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Linguist Fieke Van der Gucht investigated the way the old Germanic people chose their first names. As for her own name? Turns out her parents weren’t very good at German.
Linguist Fieke Van der Gucht declares her love to a comma.
When it comes to Dutch, editor-in-chief Luc Devoldere states that it is not clear who determines which language norms to respect and which rules to adhere to.
The Flemish tenacity for cycling inspired the English to invent much of today’s cycling lingo.
Due to its geographical closeness to the Low Countries, Britain has played an important role in the history of the Dutch language.
Luc Devoldere rejects the existence of a bond between language and ethnicity – or Blut und Boden. Instead, he suggests the term ‘territory’.
Have you ever heard of “suburban Flemish” and “Polderdutch”? Editor-in-chief Luc Devoldere about the tension between dying dialects, weird "in-between-languages" and overpowering standard languages.
Abdelkader Benali has been awarded the Golden Goose Feather as an ambassador of the Dutch language who reaches young people with his enthusiasm and dedication. This is his ode to ‘bastard Dutch’.
For centuries, the Dutch language in Belgium had to pave the way for French. And yet, editor-in-chief Luc Devoldere, a Fleming, wouldn’t miss French for the world.
Despite the English conquest of the northeast coast of North America in 1664, the Dutch language continued to thrive in New York and northern New Jersey for generations, persisting into the twentieth century in certain areas.
Our best language stories of 2019, handpicked by the editor.
