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Thematic overview
Pre-history: from Indo-European to DutchThe origin of the Dutch language has been set by linguists at about 700 AD. But what was there before that time? A short overview of its prehistory can be found in the characterisation of the Germanic language family, the family to which Dutch also belongs. Of course the historical background is also of great importance for the development of the Germanic languages.
GothicGothic represents the oldest transmitted form of a Germanic language. The basis of the search for the principal features of this language is formed by the bible translation of bishop Wulfila (or Ulfilas c. 350 AD). Gothic is an important source for the reconstruction of the earlier phase of Common Germanic, from which Dutch too ultimately emerged. For that reason it is of great importance for the history and development of Dutch. An impression of this East Germanic language, which has since died out, can be gained from the "Atta unsar" ("Our Father").
In the search for the oldest phase of Dutch very few surviving texts are available. Yet those which do exist allow us to establish the main linguistic features, as a result of which we can distinguish Old Dutch from the next period - Middle Dutch.
The fact that the period covered by Middle Dutch is now five centuries in the past makes it difficult to investigate this earlier stage of Dutch quite thoroughly. Yet the surviving texts from that time can give an adequate clue to Middle Dutch diversity, the normal spelling and most probable pronunciation of the words, and the development of negation. By carefully examining the available material we can also gain a reasonable insight into the case system and into other grammatical aspects such as the properties of verbs or word order.
This period, in which a significant influence from Latin and French can actually be seen, also gives rise to the first dictionaries for Dutch.
If we are to properly judge all these phenomena and developments in Dutch, we must also be familiar with the historical background of the Low Countries at that time.
The Middle Dutch period is followed by two centuries filled with important historical developments for Dutch. One change at the phonological level is the diphthongisation and the so-called "Holland expansion".
At the syntactic level the earlier Latin influence continues; this can be seen above all in Latin-style constructions such as the "accusative and infinitive" and other similar features.
The glorification of Dutch, promoted above all by the Chambers of Rhetoric, and the closely linked attempts at language purification play an important part in the development of a standard language which was beginning at this time. Alongside the bible translation of 1637, the so-called "States translation", the first Dutch grammar - the Twe-spraack vande Nederduitsche letterkunst ["Dialogue of Dutch lettercraft"] - and the dictionaries of that period are of great importance for the regularisation and the rise of fixed norms.
The development of a standard language in the 17th and 18th centuries does not, of course, mean that the dialects all disappeared. Even today there are a great many regional differences within the Dutch language area. One difference clearly audible to every Dutch speaker is the contrast between northern Dutch and the southern Dutch as spoken in Flanders. But even within Flemish itself there are several distinct variations. In Brussels Dutch especially there is strong French influence.
Alongside the division into different dialects we can also split Dutch into many group languages.
These language variants develop continually, as does the standard language itself. The majority of Dutch speakers are, however, completely unaware of these language changes. This is reinforced by the fact that language use is laid down fairly strictly in grammars and normative dictionaries, and therefore does not appear to be easy to change. One of the most widely discussed changes in modern Dutch is the rise of what is called Polder-Dutch.
Related languages
Although there is perhaps no direct connection with the actual development of Dutch, a study of closely related languages such as Frisian and Afrikaans can be very interesting for the history of Dutch.
Despite what many think, Frisian is not a dialect of Dutch but an independent West-Germanic language which has developed in parallel, albeit possibly strongly influenced by Dutch.
On the other hand Afrikaans is a fairly young language, which arose from Dutch as recently as the 17th century, and which grew into an independent language in the course of the past three centuries.
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