Paper Conclusion

Dutch as it stands from a 2005 study is the native language of over 22 million people who reside mostly in the Netherlands and Belgium. (Sijs 348) Dutch as a language in America today is diminishing. (Sijs 107) It looks as if the Dutch language is losing ground it would seem. Apparently one can be proud of one’s Dutch background without being able to speak the Dutch language. A personal anecdote proves this the case. My last name is Dutch and I’m proud of it. Blauvelt means Blue Field in Dutch. I am the 13^th generation living in America since my first ancestor from Holland made the trek to America. I don’t speak Dutch however, I have been trying. I meet a girl whose last name was van Crae (Americanized) and she asked what percentage Dutch I was. I have no idea, probably very small if any. Her father is from Holland, making her 50%. This proves Sijs’ theory. I am proud to be ‘Dutch’ even though I don’t speak it, have never visited, and by now am most likely more a mix of other nationalities than just one. But my last name is Dutch and that is the culture I most associate myself with.

Of the words that American English adopted form Dutch immigrants over 70% came from the first wave of settlers meaning the loanwords from the 17^th and 18^th centuries have the upper hand on the more recent words since they have had the longest time to influence us and got here first. Most Dutch loanwords are still known in American English although some only regionally. Also a number of general phonetic changes that Dutch loanwords underwent in American English are interesting to note. Dutch ‘a’ frequently became an ‘o’ which may be due to pronunciation during the 17^th century. This affected words like boss, woffle iron etc. (Sijs 280)

The original colonies were not all English and the multiethnic makeup of the Manhattan colony of New Amsterdam proves this point. The national myth dismisses the Dutch presence as irrelevant. That it was small and short lived and inconsequential. That wasn’t us but a collection of ‘alien’ peoples who only left traces. This is all false. The colony was hardly small and it encompassed parts of five of the eventual 13 colonies. In terms of historical evidence, there is a growing mountain of it thanks to the translation and restoration works now going on to revitalize our heritage. The Dutch didn’t go anywhere after the colony was turned over to the British and in fact they kept coming making New York a unique spot on the globe. The only port city plugged directly into both of the world’s two major trading empires. American and Britain. (Shorto 300)

So why is it important to know where our language comes from? Should immigrants leave their old ethnicities behind or preserve them and remain in some way apart from the main culture? What is an American? Or for that matter who is English? The strength in the mixing of cultures idea was undeniable for a long time and the essence of it, this idea of tolerance, matters more now than ever. Tolerance remains a thing of power. (Shorto 318) It’s important to remember where WE came from. Language is us. How you speak, what you speak defines you as a person. As Romaine stated in her book; what we speak can tell you a lot about the person (right or wrong). Social class, gender, ethnicity, etc. Knowing where our language comes from better helps us to see where we fit. Who we are. Helps us make a decision on if that is the person we want to be. It should give us a sense of pride; of community, belonging to something bigger and older. I’m going to go have a koekje now.