{"id":5094,"date":"2017-12-14T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T08:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=5094"},"modified":"2017-12-09T15:21:28","modified_gmt":"2017-12-09T15:21:28","slug":"tremas-e-i-u-o-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/tremas-e-i-u-o-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Trema’s: \u00eb, \u00ef, \u00fc, \u00f6, \u00e4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dutch is a pretty straightforward language when it comes to letters available. There’s just the simple 26, no special letters such as\u00a0\u00e5 or\u00a0\u00e6. Easy from A to Z! But… There are instances where a\u00a0trema\u00a0<\/em>(diaeresis, the famous\u00a0Umlaut\u00a0<\/em>in German<\/a>) appears in Dutch. Where and why, though?<\/p>\n

eu, oe, ui, au, ou<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First, there are\u00a0the\u00a0tweeklanken\u00a0<\/em>that you should know about. I tackled those in previous posts<\/a>, so check those out if you do not know what these are or how to use them! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

In order to prevent you pronouncing\u00a0tweeklanken<\/em>, which are a vowel combination that makes two vowels sound like something new,\u00a0trema’s\u00a0<\/em>(umlaut or\u00a0diaereses) indicate that the two vowels must be pronounced separately.\u00a0Let’s have a look!<\/p>\n

\u00eb, \u00ef, \u00fc, \u00f6, \u00e4<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Co\u00f6rdinaten<\/em> (coordinates)! (Image by Cody Black at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

You place the\u00a0trema <\/em>on the vowel following\u00a0where you would expect separation of the word. So\u00a0re\u00ebel\u00a0<\/em>puts a\u00a0trema\u00a0<\/em>on the second\u00a0e<\/em>, because you say\u00a0re-e<\/strong>el<\/em>.<\/p>\n

One common use of the trema is in\u00a0voltooid deelwoorden\u00a0<\/em>(perfects), because in these forms, be<\/em>– or\u00a0ge-<\/em> is added to the front of the\u00a0stam\u00a0<\/em>(root) of the\u00a0hele\u00a0<\/em>werkwoord\u00a0<\/em>(verb). So if you have werkwoorden\u00a0<\/em>that start with a vowel, the voltooid deelwoord\u00a0<\/em>can look like it has a\u00a0tweeklank<\/em> – but it does not!\u00a0For example:<\/p>\n

installeren\u00a0<\/em>(to install) ->\u00a0ge\u00ef<\/strong>nstalleerd\u00a0<\/em>(installed)<\/p>\n

geinstalleerd<\/em>, without the trema, is wrong! The pronunciation would use the\u00a0korte\u00a0ei\u00a0<\/em>and you would not say\u00a0ge-installeerd<\/em>, but\u00a0gein-stalleerd<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So the trema makes that separation here! Some more examples:<\/p>\n

executeren\u00a0<\/em>(to execute) ->\u00a0ge\u00ebxecuteerd <\/em>(executed)\u00a0NOT<\/span>\u00a0geexecuteerd<\/em><\/p>\n

uploaden\u00a0<\/em>(to upload) ->\u00a0ge\u00fcpload\u00a0<\/em>(uploaded)\u00a0NOT<\/span>\u00a0geupload<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some words are always written with a trema, such as\u00a0be\u00efnvloeden\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>(to influence), because\u00a0beinvloeden\u00a0<\/em>would make no sense at all.<\/p>\n

But also words that are not voltooid deelwoorden\u00a0<\/em>have such issues:<\/p>\n

na\u00efviteit<\/i>\u00a0<\/em>(na\u00efvet\u00e9)\u00a0NOT<\/span>\u00a0naiviteit<\/em><\/p>\n

ru\u00ef<\/i>ne\u00a0<\/em>(ruin) NOT<\/span>\u00a0ruine<\/em><\/p>\n

re\u00ebel<\/i>\u00a0<\/em>(realistic)\u00a0NOT<\/span>\u00a0reeel<\/em><\/p>\n

co\u00f6rdinatie<\/i>\u00a0<\/em>(coordination)\u00a0NOT<\/span>\u00a0coordinatie\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, it is not used where you would not have a\u00a0tweeklank<\/em>, and one would naturally separate the two vowels. Examples:<\/p>\n

geavanceerd\u00a0<\/em>(advanced)<\/p>\n

beogen\u00a0<\/em>(to strive for)<\/p>\n

beamen\u00a0<\/em>(to confirm) – you say\u00a0be-amen<\/em>. This could potentially be a problem if the\u00a0English word\u00a0to beam<\/em> is adopted in Dutch:\u00a0beamen<\/em>, with an English pronunciation. That is now still stralen.\u00a0<\/em>A trema cannot solve this, because\u00a0<\/em>ea\u00a0<\/em>need to be pronounced together in\u00a0beamen<\/em> – so the Dutch\u00a0beamen\u00a0<\/em>would then require a trema?!\u00a0Let me know in the comments how you think this should be solved!<\/strong><\/p>\n

More than two vowels<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Ooievaar<\/em>! (Image by Lenka \u017digon at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

In case of more than two\u00a0klinkerletters\u00a0<\/em>(vowels) that follow each other, no\u00a0trema\u00a0<\/em>is used. So for example:<\/p>\n

geui<\/strong>t\u00a0<\/em>(expressed) – no trema<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Why? Well, even though\u00a0eui<\/em> is no\u00a0tweeklank<\/em>, it contains two:\u00a0eu\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0ui<\/em>. Because the word does not give you a logical guide how to pronounce it in this case, you don’t need the\u00a0trema<\/em>, because that is the only logical way to pronounce it. Ooievaar<\/em> (stork) is another example of this.<\/p>\n

Other example:<\/p>\n

aaien\u00a0<\/em>(to stroke)<\/p>\n

Here,\u00a0aai\u00a0<\/em>is a\u00a0tweeklank<\/em>, and you could expect that one would pronounce it as\u00a0aa<\/em>-ien<\/em>. However, because of the ending\u00a0en<\/em>, usual for\u00a0werkwoorden<\/em>,\u00a0aai\u00a0<\/em>is seen as separate. It is the\u00a0stam\u00a0<\/em>(root) of the werkwoord aaien<\/em>, actually!<\/p>\n

However, if the\u00a0tweeklank\u00a0<\/em>needs to be pronounced, then a\u00a0trema\u00a0<\/em>is necessary, of course!<\/p>\n

So we have\u00a0knie\u00ebn\u00a0<\/em>(knees) so that the cut knie-en<\/em> is made.<\/p>\n

hyphenation!<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Image from Pexels.com, edited by author.<\/p><\/div>\n

In case of\u00a0woordafbreking\u00a0<\/em>(hyphenation), no\u00a0trema\u00a0<\/em>is necessary! Because of the necessary hyphen at the breaking point, it no longer looks like a\u00a0tweeklank<\/em>, which would be kept together with hyphenation. So:<\/p>\n

ik kan het niet be-<\/em><\/p>\n

invloeden.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I cannot in-<\/p>\n

fluence it.<\/p>\n

samenstellingen<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Before the\u00a0spellingswijziging\u00a0<\/em>(spelling change) of 1996,\u00a0samenstellingen<\/em><\/a>\u00a0still used\u00a0trema’s<\/em>. Now, we use\u00a0streepjes\u00a0<\/em>(dashes) instead. So instead of zee\u00ebgel<\/i>, we write\u00a0zee-egel\u00a0<\/em>(sea urchin) today. Or\u00a0na\u00e4pen<\/i>\u00a0(to imitate) became\u00a0na-apen<\/em>. This was not enforced for\u00a0telwoorden\u00a0<\/em>(numerals), however. So we still have\u00a0twee\u00eb<\/i>ntwinig\u00a0<\/em>and not\u00a0twee-en-twintig.<\/em><\/p>\n

In some cases, it is hard to discern a\u00a0samenstelling<\/em>. In general, with words such as macro-, bio-, mini- or multi-, we use a\u00a0streepje<\/em>. So:\u00a0macro-economie\u00a0<\/em>(macroeconomics),\u00a0bio-industrie\u00a0<\/em>(organic industry).<\/p>\n

Uitzonderingen? Natuurlijk.<\/em><\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Matte\u00fcs en de engel<\/em> (Matthew and the angel), painted by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1661 (Image at Commons.wikimedia.org, public domain)<\/p><\/div>\n

Are there any\u00a0uitzonderingen\u00a0<\/em>(exceptions)?\u00a0Natuurlijk\u00a0<\/em>(of course)!<\/p>\n

Words with French and Latin\u00a0uitgangen\u00a0<\/em>(endings) -ei, -eus, -eum<\/em> and -ien\u00a0<\/em>do not get a\u00a0trema:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

petroleum<\/em> (petroleum)\u00a0NOT<\/span>\u00a0petrole\u00fcm<\/em>.<\/p>\n

opticien\u00a0<\/em>(optician)\u00a0NOT<\/span>\u00a0optici\u00eb<\/i>n.<\/em><\/p>\n

baccalaureus\u00a0<\/em>(baccalaureate)\u00a0NOT<\/span>\u00a0baccalaure-us<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Do we have exceptions to that exception? Yes!<\/p>\n

Bijbelse namen<\/em> (Biblical names) are written with\u00a0trema<\/em>, for example Matt\u00ebus\u00a0<\/em>(Matthew)<\/p>\n

What do you think about the trema? Do you use it often? Do you think it is handy or a nuisance? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Dutch is a pretty straightforward language when it comes to letters available. There’s just the simple 26, no special letters such as\u00a0\u00e5 or\u00a0\u00e6. Easy from A to Z! But… There are instances where a\u00a0trema\u00a0(diaeresis, the famous\u00a0Umlaut\u00a0in German) appears in Dutch. Where and why, though? eu, oe, ui, au, ou First, there are\u00a0the\u00a0tweeklanken\u00a0that you should know…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":5269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[60713,27710,3590,27711],"tags":[117769,358731,146,506079,445094],"class_list":["post-5094","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-2","category-dutch-grammar","category-dutch-language","category-dutch-vocabulary-2","tag-dutch-grammar-2","tag-dutch-language","tag-spelling","tag-tremas","tag-tweeklanken"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5094"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5271,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5094\/revisions\/5271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}