Dutch

Dutch (Nederlands, also called Holandees) is a language belonging to the Indo-European language family, specifically the West Germanic branch. It is the official language of the Netherlands and part of Belgium, particularly the region of Flanders.

The language is closely related to German (Deutsch) and English. Its writing system uses the Latin alphabet. The number of native speakers is estimated at several million living in Europe and other continents, though exact figures vary from source to source.

Places where it is spoken

Alongside the Netherlands and Flanders, Dutch is an official language in Suriname (South America) and Caribbean islands connected to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, such as Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten. The variety spoken in Belgium is generally called Flemish (Vlaams), which is a dialectal variation rather than a separate language.

History and development

Dutch evolved from Low Franconian dialects of the Rhine region, both east and west. Historical periods are defined as Early Dutch, Middle Dutch, and Modern Dutch. Bible translations from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the printing of books, contributed to the development of a standardized written form used across all regions.

Connection to Afrikaans

Afrikaans, spoken in South Africa and Namibia, derives from Dutch dialects brought by settlers to the Cape in the seventeenth century. The two languages remain mutually intelligible to some degree, particularly in writing, though Afrikaans grammar is considerably simpler in comparison.

Language governance

The Netherlands and Belgium jointly oversee an organization called the Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union), which manages orthographic standards and official dictionaries. Spelling changes are occasionally published in an official list.