Dutch Course - Chapter 9
New Netherland
Many people in Holland do know that New York was once a Dutch city.
It is an historical fact, which still causes some pain: how history would have run a different
course if Holland, at that time, had not been forced to surrender this would-be world city to the British.
A much less known fact is that in the first half of the 17th century Holland possessed
a colony on the East coast of North America and this colony bore the proud name "New Netherland".
In 1625 New Amsterdam, on the island of Manhattan, became the governing centre of the new colony and
many colonists tried their luck in this new land of milk and honey.
After 40 years of turbulent internal conflicts, wars with the Indians and border conflicts with British, French and Swedish neighbours,
the Dutch were forced to cede the territory to the British. That was in 1664.
In 1673 the territory was recaptured by the Dutch, but in 1674 the territory definitively changed
into British hands again. The city of New Amsterdam (picture), as well as the colony of New Netherland,
henceforth bore the name New York.
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Compound Verbs
Compound verbs in Dutch usually consist of a preposition and a verb. A verb
like 'opzoeken' means and functions almost the same as the English verb 'to look
up', for instance a word in a dictionary. In English the two parts are
considered as two different words while in Dutch they form a new (compound)
word.
The stress is always on the first, the preposition, part. When used in a
sentence as the finite verb, the two parts are split, the verb part taking the
place the verb normally takes, i.e. after the subject, while the preposition
goes to the end of the clause.
Example: Ik zoek nieuwe woorden altijd in het woordenboek op.
(I always look up new words in the dictionary)
When an auxiliary verb is used, the whole verb goes to the end of the clause:
Ik wil het nieuwe woord in het woordenboek opzoeken.
(I want to look up the new word in the dictionary)
Other common compound verbs are: aankomen (to arrive), opletten (to pay
attention), opschrijven (to write down), uitkijken (to watch out), uitleggen (to
explain), meenemen (to take along), aantrekken (to put on), uittrekken (to take
off), aankleden (to dress), uitnodigen (to invite), voorstellen (to introduce),
opstaan (to stand up or to get up).
Er
The two most important meanings of the Dutch word 'er' are 'there' and 'it'.
As in:
Er waren 35 mensen (There were 35 people) and
Ik zal erover denken (I will think about it).
'It' is translated into 'er' whenever it is combined with a preposition,
eg. 'about it' above.
More examples:
Look at it! - Kijk ernaar! ('er' + naar)
I like it. - Ik houd ervan. ('er' + van)
Don't talk about it. - Praat er niet over.
She is stuck with it. - Ze zit ermee.
Prepositional Compounds
'er', 'waar', 'hier', and 'daar', combined with a preposition, are called
Prepositional Compounds.
waarop - on what (waar + preposition = what + preposition)
erop - on it
hierop - on this
daarop - on that
NB. Compare older English construction like: whereafter, whereupon,
therewith, hereafter, etc.
In spoken Dutch these compounds are normally split into their two components:
Waar zit je op (What are you sitting on)?
Ik zit er niet op (I am not sitting on it).
Ik zit hier niet op (I am not sitting on this).
Ik zit daar nooit op (I never sit on that).
Degrees of Comparison
These in Dutch are formed in much the same way as in English:
groot - groter - grootste (big)
klein - kleiner - kleinste (small)
duur - duurder - duurste (expensive)
goed - beter - beste (good)
veel - meer - meeste (many, much)
weinig - minder - minste (little, a few)
lief - liever - liefst (dear, nice)
Some abbriviations:
bv. (bijvoorbeeld - for example)
o.a. (onder andere) - among others
d.w.z. (dat wil zeggen) - that means (that is to say)
p.s. post scriptum - p/s
Funny language (grappige taal)
In what language do people have noses that run and feet that smell,
an alarm that goes off by going on,
where there is no egg in an eggplant nor ham in a hamburger
and is a boxing ring square?
In welke taal hebben mensen neuzen die lopen en voeten die ruiken,
een alarm dat afgaat als het aangaat,
waar er geen ei in een eierplant zit noch ham in een hamburger
en een boksring vierkant is ?
WFH, August 9, 2002
