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
Marc van Oostendorp
11 min reading time
Why We Will Never Agree About Dutch
Linguist and Professor of Dutch Marc van Oostendorp debunks the consensus that Dutch would be a pluricentric language.
language
Marten van der Meulen
4 min reading time
Thingy
There is something you should know about the word thingy. It refers to something, but what it represents is at the same time unknown. So how come this yet seems to work, linguist Marten van der Meulen wonders.
Series
Dutch in the World
language
Lode Delputte
11 min reading time
Courses in English at Our Universities? Yes, but in Moderation
Should we consider the increasing anglicization of higher education in the Netherlands and Flanders a good or bad evolution?
language
Christopher Joby
9 min reading time
An Audible Accent When Speaking Dutch? It Doesn’t Matter
Native speakers of Dutch should adopt a more tolerant and empathetic attitude towards non-native speakers, argues Christopher Joby, a Dutch Studies scholar from Norwich.
Series
Babel in the Low Countries
language
Tom Christiaens
2 min reading time
The Top 7 Language Stories of the Year
Join us in bidding goodbye to 2022 with seven of the finest language stories we published this year that are worth re-reading or listening to again.
language
Nicoline van der Sijs
8 min reading time
Blep, Sploot and Zoomies: Online Cats and Dogs Leave a Pawed Imprint in Dictionaries
Cats and dogs on the internet use lolspeak to address their owners. How long will it be before this new language takes hold in Dutch?
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
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.
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?"
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
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
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.
