Series
language
Series
Babel in the Low Countries
language
Joss Wibisono
10 min reading time
Why Indonesia Never Really Became Dutch, but Is Now Becoming Anglicised
There is something about the development of the Indonesian language that irritates journalist Joss Wibisono - it is being mixed with English.
language
Anna P.H. Geurts
5 min reading time
Why Dutch-Speakers Have Such a Hard Time with Gender-Neutral Language
The English language knows 'they' for one person. But in Dutch a gender-neutral alternative to 'he' and 'she' is still a long way off. This may have to do with a grammatical rule that Dutch speakers consider important.
language
Derek Blyth
2 min reading time
Everyone in the Low Countries Knows 'Fat Van Dale'
The most famous dictionary of the Dutch language is named after its creator, a nineteenth-century teacher from the Dutch border town of Sluis.
language
Marten van der Meulen
5 min reading time
Tips on How to Create an Escher Sentence and Other Ambiguities
Linguist Marten van der Meulen is fascinated by a special phenomenon: the Escher sentence. And although it can drive you crazy, he is happy to provide some tips on how to create ambiguous sentences.
Series
Dutch in the World
language
Marten van der Meulen
5 min reading time
There Is No Such Thing as an Untranslatable Word
Linguist Marten van der Meulen thinks these popular lists of supposedly untranslatable words are strange.
language
Jordi Britton
4 min reading time
The Vital Role of Translation in the Black Lives Matter Era
Dutch Studies students wonder: "Is it appropriate for white students to translate texts about Black experiences of slavery?"
Series
Babel in the Low Countries
language
Marten van der Meulen
4 min reading time
Destroy Language to Demonstrate Your Love for Writing and Speech
Show your love for language by playing, fooling around and experimenting with it, in the same way William Shakespeare, Georges Perec, and their translators Guido van der Wiel and Gilbert Adair did.
language
Karlien Franco
5 min reading time
New Reference Work on Regional Languages in the Netherlands and Flanders
In the book Wie zegt wat waar? (Who Says What Where?) the reader is presented with a more accurate picture of the regional languages in the Netherlands and Flanders than in many other reference works.
language
Joss Wibisono
10 min reading time
Why Indonesia Never Really Became Dutch, but Is Now Becoming Anglicised
There is something about the development of the Indonesian language that irritates journalist Joss Wibisono - it is being mixed with English.
language
Sholeh Rezazadeh
5 min reading time
Surviving in the Sea as a Land Animal
How does one become a writer in a different language? We asked Sholeh Rezazadeh, who moved from Iran to the Netherlands and made her successful debut in 2021 with a novel in Dutch.
language
Frans Blom
11 min reading time
The Future of Historical Dutch Is International
International interest in Dutch sources is huge and, thanks to digitalisation, there are more texts available than ever. But human know-how is lagging behind technological progress.
language
Anna P.H. Geurts
5 min reading time
Why Dutch-Speakers Have Such a Hard Time with Gender-Neutral Language
The English language knows 'they' for one person. But in Dutch a gender-neutral alternative to 'he' and 'she' is still a long way off. This may have to do with a grammatical rule that Dutch speakers consider important.
language
Goedele De Sterck
10 min reading time
The Ant That Became a Nit. How Untranslatable is Dutch?
How to deal with Dutch words, concepts and expressions that simply cannot be translated into another language?
language
Rashif El Kaoui
15 min reading time
Rashif El Kaoui’s ‘De Bastaard’ Translated into English
Students from two British Universities translated an excerpt from a theatre production by Flemish actor, writer, rapper and podcaster Rashif El Kaoui.
language
Marten van der Meulen
5 min reading time
Why I Will Never Again Refer to the Ukrainian Capital City as Kiev
Even spelling can be important in the war of Ukraine, writes linguist Marten van der Meulen. This is why he will never again refer to the embattled capital city as Kiev.
language
Nicoline van der Sijs
12 min reading time
How the World Views Dutch and Dutch Speakers
If you’re not Dutch, you’re not much. Does that vision correspond with how other people view the inhabitants of the Low Countries and their language? Or is the picture more nuanced?
language
Christopher Joby
10 min reading time
Dutch Was an International Language of Diplomacy and Trade
Once upon a time, the Dutch language played an important role in international trade talks and diplomatic relations.
language
Marten van der Meulen
5 min reading time
Unnecessary Words Don’t Exist
An essay in which cultural philosopher Ton Lemaire was bothered by the adoption of English words into Dutch, inspired linguist Marten van der Meulen to respond.
language
Miet Ooms
6 min reading time
Multilingualism Has Always Been Our Strength
'Translation in the Low Countries' is a monumental book that not only sheds light on the flourishing translation of culture in our region, but also offers a fascinating cultural history.
language
Ton Lemaire
10 min reading time
Irksome English
Why do the Dutch so readily turn to the English language? Cultural philosopher Ton Lemaire has long been bothered by the use of English words when there exists a perfectly good Dutch alternative.
language
Nina Haket
7 min reading time
In Search of a Language Utopia
‘Conceptual engineering’ tries to improve the way we speak about concepts. But is it possible to ‘improve’ language? And if so, how should we go about it?
language
Lauren Fonteyn
8 min reading time
AI and Historical Language: Shall I Compare Thee to a Human Being?
Artificial Intelligence opens new ways for language research. You can programme a bot to write sonnets like Shakespeare, and one day we might be able to converse with someone from the 16th century.
language
Sami Azar
9 min reading time
When the Mother Tongue Erodes: On the Importance of Multilingualism Among Newcomers
Loss of their mother tongue among children of Syrian refugees in Belgium leads to conflicting ideas about their identity.
language
Lotte Jensen
4 min reading time
Cherish Language Skills and Multilingualism
A broad knowledge of languages is important and translations are an essential part of Dutch literature, writes Lotte Jensen in her column.
