Dutch
The Dutch language is a member of the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European
family of languages. It is spoken by about 14 million people in the Netherlands,
and by another 6 million in the Netherlands' overseas territories, the northern
half of Belgium, and parts of northern France. In Belgium and France the language
is usually called Flemish; for historical reasons. The Cape Dutch, or Afrikaans,
spoken in South Africa, is an offshoot of Dutch that is now considered a separate
language. The name Dutch is derived from the word Dietsch, meaning 'the vernacular'.
Both Belgium and the Netherlands use a common literary language, termed standard
Netherlandic or standard Dutch, which evolved from the dialects of 15th century
Flanders and Brabant . There is also a standard spoken form of Dutch which evolved
from the dialect of the province of Holland, but there are many local spoken
dialects which vary gradually from village to village, shading into the regional
Low German dialects of northern Germany. Thus, the written and spoken forms
of Dutch often differ significantly. Dutch is written using the Roman alphabet,
and the earliest existing texts in the language go back to the late 12th century.
It is noteworthy as the language of an outstanding literature, but it also became
important as the tongue of an enterprising people, who, though comparatively
few in number, made their mark on the world community through trade and empire.
Sources:
Encyclopedia.com
The Netherlands and Alkmaar
Ethnologue
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Mingei museum of folk art
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