...This may seem a lot to take in and remember but
the key to remember is there were other colonists in the ‘New World’ besides
the British. In fact there were quite a few European nations in the Americas.
Sweden had a colony north of New Netherland, France had the area around modern
day Louisiana, Spain was attempting one along the southern coast in Florida,
and then there’s the well known British colonies. Being the first Europeans in
the area and witnessing plant and animal life they had never seen; the Dutch
colonists were the first to name these items and many of these have stuck down
to this day. A brief look at the map just north of New York City would prove
this. Town names of Orangeburg, Sparkill, Tappan, West Nyack, and Blauvelt
prove this point. Orangeburg is a take on the Dutch royal color of Orange,
Sparkill translates to Spar=spruce and kill=creek, and Nyack and Blauvelt are
Dutch surnames. Many names were even
changed from their original Dutch. An example would be the town of Beverwyck
changed to Albany. Hence it is only natural for these names that were not
changed to stay with us and ‘invade’ our everyday language.
But America isn’t just a strictly a British offspring, as the history books would teach us. As stated above, there were other nations on this land, each with their own attributes, strengths and weaknesses that we have since inherited. Britain gave America its closest tie, Holland and Sweden it’s acceptance and attitude, and France it’s commercialization. We all know what the history books say on Britain. Holland on the other hand gave America its attitude of acceptance and freedom (Shorto 96). They allowed any race or nation to join their colony. As long as you followed the few rules that were in place and weren’t a problem you were allowed stay. This was in sharp contrast with the strict Jamestown province. This encouraged all the outcasts from the more strict surrounding colonies to make the trek north to join the Dutch. This attitude of acceptance would later go on to affect much more than just the type of people who live here. The Dutch laid the foundation for the American political system based on the concepts of freedom of religion and conduct and that everyone has a chance at climbing the social ladder or “the American dream”. It affected all walks of life even language. Where the French established a governmental agency in charge of keeping their language ‘pure’ (Greene 186) the Dutch colonies were a melting pot of nationalities and languages. Eventually melding with the dominant language (English) forming a version that was different enough from British English to cause strife (Greene 36). In fact it wasn’t until 1781 that American English was found to be moving away form British English and going its own way and was dubbed Americanism. (Sijs 115).
Britons were not exactly fond of Hollanders (Dutch). They were rivals during the 17th century; equal naval powers at the time even, battling over territories throughout the earth. Hence the term ‘Dutch’ took on a mocking or insult expression. (Sijs 56) To list a few; Dutch Courage (love for alcohol), Double Dutch (speaking gibberish), and others with negative connotations. Thankfully over time some of these terms have gone back to kinder meanings. Dutch Oven (cast iron pot or oven) or Dutch House for a certain type of music to name a few.
Is there a specific date that one could set for the words English borrowed from the Dutch language? Not really. The dates are various and occasions for such many. Several sea-terms are Dutch in origin, which makes sense considering how important the sea was to the nautical nation. Terms like boom, cruise, sloop, yacht, ahoy, aloof, belay, reef, skipper, schooner, and any other pirate term from the movies you can think of most likely. Typing those words proves this point as well. The squiggly misspelled underline that Microsoft Word displays under misspelled words did not appear on those words even though they are Dutch with just slight spelling changes. (de Vries 77). Other non-nautical terms made it into our language today as well. Some include boss, coleslaw, cookie, spook, hooky, iceberg, leak, maelstrom, deck, brandy, duffel, freight, mannequin, sketch, and waffle (Shorto). Some of these words if you take a step back and look you can see the odd spelling and it makes sense they come from another language. Maelstrom? Mannequin? Spelled phonetically Malestrom and Manekin. This is an example of etymology or semantic change.....
But America isn’t just a strictly a British offspring, as the history books would teach us. As stated above, there were other nations on this land, each with their own attributes, strengths and weaknesses that we have since inherited. Britain gave America its closest tie, Holland and Sweden it’s acceptance and attitude, and France it’s commercialization. We all know what the history books say on Britain. Holland on the other hand gave America its attitude of acceptance and freedom (Shorto 96). They allowed any race or nation to join their colony. As long as you followed the few rules that were in place and weren’t a problem you were allowed stay. This was in sharp contrast with the strict Jamestown province. This encouraged all the outcasts from the more strict surrounding colonies to make the trek north to join the Dutch. This attitude of acceptance would later go on to affect much more than just the type of people who live here. The Dutch laid the foundation for the American political system based on the concepts of freedom of religion and conduct and that everyone has a chance at climbing the social ladder or “the American dream”. It affected all walks of life even language. Where the French established a governmental agency in charge of keeping their language ‘pure’ (Greene 186) the Dutch colonies were a melting pot of nationalities and languages. Eventually melding with the dominant language (English) forming a version that was different enough from British English to cause strife (Greene 36). In fact it wasn’t until 1781 that American English was found to be moving away form British English and going its own way and was dubbed Americanism. (Sijs 115).
Britons were not exactly fond of Hollanders (Dutch). They were rivals during the 17th century; equal naval powers at the time even, battling over territories throughout the earth. Hence the term ‘Dutch’ took on a mocking or insult expression. (Sijs 56) To list a few; Dutch Courage (love for alcohol), Double Dutch (speaking gibberish), and others with negative connotations. Thankfully over time some of these terms have gone back to kinder meanings. Dutch Oven (cast iron pot or oven) or Dutch House for a certain type of music to name a few.
Is there a specific date that one could set for the words English borrowed from the Dutch language? Not really. The dates are various and occasions for such many. Several sea-terms are Dutch in origin, which makes sense considering how important the sea was to the nautical nation. Terms like boom, cruise, sloop, yacht, ahoy, aloof, belay, reef, skipper, schooner, and any other pirate term from the movies you can think of most likely. Typing those words proves this point as well. The squiggly misspelled underline that Microsoft Word displays under misspelled words did not appear on those words even though they are Dutch with just slight spelling changes. (de Vries 77). Other non-nautical terms made it into our language today as well. Some include boss, coleslaw, cookie, spook, hooky, iceberg, leak, maelstrom, deck, brandy, duffel, freight, mannequin, sketch, and waffle (Shorto). Some of these words if you take a step back and look you can see the odd spelling and it makes sense they come from another language. Maelstrom? Mannequin? Spelled phonetically Malestrom and Manekin. This is an example of etymology or semantic change.....
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