LL-L 'Language politics' 2006.10.30 (05) [E]

Sun Nov 5 20:52:54 UTC 2006

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Subject: LL-L 'Language politics' 2006.10.30 (05) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 30 October 2006 * Volume 05
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From: John Duckworth [johncduckworth at yahoo.co.uk]
Subject: Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands.

Hello John,

You wrote:
"Can anyone on the list give me some idea how much Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands
(ABN) is promoted in the schools of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Belgium?

Are pupils in Amsterdam for instance made to pronounce the ending of the
infinitive as -en, or are they allowed to drop the ending n_ , as in their
everyday Amsterdam speech? Are they urged to pronounce the _V-_ of _vier_ as a
voiced consonant, or are they allowed to pronounce it devoiced, as is the local norm?

And what is the situation in the Vlaamstalige areas? Are Belgians expected to
learn and use certain pronunciations at school that would normally be considered
indiosyncratic of their northern neighbour?

It seems to be that there is a degree of confusion. "

The use of ABN is actively promoted in Belgium, and has been for many years. Certainly, that was a necessary policy, since Dutch, though acknowledged from the very start as one of the official languages in Belgium, was thwarted. From the proclamation of independence onwards, French was for all practical purposes used as the undisputed language in the administration. True, every bill of law was duly translated into Dutch, but the French version remained the official one.
Yielding to the legitimate demands of the Flemish population, by the 1880’s it was accepted that the language used in the courts of law and in the administration should be the same as the one used in the region (either French or Dutch). However, it was only in 1932 that Dutch was finally recognized as the teaching-medium in secondary schools. (Before both languages were used for particular subjects: for instance French was used for geography and Dutch for history.)
From 1932 Dutch was regularly taught in school, though very often heavily influenced by French. “Gallicismen” were the bane of every teacher of Dutch. 
Of course, things gradually improved. It must be noted, however, that Flanders developed its own variety of the Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands, which is readily recognizable. The Hollandish kind of ABN is never used in Belgium, except in joke. Of course, everybody is expected to understand (not to use) the idiosyncratic terms and expressions most commonly used in Holland.
What are the differences between Flemish Dutch and the kind used in Holland?
The initial v, z and g are still voiced in Flemish Dutch, although I pointed out in a previous posting that this voicing is not particularly strong. This becomes evident if you compare the Flemish pronunciation with the speech of many Walloons who acquired a good knowledge of Dutch. In their rendering the three fricatives sound much more voiced. It is a truly striking feature.
The long vowels ‘ee, oo’ do not tend to become diphthongs in Belgium.
The Netherlands have a wide range of r’s. In Belgium there are only two: the one pronounced with the tip of the tongue (now appearing to be slightly losing ground) and the uvular r. 
The n in the ending –en is not pronounced in Limburg and Brabant. In the West the n is pronounced but the ‘e’ is sometimes omitted in the speech of those using ABN. By the way, the N in this term is nowadays usually left out, to indicate that dialect is not by principle less “beschaafd” (civilized) than General Dutch.
Personally, I do think that the differences – though phonetically standing out – hardly matter in practice. Both the Dutch and the Flemish have come to accept them, just as the British and the Americans do for their language. Differences should not be stressed. 

Best regards,

Roger Hondshoven

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