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Legal mattersDutch and other languages

Extra-Governmental Organizations

Dutch Today

Marc van OostendorpMeertens Instituut & Leiden University

October 9, 2009

Marc van Oostendorp Meertens Instituut & Leiden University Dutch Today



Language is, like, really my thing

Paulien Cornelisse (2009) is one of the biggest bestsellers of this year; written by a non-linguist, it promotes a ratherrelaxed and joyful view of the Dutch language.




My First English Van Dale

2009This year also a dictionary for very young children appeared, in English (actually a translation of a Dutch original),published by the most authoritative Dutch publisher of dictionaries.




The State of Dutch at the Beginning of the TwentiethCentury

Legal matters

Dutch and other languages





The Dutch Empire

Source: Wikipedia




Dutch in Europe

Source: Wikipedia




The Dutch Language Union

Source: www.taalunieversum.org




The Dutch Language Union

I The Dutch Language Union (‘Nederlandse Taalunie’, NTU)was founded in 1980

I It is a common governmental body of the Dutch andFlemish governments, which have delegated all theirlanguage policies (as well as those concerning Dutchliterature) to it; since 2006 also Suriname participates

I Formally the NTU is guided by the ministers of culture; theeveryday administration is in the hands of a SecretaryGeneral (alternatingly a Dutch and a Flemish official)

I “The aim of the Language Union is to support users ofDutch around the world so that the language can continueto be as dynamic and vigorous as it is today.”




Word List of the Dutch Language

Source: Edition 2006




Spelling

I The language issue which typically provokes the mostheated debate is orthography

I The ‘official’ orthography is decided by a state committee;its use is compulsory in schools and for people in publicoffice

I The word list is adapted every 10 years, which alwayscauses heated debate

I Changes in the 2005 edition caused a large number ofmedia in the Netherlands (not in Belgium) to rebel, andpublish its own alternative spelling list (the ‘White Book’)




The Little White Book

Source: Edition 2006




Kingdom of the Netherlands

I The Kingdom of the Netherlands has four languages withsome official status: Dutch; Frisian; Papiamento (on thesouthern Dutch Antilles); English (on the northern Antillesisland of Sint Maarten)

I Recognized minority languages (European Charter):Frisian, Low Saxon, Limburgian, Yiddish, Roma and Sinti

I Dutch is the de facto common language of the Dutchgovernment and the government of the whole Kingdom

I But that isn’t mentioned explicitly in many Laws;Furthermore, Dutch is not mentioned in the Constitution

I The present government has announced a plan to changethis.




Foundational Document for the Balkenende IVGovernment

The Government promotes the simple andaccurate use of Dutch as a language ofadministration, of culture and of everyday use, and inorder to do this registers the Dutch languages in theConstitution, without diminishing in this way the legalrecognition of (the use of) Frisian




Kingdom of Belgium

I The Kingdom of Belgium has three official languages:French, Dutch and German

I Each is spoken in its own territoryI Brussels is the common capital of Belgium, all three

languages play an official role thereI Belgium has not signed the European Charter for Regional

Languages or Languages of Minorities





Legal matters






English at the National Airport

I A continuous source of annoyance for a (possibly small)group of people is the fact that many signs in the NationalAirport Schiphol are in English

I In 2007, the largest government party CDA asked thegovernment to put pressure on Schiphol to change this

I But the government refused, because of the ‘internationalcharacter’ of the airport




Prime Minister Balkenende Speaking English

I Another source of worries is that the formal openings ofthe academic years (in September) at various universitiesare conducted in English

I Both rectors and guest politicians speak English, at least insome cases




English in EducationI At this moment, around 80% of Master Programmes at

Dutch Universities are in Dutch (at some technical andagricultural universities, this percentages is at 100%)

I BA programmes typically are in Dutch (with about 20%being taught in English exclusively)

I There are around 100 secondary schools (12-18yr old)who offer a bilingual programme, where many of theclasses are in a foreign language. This is almost alwaysEnglish (but also German)

I Some primary schools are now also experimenting withoffering part of the courses in English (or German orFrench)

I Bilingual school programmes are disallowed in Belgium




Does Bilingual Primary Education Harm the DutchLanguage?

I According a 2007 questionnaire, a clear majority of Dutchspeakers is not worried about bilingual education, even atthe primary school level




The Dutch Elite and the Frisian Language

I “Why does everyone in Holland believe that Frisian is aseparate language, while there are more speakers ofTurkish in Amsterdam than speakers of Frisian inLeeuwarden? Is that racism? . . . I am not opposed toFrisian, but everybody should understand that thislanguage is a myth. (Columnist Ronald Plasterk on Dutchtv, June 2000)




The Dutch Elite and the Frisian Language II

I “My heart warmly beats for the Frisian language, and as aminister I will defend its interests. The fact that I am nowdoing my best to speak Frisian to you should make thatclear.” (Minister Plasterk, May 2007)




Other regional languages

I Next to Frisian, the Dutch State has also recognized LowSaxon and Limburgian as regional languages

I However, different from Frisian, these languages do not getfinancial or material support by the measures as indicatedby the Charter; recognition is a mere formality

I This reflects a popular belief that Frisian is the only realregional minority language, the others are ‘dialects’ ofDutch




Other minority languages

I The two largest groups of relatively recent immigrants areTurks and Moroccans (the latter mostly Berber)

I In the 1980s and 1990 large programmes were set up, inparticular in primary education, for teaching pupils at leastpartly in their own language

I In the 2000s these programmes have been all butabolished, usually referring to widespread (but notwell-founded) belief that such education harms rather thanpromotes the acquisition of Dutch

I In particular, a programme Onderwijs in AllochtoneLevende Talen (Education in Non-Indigenous LivingLanguages) was abolished in 2004




Dutch Sign Language

I Dutch Sign Language (DSL) has been taught since 1980;before that date is was disallowed, again because it wasbelieved that it would harm the acquisition of Dutch

I In 1997 a state committee, under the presidency of prof.Anne Baker argued for official recognition of DSL, but itnever materialized

I It is sometimes used on tv, and some work has been doneon standardisation





Legal matters






Onze Taal

I The association Onze Taal (Our Language) is probably thelargest association of ‘language lovers’ in the world (appr.35,000 members)

I It publishes a monthly magazine, books, a website, etc.I Furthermore, it offers ‘language advice’ to its members, by

telephone or e-mail; usually on issues of correctness, butalso etymology, etc.

I It also organizes a biannual conference with about 1,500visitors.




Onze Taal II

I The association is a relatively important actor in languagepolicies

I It is invited to ‘correct’ the Queen’s annual State of theNation address before it is spoken

I It is responsible for the White BookI It works for the Dutch Language Union as wellI Interestingly, membership is almost exclusively Dutch;

there are very few Flemish members




Language Advice

I Do you have language advice for me?I I sure do. Shut up.




Other Associations

I Next to Onze Taal, there is a number of associations,which are all much smaller and which typically operate onthe assumption that Onze Taal is not sufficiently radical

I Examples are: Stichting Nederlands (Foundation Dutch),Taalverdediging (Language Defense), and Ampzing (nameof a 17th century purist) who all are opposed to the use ofEnglish

I The total membership of these probably doesn’t surpass100 members




Amsterdam is Crying




Conclusions

I It seems that on average, Dutch speakers, in particularthose in the Netherlands, are rather optimistic about theirown language.

I There is a shift to English in various domains, and this issometimes notices, but it is typically not seen as a bigthreat, except by a small minority




No WayHillary must have been looking forward to this sentence in lastTuesday’s speech: ‘No way, no how, no McCain.’ [...]But this ‘no way’ sounded funny, to my ears in any case,because the Dutch who have adapted ‘no way’ already a whileago, aren’t those who we take seriously. Serious Dutchpoliticians do not say ‘no way’. [...]‘No way’ in the Netherlands is the exclusive property of youngpeople who get intense inspiration from American tv series. Mymind’s eye sees a student, a girl, with a happy ponytail. Shewould for instance state: ‘I am not going to take that test again,no way!’ [...]But I should add: the girlie students who now say ‘no way’ willdominate Dutch politics within about ten years of course, andby then we will also take ‘no way’ seriously.Paulien Cornelisse 2009


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