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Attempting to Pronounce Dutch

Guessing how words and names might have been spoken by 18th Century New Yorkers

 

 

 

This page will perhaps venture farther than your author should ever delve into the realm of rank amateur dilettantism!  I have no real understanding of the Dutch language and, frankly, no expectation of acquiring one. But it irks me to be completely unable to pronounce words and names, and I imagine the same applies to many of my readers. So we’ll hoist our “Dutch courage” and give it an old college try—recollecting every caveat in the book.

 

There’s no Dutch heritage in my family background, so I was very fortunate to be able to interview Dr. Mel Rosen, whom I met through the American Revolution Round Table of New York, and his charming wife Hillegonda (pronounced Hill-uh-HON-duh). He studied medicine for seven years in Amsterdam some decades ago, and returned to New York City with Hillegonde, an Amsterdam native. (The errors in this sketch, I hasten to affirm, are solely my own.)

 

Our quick study is complicated by the fact that mid-18th Century New York Dutch was already well-divorced, culturally, from Netherlands Dutch. Thanks to Britain’s onerous mercantilist commercial restrictions (the “Navigation Acts”), immigration virtually ceased after the 1670s, and there was little direct communication of any kind outside the Dutch Reformed Church. The way our characters spoke is also as separated by the passage of a quarter-millennium from contemporary Amsterdam Dutch as George Washington’s English is separated from that of today’s Londoners. Like English, Dutch also has dialects and accents.  Flemish is a dialect that apparently often requires a translating dictionary. But Mrs. Rosen can not only discern the accents from such Dutch colonial possessions as Curacao and Indonesia, but from cities less than two hundred miles from the capital, such as Groningen and Maastricht!

 

As time wore on, the Dutch of the descendants of the New Netherlands immigrants would have become progressively anglicized:  insisting that everyone else pronounce your surname correctly becomes very tedious, as all immigrants quickly find out. 

·        President Theodore apparently pronounced his surname ROOZ-e-velt, whereas his distant cousin President Franklin pronounced it ROWS-e-velt. According to current Netherlands usage, the latter is more correct … but who’s to say?  Is it any wonder we’re confused? 

·        Mrs. Rosen’s nickname, in Holland, was Gonje, pronounced something like gHAWN-ye. She has long since given up explaining this to her New York friends, and is usually addressed as Connie.

·        Another analogy:  your present author’s patrilineal line descends from a 17th Century French Huguenot, who doubtless pronounced his surname Cah-ree-ELL, rolling the R. Yours truly never manages to roll the R and, like most of his relatives, friends, and neighbors, pronounces it CAHR-ee-ul. 

·        By the late 1750s, the (rather improbable) surname Dordrecht would likely have been somewhat anglicized, in that the Ds would already be harder than in native Dutch, the Rs would not be rolled, and the guttural echt would have been simplified to ekt.  Perhaps our hero and his family might even have unconsciously sounded their surname differently as they introduced themselves to people who did or did not speak Dutch. 

 

Like French and like German, Dutch apparently has dipthongs and gutturals … but they’re not the same dipthongs and gutturals, so we can’t make any assumptions along those lines.  Here are the few pointers I’ve accumulated (a/k/a the essence of my ignorance):

·        As in English, the first syllable of a word receives the emphasis more often than not. 

·        E is generally pronounced like an English hard A; double-EEs are invariably like a hard A.

·        Double-OOs are pronounced like hard Os (ROWS not ROOZ).

·        Double-AAs are pronounced like soft As.

·        Vowel combinations such as EU and OE … are impossible to describe coherently.

·        Letter Gs are neither hard nor soft, but almost nonexistent; you’re better off to think of a sharply-attacked letter H.

·        Letter Js are pronounced like Ys, except…

·        The IJ combination apparently usually sounds like a hard A.

·        The SCH combination sounds like SHK.

 

That’s all the tourist-Dutch I even think I know. Proceed at your own risk!

 

 

The following words and names are all used in Great Mischief:

 

Words Other Than Proper Nouns

WORD

PRONUNCIATION

ROUGH EQUIVALENT

Classis

KLAHSS-eess

Synod

Genever

Hen-AY-ver

Genever (a flavored gin)

Grootmoeder

HROAT-moo-dair

Grandmother

Grootvader

HROAT-fa-dair

Grandfather

Hekserij

HAIK-sair-ay

Witchcraft

Het Wapen Van Oranje

Hayt VAP-pen fan oh-RAHN-yeh

The Arms of Orange

Ja

Yah

Yes

Juffrouw

Yuh-FROW

Miss

Kerk

KAIRK

Church

Meneer

Mayn-AYR

Mister

Mevrouw

May-FROW

Missus

Natuurlijk

Na-TOOR-lake

Naturally

Pinkster

PINK-stayr

Pentecost

Roodborstje

Road-BORST-ye

Robin (the bird)

Schout

SHKOWT

Sheriff or bailiff

Sinterklaas

SINT-ayr-klahss

Santa Claus

Stadhouder

SHTAD-how-dayr

Mayor or governor

Vrouw

FROW

Woman, wife

Waakzaamheid

VAHK-zahm-hite

Watchfulness

Zus

ZOOSS

Sis

Zuster

ZOOSS-tayr

Sister

Zwarte

ZWAR-tuh

Black

 

 

The original name for Brooklyn, Breuckelen, was probably pronounced Brew-kuh-LAYN. The ancient Netherlands city of Utrecht, after which our hero’s hometown is named, is sounded Oo-TREKT (with a flipped R and a guttural). The modern “nabe” of New Utrecht is sounded (by Noo YAWK-uz) as Noo YOO-trek.  Sic transit gloria, etc., etc.

 

English speakers will probably pronounce the following given names “close enough,” without prompting:  Aalbert, Balt, Ernst, Floris, Frederik, Hans, Hendrik, Kaspar, Katryne, Maurits, Rozamond, Sander.

 

Given Names

Aeltje

OWLT-yeh

 

Anneke

AHN-ne-keh

Annette

Arjan

AR-yan

 

Berend

BAYR-end

 

Berendina

BAYR-en-DEEN-uh

 

Betje

BAYT-yeh

Betty

Boudewyn

BOW-de-wayn

Baldwin

Brevoort

Bray-FORT

 

Claes

KLAYS

Claude

Constantija

Kon-STAN-tee-yah

Constance

Cornelis

Kor-NAYL-eess

Cornelius

Derk

DAYRK

Dirk

Dries

DREESS

Andrew

Emke

AIM-keh

 

Engelbertus

AIN-hel-BAYR-tus

 

Geertruid

Hayr-TROWDT

Gertrude

Gerrit

Hay-REET

 

Gesina

Hay-SEEN-ah

 

Gosselick

HOSS-uh-LEEK

 

Harmanus

HAR-man-us

 

Jaap

YAHP

Jacob

Jan

YAHN

John

Janna

YAHN-nuh

Johanna

Jenneken

YAY-neh-ken

Joan

Karel

KAH-rel

Charles

Lodewyk

LOW-de-wik

Ludwig/

Louis

Lotje

LAHT-yeh

Charlotte

Machtel

MAK-tull

Matilda

Marijke

Mar-AY-keh

Maria

Marinus

MAR-uh-nus

 

Mathijs

Mat-TICE

Matthew

Petrus

PAY-truss

Peter

Powles

POW-less

Paul

Roosje

ROW-sheh

Rosie

Rykert

RY-kayrt

Richard

Saal

SAHL

Saul

Teunis

TEH-niss

Anthony

Toontje

TOANT-yeh

Antonia

Vrijdag

FRY-dah

Friday

Willem

VIL-lum

William

Willemina

VIL-lum-MEEN-uh

 

Wim

VIM

 

Wouter

VOH-ter

Walter

r

Surnames

Bilderbeek

BEEL-der-BAKE

Dordrecht

DOR-drekt

Esselinkpas

AYS-se-LINK-pahs

Grijpstra

HRAYP-strah

Halsema

HAHL-se-mah

Hampers

HAHM-pers

Ijsbrandts

AYSH-brahndts

Katelaar

KAHT-uh-lar

Kloppen

KLOAP-pen

Ligtenbarg

LIH-ten-bar

Loytinck

LOY-tink

Meerdink

MAIR-dink

Nijenhuis

NAY-en-howsh

Oosterhout

OAST-er-howt

Schuppert

SHKUP-pairt

ter Oonck

Tayr OHNK

Van Klost

Fan KLOHST

Van Renssalaer

Fan RENSS-uh-lar

Van Voort

Fan FORT

Voskuil

FOSS-kile

Westerhof

VEST-er-hoff

Zuykenaar

ZOW-ken-ar

 

 

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