Research project Emiel van de Vijver TA3A

In this research project I will talk about differences in language between the UK and the
Netherlands. I chose this specific topic because languages have always drawn my attention. I
think it will be interesting to see where all those languages were formed and how they
evolved into what they are nowadays. Also it will be interesting to see how the differences
have formed.

- Main question:
What are the differences and similarities between the Dutch and English language?

- Sub questions:
1. Where do the languages originate from?
2. Are there different accents and dialects?
3. Is there a big difference in grammar?

- Hypothesis:
I think there will be a lot of differences and similarities between the Dutch and
English language. I think there will be a lot of similarities because the distance
between the UK and the Netherlands isn’t that big. But there will also be major
differences in for example grammar and vocabulary.

- Research:
Dutch is part of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, it is
therefore closely related to the Scandinavian languages, English and German. Dutch
is spoken by approximately 23 million people. The Germanic languages split itself off
from the Indo-European in the period between 1000-500 BC. But the real formation
of the Dutch language started in the earlier Medieval period, old Franconian started
to develop into what is now called old Dutch. Eventually Old Dutch became the main
language in the area that is now known as the south of the Netherlands and the
north of Belgium. During this time the language only served as a spoken language.
Later Old Dutch became Middle Dutch and split into several dialects. After the House
of Burgundy got control of the Low Countries in the 14th century, efforts were made
to try and standardise the Dutch language. In 1637, the Protestant leaders of the
Dutch Republic published a new Dutch edition of the Bible which effectively
standardised the language. Although in the Flemish regions, the language continued
developing. In the colonial period Dutch the dialect “Afrikaans” was formed which is
spoken by approximately 18 million people. Since the 17th century the language in
the Netherlands hasn’t really changed.

The history of the English language started with the arrival of 3 Germanic tribes who
invaded Britain during the 5th century. At this time the spoken language in Britain
was a Celtic language. Old English was spoken between 450-1100 AD, it developed
itself due to the invasion of the Germanic tribes. Old English didn’t sound or look like
modern English. Nevertheless almost half of the most commonly used Modern
English words originated from old English. In 1066 William the Conqueror invaded
and conquered Britain, the conquerors brought a kind of French with them. This kind
of French became the language of the Royal Court. During this time there was a kind
of division where the lower classes spoke English and the higher classes French. In
the 14th century English became dominant again but with added French words. This is
called Middle English. Towards the end of Middle English a sudden and distinct
change in pronunciation was started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and
shorter. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words
and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there
was now a common language in print, more and more people learned to read. This
brought the standardization of the language with it. It was the dialect of London,
where most of the books were published that became standard. Since then only the
vocabulary became bigger.

In every country there are slight differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, also in
the Netherlands. The most famous is “Hollands” it is the dialect that is spoken in the
major urban areas like Amsterdam and Rotterdam. It is the most common dialect.
Along with Hollands is “Brabants” one of the major dialects, it is spoken in the south
of the Netherlands. About 5 million people have a Brabants dialect.

Also in Britain there are different dialects, take for example Scottish. The Scottish
accent as we know it now developed in the late 1700s. It was heavily influenced by
the Gaelic language, which was spoken in certain areas of Scotland. Welsh is spoken
by about 500.000 people, the accent is easily recognisable and has lots of difficult
and long words. The Cockney dialect is one of Britain’s most famous dialects. It was
known as the dialect for the lower working classes, especially in the poorer East end
of the city.

One of the significant differences between the Dutch and English grammar is word
order. Both English and Dutch use the Subject-verb-object as a basic sentence
 structure. Still the word order that is used does not always follow the same pattern.
One of the differences is that in Dutch the finite verb is separated from the non-finite
verb. The two are separated by adverbials. Dutch and English both have the same
basic verb tenses, the present simple, past simple, present perfect and the past
perfect. However they are not always used the same in both languages. Dutch people
often use the present perfect where the past simple should be used while speaking
English.

English and Dutch look very far separated from each other, they are whole different
languages, take for example the vocabulary. Also the grammar has differences, they
look huge but the basic structure is basically the same. Every language started
somewhere and in the case of English and Dutch they both have the same roots.

Sources:
https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_low001199601_01/_low001199601_01_0023.php

https://www.englishclub.com/history-of-english/

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/the-netherlands/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-dutch-
language/

https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/history_old.html

https://www.englishclub.com/history-of-english/

https://englishlive.ef.com/blog/english-in-the-real-world/rough-guide-british-dialects/

https://www.simonandsimon.co.uk/blog/dutch-english-similarities

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/langdiff/dutch.htm

http://www.icaltefl.com/dutch-vs-english