A few weeks ago I hinted at a paper I had to write for my Language class about Dutch loanwords. Well I finished it and got a high grade. It's no work of art but I thought I'd post it piece by piece for you. All grammatical errors and whatnot are my fault.
Dutch Loanwords - How They Shaped American English
Dutch Loanwords - How They Shaped American English
What’s
more American than booze, pickles, coleslaw, and a cookie? The answer is
actually lots of things because all four of those words are not ‘English’ (in
this case British) in origin. They originate across the sea yes, but from
another nautical nation; the Netherlands or more readily known as Holland. But
those are only a handful of many words that we can attribute to the Dutch.
“Certainly no language was ever composed of such numerous and such diverse
elements” quote by Walter W. Skeat 1892 (Speaking about the English Language).
Questions arise then; Why do we have words in our everyday language that
originate from Holland, What is a loanword, How much of English is English, and
Why is this important?
First a brief history lesson. In
1621 Dutch traders founded the West Indian Company (not to be confused with the
Dutch East India Trading Company) who then in 1624 settled permanently in the
area around three rivers, which later became known as the Delaware, Hudson and
Connecticut Rivers forming the New Netherland Colony. A year later in 1625 they
settled in Manhattan that would later become New Amsterdam (New York City).(Sijs 21). Holland was a power to be reckoned with for only a short time. Their
empire was based on trade, which at that time depended on the sea. Thanks to
the Dutch East India and West Indian trading companies; Holland extended their
rule throughout the ocean as a naval power. Their influence touched parts of
Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere. However, their homeland was sparse on
natural resources so they relied heavily on trade and business. Once that
failed due to the rise of other powers in the world and revolutionary wars that
lost them their prime trading colonies; the Dutch high standing was lost. They
lost their dominance when they lost their trade empire. This was during the
time of Britain’s rise to power. After two brief skirmishes between Britain and
Holland the Dutch ‘traded’ control of the colony of New Netherland to the
British for rights to other trading areas in the Pacific. ......
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