Dutch language is a language from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. The dialects of this language, which has two basic dialects, Hollandic and Flemish, have minor differences in the written language. Dutch and its dialects are spoken as an official language in the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname and the Republic of South Africa. The dialect spoken in Belgium is called Flemish, and the other spoken in the Netherlands is called Hollandic. In Belgium, Flemish is spoken mostly in the Flemish region in the north while Dutch is close to Plattdeutsch and Frisian languages.
Dutch speakers can quickly recognize that the Dutch interlocutor is a Flemish due to the differences in their accent, some of the words they use, and the way they say it. As each region has its own way of speaking, it can be easily understood from which region, city or even the village they are from.
This is because the communities in this region are highly interconnected, strict, and dense although Dutch is spoken in a very small geographical area. Thus, the language can indicate a widely hetergenenous spread within the region where it is spoken, regardless of official boundaries. According to official resources, it has been determined that 26 different Dutch languages, which can be defined as dialects, are spoken only within the Flemish region.
Countries where Dutch is spoken as an official language are Aruba, Belgium, Curaçao, the Netherlands, Sint Maarten, Suriname, and Benelux. Also, international communities where Dutch is accepted as an official language are the European Union, UNASUR, and the Caribbean Community. It can be said that approximately 24 million people speak Dutch as an official language around the world.
Dialect Differences of the Dutch
General Dutch can be comparable with modern Turkish, which is spoken independently from the inter-regional dialects and accents in Turkey. Although each region speaks in its own dialect and accent, a standardized common official language is always used in education, press, media, radio, TV, writing and state affairs. However, the people of the region consider their local accents and dialects as a very precious cultural value, and sustain and protect them in this respect. Therefore, each region publishes newspapers and magazines in its own dialects. Local radio stations and TV channels broadcast in their own dialects in the region.
The difference between dialects is so strong that although the distance between Limburg Region, where Limburgish is spoken, and West Flemish Region does not exceed 100 km, speakers of both dialects have great difficulty in understanding each other. In a way, this difficulty in understanding can be compared with Turkish and Azerbaijani. Therefore, state television broadcasts the speeches of the local people mostly with General Dutch subtitles. The same goes for Dutch movies and TV series, which are broadcasted in Belgium, and Flemish films and TV series, which are broadcasted in the Netherlands, and these are generally broadcasted with General Dutch subtitles.
Dutch Translation Service by Mirora
Mirora has been in collaboration for many years with translation companies in the Netherlands and Belgium. Thus, Mirora offers high-quality, fast and reliable translation services in Dutch from and to all languages worldwide with competitive prices, by professional translation teams, especially by using English as a pivot language.
Dutch alphabet includes all letters in the basic Latin alphabet from “A” to “Z”. Letters, which have the diacritical sign, are not included in the alphabet. While the alphabet includes 26 letters, sometimes the diphthong “IJ”, which has the feature of a single letter, increases the number of letters in the alphabet to 27. While this letter is generally not added to the alphabet, it is located between “x” and “y”, for instance in phone books or dictionaries.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X IJ Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x ij y z