{"id":5662,"date":"2018-08-20T15:03:42","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T15:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=5662"},"modified":"2018-08-20T15:04:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T15:04:21","slug":"dutch-spelling-in-the-middle-ages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/dutch-spelling-in-the-middle-ages\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch Spelling 1: The Middle Ages"},"content":{"rendered":"

The way we write words changes all the time. But it is still important that spelling is laid down somewhere, so that you can always be sure what the correct way of writing is! In this series, we look at how Dutch spelling evolved and how it was codified. Today: Spelling tijdens de Middeleeuwen\u00a0<\/i>(spelling in the Middle Ages).<\/p>\n

Dialecten<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Image from Pixabay.com<\/p><\/div>\n

1150-1500 was the time of Middelnederlands\u00a0<\/em>(Middle Dutch). It is a collective term for the many different\u00a0dialecten <\/em>(dialects) spoken at the time.\u00a0The language was spelled mostly\u00a0fonetisch\u00a0<\/em>(phonetically). So you would have words like\u00a0land\u00a0<\/em>written as\u00a0lant\u00a0<\/em>– since the\u00a0d\u00a0<\/em>is pronounced as a\u00a0t<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There was a problem with this, however. Because of different dialects and different ways of pronunciation, words sounded differently in different places. And because there was no unified spelling, you could find different ways of writing of the same word. For example, the Dutch word for “year” had three spellings:<\/p>\n

jaar<\/em><\/p>\n

jar<\/em><\/p>\n

jair<\/em><\/p>\n

So basically, anyone that could write would write what they heard. There were no specific spelling conventions, even though writers would adapt a bit to each other. More interestingly, “year” could also be written like this:<\/p>\n

iair<\/em><\/p>\n

or similar. Why? Because the Dutch used the Latijnse\u00a0<\/em>(Latin) alphabet.<\/p>\n

Latijn<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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Image from Pixabay.com<\/p><\/div>\n

At the time, Latijn\u00a0<\/em>was the standard language in sophisticated circles, a bit like English today. Books were written in\u00a0Latijn<\/em>, and if you, the auteur <\/em>(author) wanted to show proficiency, you would write your work in\u00a0Latijn<\/em>. It was not common or usual for common people to know Latijn.\u00a0<\/em>The language had no relevance for the common people anyway, since\u00a0boeken\u00a0<\/em>(books) were very zelden\u00a0<\/em>(rare) and\u00a0duur\u00a0<\/em>(expensive).<\/p>\n

De Drukpers<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n
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Image by Willi Heidelbach at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY 2.5<\/p><\/div>\n

All that changed with the uitvinding\u00a0<\/em>(invention) of the drukpers\u00a0<\/em>(printing press) in the mid-1400s.\u00a0Boeken <\/em>became widespread, and so its audience grew as well. Writing in Latijn\u00a0<\/em>had not as much as an impact as writing in a common Dutch language anymore, and so the need for a common spelling and grammar became apparent.<\/p>\n

What happened next? Read it in the next post in this series!<\/p>\n

What is the history of the spelling of your language? Let me know in the comments below!
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

The way we write words changes all the time. But it is still important that spelling is laid down somewhere, so that you can always be sure what the correct way of writing is! In this series, we look at how Dutch spelling evolved and how it was codified. Today: Spelling tijdens de Middeleeuwen\u00a0(spelling in…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":5758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[27710],"tags":[506150,473458],"class_list":["post-5662","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dutch-grammar","tag-dutch-spelling","tag-middle-ages"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t