Lesson 2

Listen to Dutch - Vowels Explained (2) - Vocabulary - Numbers 1-10 - 'Dutch'

Just listen to the sounds of Dutch - don't worry about a thing - much will be explained in the course of the lessons.

Piet Hein
Piet Hein, Piet Hein,		Piet Hein, Piet Hein, [a name]
Piet Hein zijn naam is klein,		Piet Hein his name is short
Zijn daden benne groot,		His actions ['deeds'] are big ('benne' is a slang version of 'to be' - note the similarity to English)
Zijn daden benne groot,		What he did was great
Hij heeft gewonnen de Zilvervloot.		He has captured ['won'] the Silver Fleet
Hij heeft gewonnen, gewonnen de Zilvervloot,		He has captured, captured the Silver Fleet
Hij heeft gewonnen de Zilvervloot.		He has captured the Silver Fleet

Piet Hein was a Dutch pirate who in 1628 captured the yearly Spanish 'Silver Fleet' from America. Holland was at war with Spain at the time. The stockholders of his company received 50 to 75% dividend on their investment that year. The song is from a poem made at the time that was set to music in the 19th Century. It's still a popular children's song.

Vowels (2)

AU = OU	`au! pauw dauw` - `lauw miauw flauw` `bouw sjouwer oud louter` - `koud mouw stouwen`	- like OU in LOUD, OW in NOW - hear Dutch `nou` ('now')
EI = IJ	`ei hei steil` - `ei meid leiden verspreiden veelheid` `IJ hij stijl` - `hij lijden bijl deeltijd`	- "between FATE and FIGHT" - `feit` ('fact')
EU	`deur leuk peul` - `neus beul deuk heulen`	- approximately like ER in Engl. HER, try to leave out R - hear Dutch `heur` ('her' - slang)
OE	`doe stoep poel koek` - `hoe hoed roek boeten`	- like OO in BOOK - hear Dutch `boek` ('book')
UI	`huis pui ruit tuin` - `buit huilen luider Duitser`	- somewhat like IR in (New England) BIRD (no offense meant) - `buit` ('loot')

There are no sounds like Dutch EI/IJ, EU and UI in English.
A sound very much like Dutch EI/IJ is found in French, in a word like soleil

2 ('sun') and in the Mediterranean French city of Marseille

.
German has a sound like Dutch EU in some words with Ö or OE like Gödel

or schön

2 3, and you may have heard of the Swedish city of Göteborg

.
French has a sound like Dutch UI in a word like l'oeil

('the eye'.)
English-speakers tend to say Dutch EI/IJ like IE in NECKTIES, for a beginner that's OK, but try to teach yourself the Dutch sound.
A few words in Dutch have something close that English IE sound of NECKTIES, for instance in maïs

('corn, maize.')
Compare Dutch EI/IJ with Dutch EE and AI: Trees Thijs Thais

2 - pees spijs pais

2
Compare with Dutch long AAI: hij haai hei

- mij maai mei

In Dutch, 'ij' is seen as one letter and (when appropriate) capitalized together: IJmuiden, IJsselmeer; to the Dutch, it looks very silly when foreign publications print only the i in uppercase, like [wrong!]"... the Ij near Amsterdam ..."[wrong!]
The IJ is often seen as the 25th letter of the Dutch alphabet; the Y is called by its French name: i-Grèc

- 2
Do note how groot

('large, big, tall, great') and groet

('greeting') are said in Dutch: the pronuciation of OO and OE is switched in English.

More Vowel Examples

au!

beurs

(old-fashioned word)

boek

The AI in Dutch 'Braille'

is how English I like in 'I' or IE in 'Necktie' sounds to me; it's different from Dutch EI/IJ.

Psychology of Hearing

It is said that small children should hear foreign languages to become familiar with a wide range of human sounds. At a later age it will be much more difficult to recognize sounds you didn't grow up with.
A few students have told me that when I read a line of words with a vowel sound they're not familiar with, they sometimes hear a variety of sounds for that vowel. Of course people don't pronounce letters exactly the same every time, but usually it is within an acceptable range, and how I say it is all standard Dutch.
When you hear a foreign sound, a sound that's new to you, it's hard to place because there is no 'frame of reference.' Maybe you will assume it's just a variation of a sound you're familiar with.
What for me are just small, acceptable variations may seem to be rather large differences to you. It could also be that when you hear a sound you don't know, you try to relate it to a more familiar word and then start hearing something like the vowel of that more familiar word.
Ik heb cash ('I have cash') - my English isn't perfect.

Vocabulary

man

- vrouw

mensen

(NASA)

ouders

(parents)

kinderen

(children)

vader

(father)
"pappa"

(Dad)

zusje

(sister)

broer

(brother)

(me)

moeder

(mother)
"mamma"

(Mom)

dochter

(daughter)

zoon

(son)

vrouw

(wife)

man

(husband)

Dutch vrouw

is both 'wife' and in general, 'the female of the human species.' Plural: vrouwen

('women.')
Dutch man

is both 'husband' and in general, 'the male of the human species.' Plural: mannen

('men, males.')
kind

('child') - plural: kinderen

('children')
jongen

('boy')
meisje

('girl')
mensen

('people, humans beings, men') - singular: mens

('1 human being.')
The drawing of a man and a woman are from plates NASA put on the Pioneer spaceships to show aliens (if they are out there) what we look like.
Optional Further Study: Family Tree

Numbers 1

0
nul

1
één

2
twee

3
drie

4
vier

5
vijf

6
zes

7
zeven

8
acht

9
negen

10
tien

vier (4) generaties

drie (3) moeders, drie dochters

(You could also say there are four daughters in the picture.)

'Dutch'

Because of the many negative expressions like 'Dutch treat' and 'Dutch courage' some try to avoid the word 'Dutch' - there was even a 1930s Dutch government guideline recommending the use of 'Netherlands' instead of 'Dutch.' I used to work at the "Netherlands Library for the Blind."
In Holland, we call the neighbors to the East Duitsers

('Germans,') singular: Duitser

('German,') their language or the adjective is Duits

('German') and their country Duitsland

('Germany.') This leaves the Dutch word Germanen

for the members of the Germanic tribes of old that are the ancestors of the English, Dutch, Flemish, German, Austrian, most Swiss, and Scandinavian people.
Like the English 'Dutch,' German 'Deutsch' and Italian 'Tedesci' these words come from an old word that those Germanic tribes of 2000 years ago used to refer to themselves, 'we, our people.' The word for 'the other tribe' is found in 'Wales' of Great Britain, 'Wallonia' for the French-speaking part of Belgium, and the German adjective welsch ('foreign - French, Italian of Spanish.')

Thank you Billy Eric, Daniel Baskin and Bob Krieckhaus for feedback that improved this page.

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Don't be a dief (thief) / dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) - hear Dutch - 2