People who are learning Dutch often think that they can only speak it in the Netherlands. If you think so, you are wrong because there are places other than the Netherlands where people speak Dutch. And the fun fact is it’s different everywhere. There are differences in vocabulary. Dutch vocabulary is a blend of different lingos. It is the sister language of English too. Some of the Dutch variants have French loanwords while others have English loanwords. Dutch expressions are also specific to areas or people. Some urban dialects have become more popular.
Brief History of Dutch Language
Dutch is a branch of the West Germanic Language family. The West Germanic further have different branches as into English, German, Dutch and Frisian.
Dutch dialect is somehow closer to the German language but the grammar and basic Dutch vocabulary rules are similar to English, so English and German speakers sometimes understand Dutch.
West Germanic dialect also includes North Germanic language i.e. Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic. The Dutch language is also one of these. It originates from the Netherland, and now it is the official standard language of the country. People of the northern half of Belgium or the region of Flanders and the South American country of Suriname also speak Dutch. People of Southern Africa originated the Afrikaans language from the Dutch language, and today people of South Africa and Namibia speak Afrikaans. Today, over 22 million native Dutch speakers live around the world.
Before the 12th century, the Dutch language was called Old Dutch. While in between the 12th to 15th century it was known as Middle Dutch, also called diets and that’s why it is named Dutch in English. From the 15th century onward, it is called Modern Dutch. The word Dutch originates from the Proto-Germanic word “theodiscus” and it means “the language of common people”. At that time Dutch was used to refer to the Germans speakers and their languages. As time passes, it refers to the Netherland instead of Germans.