Dutch language lacks logic?! Ask the Dutch!
by Amy
Posted on Sunday, February 5th, 2006 at 8:00 am CET
As a foreigner living in the Netherlands, I could’ve told you that the Dutch language is difficult. But 60% of people surveyed (presumably native Dutch speakers) in December said that the language was not only difficult, but also illogical. 58% had difficulty with spelling words found in a simple correspondence. Only 37% said that Dutch was an easy and logical language. In August 2006 some new spelling rules will come into effect. 67% of those surveyed knew nothing of the new rules. 42% still struggled with the spelling rules applied in 1995.
In October, the Nederlands Taalunie presented a list of the changes that will go into effect later this year. It’s not the first time that Dutch speakers have had to go through a change like this; previous changes were introduced in 1863, 1954, and 1995. In ten years a new “Green Book” will be released; this is the official guide to the Dutch language. So it’s possible that in 10 years more changes will occur.
Some examples of changes this time around:
- diskman becomes discman (translation: Discman)
- koloriet becomes coloriet (use of color)
- Kongolees becomes Congolees (someone from the Congo)
- tut tut becomes tuttut (Be quiet!)
- transatlantisch becomes trans-Atlantisch (transatlantic)
- zij-ingang becomes zijingang (side entrance)
- eenderde becomes een derde (one third)
- kattekruid becomes kattenkruid (catnip)
- sex-appeal becomes sexappeal (sex appeal)
- lowbudget becomes low budget (low budget)
- aids-test becomes aidstest (AIDS test)
- anti-Amerikanisme becomes antiamerikanisme (anti-Americanism)
As a foreigner living in the Netherlands, I could’ve told you that the Dutch language is difficult. But 60% of people surveyed (presumably native Dutch speakers) in December said that the language was not only difficult, but also illogical. 58% had difficulty with spelling words found in a simple correspondence. Only 37% said that Dutch was an easy and logical language. In August 2006 some new spelling rules will come into effect. 67% of those surveyed knew nothing of the new rules. 42% still struggled with the spelling rules applied in 1995.
In October, the Nederlands Taalunie presented a list of the changes that will go into effect later this year. It’s not the first time that Dutch speakers have had to go through a change like this; previous changes were introduced in 1863, 1954, and 1995. In ten years a new “Green Book” will be released; this is the official guide to the Dutch language. So it’s possible that in 10 years more changes will occur.
Some examples of changes this time around:
- diskman becomes discman (translation: Discman)
- koloriet becomes coloriet (use of color)
- Kongolees becomes Congolees (someone from the Congo)
- tut tut becomes tuttut (Be quiet!)
- transatlantisch becomes trans-Atlantisch (transatlantic)
- zij-ingang becomes zijingang (side entrance)
- eenderde becomes een derde (one third)
- kattekruid becomes kattenkruid (catnip)
- sex-appeal becomes sexappeal (sex appeal)
- lowbudget becomes low budget (low budget)
- aids-test becomes aidstest (AIDS test)
- anti-Amerikanisme becomes antiamerikanisme (anti-Americanism)