing them is often frowned upon. They are considered 'lower class' in many circles.

In unstressed syllables like the suffix -lijk the ij represents a schwa.

Medeklinkers
Most consonants in Dutch are pronounced more or less the same way as in English but there are a number of notable exceptions. First of all a number of phonemes that English has are simply missing in Dutch. Phonemes are sounds that suffice in marking one word as different from the other.

Missing phonemes

 * /θ/ : th as in thing.
 * /ð/ : th as in that.
 * /g/ : g as in good.

Please avoid these sounds when speaking Dutch.

Even /ʃ/ : sh as in ship is not really a native Dutch sound, but it occurs in quite a few loans from various sources (Frisian, English, German, French) and as most Dutch people learn English these days they are quite familiar with it. The same thing goes for /ʒ/ as in garage and their affricate versions as in /ʧ/ in church or /ʤ/ George. None of them are native to Dutch.

The g, ch and sch problem
The spelling sch- can be rather confusing for people familiar with some German. In German it is used to write the /ʃ/ sound, where English uses sh-. In Dutch the sch- combination also occurs quite frequently but is pronounced rather differently. In most cases it presents a combination of s+ch where the latter is the voiceless velar fricative /x/ as heard in German Bach or Scottish loch.


 * schip : /sxɪp/

In older versions of the orthography (prior to 1947) the combination -sch represented a simple /s/ sound in final position. The guttural ch at the end had gone mute. (Originally it represented a k- sound as it still does in some dialects and in Frisian). The final -s ch spelling is still used for one rather common ending: -is ch and also in numerous geographical names as they have never been altered in spelling:


 * chaotis ch : /xa'oːtis}}/ (not: xa'oːtiʃ/
 * 's-Hertogenbos ch : /sɛrtoːɣən'bɔs/, (not: /ʃɛr'toːɣənboʃ/ )

In principle Dutch has both a voiceless and a voiced velar fricative and the letter 'g' represents the voiced one and the combination 'ch' the voiceless one. However, the number of words where this creates a phonemic distinction is very small:


 * logen /ˈloːɣən}}/ contrasts with:  loochen  /ˈloːxən/

It depends on the region whether this distinction is actually made in the spoken language. Around Amsterdam it would not be, further south the phoneme 'g' is often pronounced as a voiced palatal fricative, so that the difference becomes more pronounced.

Worldwide, the voiced /ɣ/ sound is pretty rare. It only occurs in a few languages like Arabic and Gaelic. As many native speakers do not use it either, it is recommended not to bother about it and use the voiceless /x/ for both, unless your mother tongue happens to have the difference.

The Dutch "r"
Another, similar, problem for English-speaking learners is the Dutch "r". Essentially there are two, both of which were historically trilled.

Alveolar
The first, alveolar /r/, is the "rolling" trilled "r" also used in Spanish, produced with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. This sound was considered standard only a few decades ago and is still used by quite a few speakers. That includes the author of this book, who grew up at the southern edge of the Randstad, the Drechtsteden region, as well as many people outside the Randstad, including Flanders.

Uvular
However, particularly in the Randstad, the rolling alveolar /r/ is gradually replaced by a voiced velar or uvular trill [ʁ], which is also used in many dialects of German; it is also similar to the French "r", but is voiced and articulated somewhat further forward (it is less "throaty"). Both /r/ and /ʁ/ sounds are often not trilled when spoken by native speakers; the alveolar [r] is more often a light tap, while the uvular /ʁ/ can turn into a fricative or approximant. This also presents a considerable challenge for those unaccustomed to the sound when they are confronted with words like groot ("big"). The first two sounds tend to blend to one lengthy velar/uvular /xoːt/ or /ɣoːt/, which may cause confusion with words like rood (red) and goot (gutter).

Approximant
A third type of r currently making inroads into Dutch is Gooise R (/ɹ/), named after the Gooi area in the Netherlands, where Dutch television is produced (Hilversum) and this speech feature is popularly thought to have originated. This concerns an approximant sound, not unlike American /ɹ/ in words such as bar, without trilling or friction.

Voiceless consonants

 * p represents /p/, but unlike in English it is never aspirated.
 * poot /poːt/, kaap /kaːp/
 * f represents /f/ as in English
 * fuut /fyt/, schaaf /sxaːf/


 * t represents /t/ a true dental. Unlike UK-English it is not aspirated and unlike US-English it does not become a /ɾ/ in the middle of a word.
 * th is retained in the spelling in some words, but it simply represents /t/
 * toe /tu/, beter /ˈbeːtər/
 * s represents /s/
 * samen: /ˈsaːmən/
 * in few cases it can be a /z/ sound but much less frequently so than in German:
 * organisatie: /ɔrɣaːniˈzaːtsi/

The latter word also contains an exception on the rule that t represents /t/. In the ending -tie (corresponding to -tion) it is pronounced as a quick /ʦ/ combination, as in Russian "ц".


 * k represents /k/. again it is never aspirated as often happens in English or German.
 * kop /kɔp/, kraak /kraːk/

In contrast to English it is not silent in combinations like kn-: knie' /kni/


 * ch represents /x/ as discussed above, except in recent English loans. This phoneme is quite common.
 * schraag /sxraːx/, schichtig /ˈsxɪxtəx/

Devoicing and assimilation
As in German, but unlike English all consonants at the ends of words are devoiced (..at the ents off worts are devoist...). You may hear that phenomenon when people speak English with a strong Dutch accent.
 * zaad: /zat/

Assimilation with the previous word often devoices the consonant in initial position as well:
 * het zaad: /tsaːt/

The neutral article het is often reduced to a prefixed t-sound in the spoken language and occasionally rendered as such in the written language as: 't. Het zaad -> 't zaad.

Notice however that both the /z/ and the /d/ reappear in the plural:


 * de zaden: /də ˈzaːdən/

Contrary to d, the letters v and z are not written in the final position in such cases:


 * de vaas - de vazen: /də vas - də ˈvazən/
 * de graaf - de graven /də ɣraf - də ˈɣravən/

Voiced consonants
Apart from the devoicing effects Dutch has the following voiced consonants:


 * b represents /b/ as in English
 * baas /bas/
 * v represents /v/ as in English, although its voicing is less emphatic
 * bevel /bəˈvɛɫ/
 * d represents /d/ as in English
 * dader /ˈdadər/
 * z represents /z/ as in English
 * ziezo! /ziˈzoː/
 * g represents /ɣ/ not /g/ as in English (see above)
 * gegraven /ɣəˈɣraːvən/, gracht /ɣrɑxt/

Around Amsterdam the tendency to devoice is so strong that /v/ /ɣ/ and /z/ are seldom heard in any position. People use /f/, /x/ and /s/ instead.

Liquids, nasals, clusters

 * m represents /m/ as in English
 * mooi [moːi]
 * w represents /ʋ/, it is a labiodental approximant, not a bilabial one. Bring your upper teeth close to your lower lip and produce sound without breath. Put otherwise: produce a v-sound without breath. Speakers from e.g. Surinam often do use the bilabial version.
 * water [ˈʋaːtər]

Thus, in the Netherlands f, v and w are all pronounced with the upper teeth resting on the lower lips but there is a distinction in voicing and in aspiration (blowing)

In erwt /ɛrt/ (pea) the w is silent for most speakers, but in initial wr- (wraak /vraːk/ or /ʋraːk/) w tends to sound more like /v/.

Although the pronunciation of "w" varies, it is not silent as in English. For the combination kn- the same holds: the 'k' is clearly pronounced:


 * n represents /n/ as in English
 * nonnetje /ˈnɔnətjə/ (/ˈnɔnəcə/)

Many plurals (including the plural forms of the verb) have an ending -en. For many speakers this is pronounced as /-ə/ and the final n is dropped, but this is not true for all speakers. It depends strongly on the region of the speech area you are in. Around Amsterdam it is certainly /-ə/, but in Groningen or in West-Flanders it is a syllabic /-n/ instead. It also depends on how well people are trying to articulate or on the next word. If the latter starts with a vowel the -n is more likely to be pronounced.


 * ng /ŋ/ as in English sing, never /ŋg/ as in finger (the latter uses a /g/ that Dutch does not have). It does not occur in initial position, much like in English.
 * vinger /vɪŋər/

Even in loans the /ŋg/ tends to be avoided: mango : [ˈmɑnɣo] or [ˈmɑŋɣo]


 * nk /ŋk/ as in English sink (This involves a /k/ sound that Dutch does have)


 * j represents a /j/ sound, which in English usually written as y. The English j as in Jack is virtually unknown.


 * jacht: /jɑxt/, borrowed into English as: yacht.

In combination with i it forms a diphthong: ij. Although this is a two letter combination, both letters get capitalized at the beginning of a sentence: ijs -> IJs (ice). /ɛis/. The suffix -je that forms the rather ubiquitous diminutives tends to palatellize the previous consonants or even fuse to a palatal stop all together in rapid speech.
 * blaadje /ˈblaːtjə/ (/ˈblacə/


 * y is not a native Dutch letter but it occurs in loans where it is pronounced /i/ or /j/.


 * l represents an /l/ that is neither velarized (dark) as most English l's are, nor is it the slender variety as in German, French (or Irish). It is neutral and in between.
 * lila /ˈlilaː/


 * r can represent a variety of sounds. A rolled 'r' /r/ was more or less the norm, but is heard less and less. A variety of uvular forms is taking its place. Retroflex ones (as in US English) sound distinctly foreign.


 * h represents /ɦ/ a voiced version of the h-sound commonly heard in English and German. It only occurs in initial position of a syllable.
 * behang /bəˈɦɑŋ/, herfst /ɦɛrfst/


 * the glottal stop ` is not rendered in the ortography, unless by a hyphen, e.g. in na-apen /ˈnaʔapən/.

It is much less used than in German, e.g. theater: /teˈjatər/ rather than /teˈʔatər/.

Clusters of consonants are common in Dutch although perhaps less so than in language like Russian. Usually speakers will pronounce all the consonants in the cluster, but if clusters are consecutive, e.g. in compound words, some elision may occur. E.g. in the compound vaststellen typically only one 'st' is actually pronounced. Clusters can occur both initially and finally in a syllable:


 * staal
 * feest
 * spek
 * wesp

Common initial clusters: bl-, br-, chl- chr-, dr-, dw-, fl-, fn-, fr-, gl-, gn-, gr-, kl-, kn-, kr-, kw-, pl-, pr-, sch-, schr-, sf-, sj-, sk-, sl-, sm-, sn-, sp-, spl-, spr-, tr-, tw-, vl-, vr-, wr-, zw-

Syllable Stress
Dutch is -like English and German but unlike French- a typical stress language. One syllable tends to get all the attention. It is at the same time loud, long and high in pitch and it never has a schwa ə. Instead it has a full vowel or a diphthong. Unstressed syllables tend to be short, low, soft and usually have a schwa, although there are exceptions.

Stress is not represented in the spelling unless ambiguity can arise for native speakers. In that case acutes can be added, otherwise orthographic rules demand that they be omitted. For non-native speakers this is a bit of a problem, but often an educated guess can be made which syllable is the stressed one.

Because the schwa is written as a e in the orthography it is often quite clear where the stress falls in a word:


 * verlaten : /vər' la tən/ has only one non-schwa syllable la and sure enough that is where the stress goes.

Unfortunately for the non-native speaker the letter e is also used for other purposes.


 * verleden : /vər' le dən/

The middle -e represent a full /e/ sound (as the ai in bait), but that is only clear for a native speaker. But with a bit of knowledge of grammar it will be clear that /led/ is the root of a verb (lijden actually) and that ver- is a prefix and -en the suffix. In general, the root of a verb (or noun) will get the stress in Dutch.

Of course, there are complicated cases:


 * december : /d e 's ɛ mb ə r/

It's a word which has three e's, each pronounced differently. The first syllable has a full [e] even though it is not stressed.

Of course there are cases where stress is not clear even for native speakers; a good example are the separable and non-separable verbs, e.g. the verb doorlopen can be either dóórlopen or doorlópen with a different conjugation and different meaning.

In such cases Dutch spelling does allow stress patterns to be written with an acute, but only if otherwise confusion might arise.

Some words and names can have rather surprising stress patterns:


 * Veluwe is Véluwe /' ve lyə/ for example, not Velúwe and Enschede is Énschedé, not Enschéde. In names ending in -dam the stress is usually on that syllable: Amsterdám, Rotterdám, unless a contrast is made between them "niet Ámsterdam maar Rótterdam"

Capitalization
The rules for capitalization in Dutch are similar to those in English. Capitalization occurs at the beginning of a sentence. Eigennamen (proper names, e.g., of persons, organisations, countries etc.) are capitalized, but soortnamen (generic names) are not.

As mentioned above, when a word beginning with ij has to be capitalized, both letters become capitals, e.g. IJsselmeer.

Exercise
<< Contents Page