Posts from April 2009

More Dutch Consonants

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Apr 25 2009

The following consonants are pronounced similar to English except for a few exceptions:

b – when b occurs at the end of a word it is pronounced as a p. Example: (web) web

c – when the c is before i or e, it’s pronounced like the English s. (ceremonie) ceremony. Otherwise it sounds like an English k. (creatief) creative

d – if it appears at the end of a word, it’s pronounced as a t. (hond) dog.

g – has a gutteral sound. Try Byki Dutch to hear this sound. (berg) mountain

l – if it’s before a vowel, it’s like the l in low. (lente) spring. When it’s after a consonant or at the end of a word it’s like the English w in will. (bril) glasses

r – before a vowel r is kind of rolled. Try Byki Dutch to listen to this sound. (radar) radar. Before a consonant it’s pronounced like an Englih r. (regendruppel) rain drop.

y – when it occurs before a vowel it’s pronounced as j. (royaal) royal

Now we’re going to look at some consonant groupings:

ch – pronounced as a Dutch g. Dutch Byki really helps. (licht) light

sch – pronounced as a g with an s in front of it. (schip) ship

ng – is like the ng in the word string. (zingen) to sing

Dutch Consonants

Posted by Transparent Language No Comments
Apr 24 2009

Here are the Dutch consonants that have the same pronunciation in English:

m – (man) man

n – (niet) not

s – (samen) together

q – (quiz) quiz

x – (extra) extra

Here the consonants that are very similar to the English consonants, but are pronounced a lot softer in Dutch than in English:

h – (hemel) heavel

k – (kroning) king

p – (paard) horse

t – (taart) cake

Here are the consonants that may prove confusing to English speakers. The Dutch consonants in this group have sounds that are not quite the same in English:

f – similar to English v an w. (fraai) beautiful

j – like the English y in yell. (ja) yes

v – is pronounced like the English f. (van) of

w – like the English v. (water) water

z – like the English s. (zoen) kiss

Diphthongs, Double Vowels, and Triple Vowels

Posted by Transparent Language 3 Comments
Apr 23 2009

Just like the post just before this, I’ll give the vowel, give a close English approximation of how it’s pronounced and give two examples of Dutch words that have the vowel. The Dutch words will be highlighted in black and in parentheses. The English meaning will follow afterwards.

ie – kind of like the ee in seen. (lied) song, (vriend) friend

eu – made by forming the mouth for the oo in book and then having the tongue lowered and pulled back. (neus) nose, (keuken) kitchen

oe – like the o in English word do. (goed) good, (zoet) sweet

ei/ij – makes the same sound in English ay in say. (rijs) rice, (reist) travels

au/ou – like the ow in now. (gauw) quickly, (goud) gold

ui – round your lips and make a sound between a Dutch ou and eu. (huis) house, (vuil) dirty

aai – this is a combination of Dutch aa and ie. (draaien) to turn, (maaien) to mow

oei – combination of oe and ie. (groeien) to grow, (vermoeid) tired

ooi – combination of oo and ie. (gooien) to throw, (mooi) beautiful

eeuw – combination of ee and oe. (leeuwen) lions, (geeuwen) to yawn

iew – combination of ie and oe. (vernieuwen) to renew, (kieuwen) gills of a fish

To hear an assortment of Dutch words, try the Dutch Byki. It’s useful and effective.

Ultspraak

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
Apr 22 2009

We’re going to work on Dutch ultspraak, or Dutch pronunciation. I’ll give you tips on how to pronounce Dutch sounds and compare them with sounds that are close to what you may hear in English. Just a reminder though, the sounds may not be exactly what you hear in English and the only way you can be sure you got it right is to hear it first hand. The Dutch Byki series has a wonderful system where you can hear the Dutch pronunciation and see how it’s written at the same time. It’s visual and vocal learning all at once.

First, let’s look at the short vowels. The Dutch words will be in parentheses and the meanings will follow right after the parentheses.

a – it’s pronounced like the u in the English word for hut. Some examples of Dutch words that contain this sound is: (star) stiff, stubborn, (wakker) awake

e – pronounced like the English e in bet. Examples: (stem) voice, (les) lesson

i – like the English i in fit. Examples: (Brit) British man, (winter) winter

o – like the o in mortar, but shorter. Examples: (los) loose, free; (stom) stupid

u – like the u in burden, but much shorter. Examples: (kus) kiss, (nut) use

y – like the y in system. Examples: (mysterie) mystery, (symptom) symptom

Ok, now it’s time for the long vowels:

oo – kind of like the English o in go, but longer. Examples: (groot) big, large; (rood) red

ee – kind of like the ay in say. Examples: (veel) much, many; (steen) stone, brick

uu – we don’t really have something similar in English. Maybe like the oo in mood. The best I can do here is say that it’s close to the German ö. Remember that if you want to hear it, take advantage of the Dutch Byki series. Examples: (vuur) five, (uur) hour

Next time I’ll do a post on dipthongs and double vowels

Beschuit met muisjes

Posted by Transparent Language 2 Comments
Apr 21 2009

Hallo (hello)! My name is Yohann and I’ll be your new Dutch blogger from now on.

Moving on to some business, I have a story for you that’ll bring a tear to your eyes. Wait, those are happy, mushy, gushy tears. Just a month ago my nephew was born. He’s a healthy, happy bouncing seven and half pound baby. He poops and pees on me all the time, but he’s so cute I don’t get mad.

Anyway, I was invited to have some Beschuit met muisje; in honor of my newphew’s birth. It’s a yummy Dutch tradition to serve Beschuit met muisje to any guests who visit the house of a newborn. Beschuit met muisjes literally means biscuits with little mice. No worries! It’s not actually made of real mice. (Thankfully).

Beschuit met muisjes are round and made of bread, butter and aniseed. Beschuit means biscuit, but it’s not a biscuit in the American sense of the word for biscuit. It’s more like a thick, crusty cake/bread. The aniseeds are supposed to represent the tails of little mice. Of all the animals you could choose to put on a cake, why mice? Well, the mouse symbolizes fertility in the Netherlands. Get it? Mouse = fertility= baby born (how that baby was conceived = fertility) and on and on.

Depending on the sex of the child, the color of the cake differs as well. This is easy. What would be the sex of the child if the cake is pink? A girl of course! What about a blue cake? Boy! This one’s a little tricky. What about a white one? Hermaphrodite! No, just kidding! White cakes symbolize the birth of a boy. What about an orange cake? Whether boy or girl orange cakes symbolize the birth of a member of royalty. The Dutch royal household traces its lineage to the House of Orange, hence its name.

This one goes out to my nephew Fijne Verjaadag (Happy Birthday)!

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