Sunday, November 15, 2015

The Dutch Language



Dutch is spoken by roughly 20 million people worldwide, the majority of which live in The Netherlands, where it is the national language. However, over 4.5 million Dutch speakers can also be found in neighboring Belgium, where it is an official language along with French (for English speakers, the dialect of Dutch spoken in Belgium is known as "Flemish"). Other countries with Dutch-speaking populations include France, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles.

Dutch is part of the Netherlandic-Germanic subgroup within the West Germanic language family. It grew out of a Low German dialect called Lower Franconian, or Niederfränkisch in the German. According to Omniglot.com, the earliest example of this "Old Franconian" in written form "appears in a 9th century Latin manuscript, the Laws of the Salic Franks, and in translations of the Psalms." However, Modern Dutch really begins to appear with the translation of the Bible (the "Staten-Bijbel") in the 17th Century.1
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, spoken Dutch presents a great deal of variety in terms of its dialectical forms, especially in comparison to English. This variation starts with Standard Dutch (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands) - the official language for government and schools - and extends down to the numerous local dialects found in the regions and small towns of The Netherlands and Belgium.
Below are some brief but important facts about the country of the Philippines and its people.
Capital: Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government
Currency: Euro (EUR)
Government Type: Constitutional monarchy
Population: 16,318,199 (July 2004 est.)
Internet Country Code: .nl
Internet Hosts: 4,518,226 (2004)
Internet Users: 8.5 million (2003)
For additional demographic information on The Netherlands and its people, please see the following links:
1 "Dutch (Nederlands)" Omniglot: A Guide to Writing Systems
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/dutch.htm
[Accessed December 11, 2004]
2 "Netherlandic language" Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9055348
[Accessed December 11, 2004]

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