Dutch Course - Chapter 1 (Pronunciation)

Vowel sounds

• a  (short a- between 'duck' and 'dock'. The a- is found in words such as pak(parcel, suit), and plat(flat).
  Examples: kat,plat, kranten, dag, zakken, pak, vast, wal, klap, ratten, gat.

• aa  (long a- not found in English at all. It is produced by shaping the mouth for the vowel-sound in the English words 'by', 'why', etc. but opening the mouth much wider). It is found in Dutch words such as: kaas(cheese) and gaan(to go) and also in open syllables, i.e. in syllables ending on a vowel, as in maken(to make) and praten(to talk).
  Examples: kraal, ramen, aap, daar, platen, vaak, kaal, bazen, ja, amen.

  Notes:
  

  There is en essential difference in meaning between such words as plat(flat) and plaat(picture, record), mak (tame) and maak(to make), etc. This difference is determined by the difference between the short and the long a-sounds. It is therefore very important to distinguish clearly between these sounds. Mispronunciation may, in many cases, lead to serious misunderstandings. Here are a few more examples: tak is 'branch' in English, but taak means 'task'; man has the same meaning as 'man' in English but maan means 'moon'.

  The plural of 'tak'(branch) is 'takken'(branches); this means that the consonant has to be doubled, otherwise we get 'taken'(tasks), the plural of 'taak'(tasks). This doubling of consonants after short vowel sounds constitutes a rule which applies to most words spelled like tak-takken, for example to lap-lappen(rag-rags) and zak-zakken(bag-bags).

  The a- sound in 'tak-takken,' etc. is 'short' because they are single and followed, in the same syllable, by a consonant (t, s, k, n, etc.). The plural in Dutch is generally formed by adding -en as in the examples above.

  If the last syllable of a word is not stretched, the plural is often formed by adding an -s, as in English: thus the plural of 'tafel' (table) is tafels. The plural of raam (window) is ramen(windows). The last word consists of two syllables: ra- and -men. The second a- is dropped because the a- is the last letter of the syllable. If the last letter of a syllable is a vowel, we say that that syllable is open: ra- is thus an open syllable and the single a- is pronounced like an aa- (the long aa-). There are, in other words two ways in which a long vowel sound can be formed: by doubling the vowel concerned, eg., aa- as in kaas or having it at the end of a syllable, as in ramen.

  To determine the number of syllables that make up a given Dutch word, it is best to pronounce it slowly: ra-men. Again, if the last letter of a syllable is a vowel, such as an a-, this vowel is pronounced as though there were two a's: raa-men. This spelling (i.e. with two a's and a hyphen) is not normal and is here only used to indicate that the word concerned consists of more than one syllable. Words like 'praten'(to talk), 'betalen'(to pay), 'gapen'(to yawn) and 'halen'(to fetch) also contain open syllables (pra-ten, be-ta-len, ga-pen, ha-len).

• o  (short o- more or less as in English 'more', 'for', etc. but quite short). It is found in Dutch words such as bos(woods) and kop(head of an animal).
  Examples: dom, rond, los, toch, vossen, kost, lokken, vol, op, bronnen.

• oo  (long oo- as in English 'go' and 'low' but without the glide towards w.) It is found in Dutch words such as groot(big, large) and rood(red).
  Examples: knoop, vroom, roos, kroon, boos, droog, hoofd, hoop, door.

  Note:
  

  As in the case of the a-, o- is pronounced oo- if the syllable in which it appears, is open such as in 'bomen'. If this word is split into two syllables, we get bo-men. This word is therefore pronounced 'boo-men', but may not be spelled this way. We find this situation in words like 'wonen'(to live), dozen(boxes), symbolen(symbols), probleem(problem), and over(over). (do-zen, sym-bo-len, pro-bleem, o-ver).

  The oo- sound is different before an "r", more like a long o- sound.

• e  (short e- more or less like the sound in English 'set', 'crest', etc. but somewhat rounder, approaching the a- in English 'sat', etc.) It is found in Dutch words such as mes(knife) and kerk(church).
  Examples: gek, lekker, best, vet, wetten, sterk, vertellen, bek, erg, ontdekken.

• ee  (long ee- more or less like the English ay- as in 'say', 'crazy', etc. but without the glide towards 'i'). It is found in Dutch words such as veel(much, many) and steen(stone, brick). If e- is in an open syllable, as in 'stegen' (ste-gen), the word is pronounced stee-gen, but never spelled that way. This is also the situation in words like 'breken,'(to break), 'weten'(to know), 'vergeten'(to forget) and 'spelen' (to play).
  Examples: heel, veel, geven, eten, meer.

Note:


The explanation of the difference in pronunciation of e- and ee- only applies to words in which these sounds receive the stress. If the e-sound is unstressed, such as in words like lopen(to walk), bedanken (to thank) and also in de(the), the e- is pronounced as in similar words in English, such as father, paper, etc.

The ee- sound before an "r" sound like the "ea" in gear.

• u  (short u- heard in English words like 'bird', 'sir' and 'fur'). It is found in Dutch words such as bus (bus) and krul(curl).
  Examples: dun, stuk, knul, nummer, juk, lucht, knuffel, kussen.

• uu  (long uu- This sound is completely unknown in English. It is produced by shaping the lips as for the English sounds under u- or the Dutch ee- and then pouting the lips as though you were going to whistle or kiss). It sounds like the French 'lune'.
  The uu- sounds is found in Dutch words such as vuur(fire) and muur(brick wall).
  Examples: minuut, schuren, duur, gruwel, puur, ruzie, muziek, stuur, muur.

  Note:
  

  If the u- appears at the end of a syllable, it is pronounced like uu-. This is the case in words like 'muren'(walls), 'avonturen'(adventures), 'evalueren'(to evaluate), 'rumoer'(noise) and 'vuren'(fires).

• i  (short i- similar to the English i in 'sit' and 'this'.) It is found in Dutch words like zitten(to sit) and blik(tin can).
  Examples: ik, klimmen, flink, binnen, in, vinden, zingen, kring.

  Sometimes the i- is long (as in -ie below). We find this in words like radio, idee, and kritiek.

• ie  (long ie- heard in English words like 'seen' and 'green' but not stretched). It is found in Dutch words such as lied(song) and vriend(friend).
  Examples: dier, vies, hier, plezier, zien, vier, drie, niet, lief.

  Note:
  

  i- does not have a long variant: i- and ie- are, in fact, two practically unrelated sounds.

• eu  This is a special vowel as it consists of two letters but comprises only one sound. It is unknown in English. It is formed by shaping the lips and tongue for the oo-sound after which the tongue is lowered and pulled back somewhat. It appears in Dutch words such as neus (nose) and keuken (kitchen).
  Examples: reus, leuk, heus, beukeboom, keuze, deur.

  Note:
  

  The eu- sound is different before an "R", more like a long mute "E".

• oe  This sound is comparable to the vowel sound in English words such as 'dew', 'do' and 'two'. It is found in the Dutch words vroeg(early) and toen(then - past tense).
  Examples: voelen, voet, boek, moeten, bloed, goedemorgen.

Diphthongs and double vowels

• ei/ij  There is no difference between the pronunciation nor between the functions of these two symbols. The sound resembles the ay-sound in the English words say and take, including the i-sound at the end but shorter. The meaning of the Dutch words rijst(rice) and reist (the verb 'travels') can, in spoken form, only be determined by the context in which the words appear.
  Examples: mijn, mei, jij, wij, krijgen, dreigen, slijten, zeilen, blijven, slijterij, klein.

• au/ou  As with ei/ij, there is no difference between au- and ou- except in the spelling, and in this case not even in the meaning. The spelling can only be explained historically. The sounds appear in Dutch words such as gauw(quickly) and goud (gold) and is comparable to the vowel sound in the English word now.
  Examples: mouw, dauw, verkouden, vrouw, hout, zout, flauw.

• ui  This is apparently one of the most difficult sounds to produce for English speaking persons. It is formed lower in the mouth and by rounding the lips a little less than for the uu-. The sound produced is between the ou- and the eu-.
  A bit like saying the mute "e" followed by the "UU" sound, but very smooth.
  It is found in the Dutch words like huis (house) and vuil (dirty).
  Examples: ui, fluiten, tuin, gebruiken, kruis, besluiten, stuiten, uit.

  Note:
  

  These diphthongs have no long and short forms. There is therefore no doubling of either vowels or consonants if the stem of a given word contains a diphthong. The plural of vuist(fist) is vuisten(fists) and of kruis(cross) it is kruizen(crosses).

• oi  Pronounced like the "oy" in boy. Examples: hoi, mooi (pronouced like a long oi- sound).

Words from french

• eau  Pronounced like an oo- sound. Example: bureau.

• ou  As in: louche, enthousiasme, douchen. It is pronounced like the oe- sound, as in loose.

• g/ch  As in: douchen, (second g in) garage, pronounced like "sh" in show.

• ond  As in: plafond, pronounced as in on (silent d).

Consonants

• g/ch  The g is the voiced variant of the ch. In practice there is little noticable difference between the g- and ch-. The sound is formed in the back of the mouth and is produced by a rasping or friction between the upper and lower part of the throat. It is found in Dutch words such as acht (eight) and gras (grass).
  Examples: lach, grijs, vechten, achter, zwijgen, God, groeten, achtentachtig, bisschop, schrijven, prachtig.

  Note:
  

  When the g- is preceded by an n-, the sound is like in long. Examples: zingen (to sing), lang (long).

• j  This letter is always pronounced like the English y- and it appears in Dutch words such as ja(yes), je(you) and bejaard(aged).
  Examples: jij, Jacob, jaar, joden, Jansen, Jan, jas, jong, jammer.

• v  This sound closely resembles its English counterpart but is just slightly closer to f-. It appears in Dutch words such as van (of) and overal (everywhere).
  Examples: vrouw, vroeg, vraag, vreemd, vijftien, overal, vast, loven, duiven, vervelen.

• w  The Dutch w- is almost like the English v-. The English w- has no equivalent in Dutch. The Dutch w- is found in words such as water(water) and wijn(wine). Examples: waar, Willem :-))

  Notes:
  

  A d- at the end of a word is pronounced like a t-. This happens in words like rood(red) and bekend (well-known).

  A b- at the end of a word is pronounced like a p-, eg. in heb (have) and lob (lobe).

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WFH, November 3, 2003