Amerikaens
Amerikaens (Dutch: Amerikaans) is a West Germanic language spoken over a dialect continuum spanning New Netherland, Tussenland, the Free State, South Tussenland and, to a lesser extent, Mexico and Opdamsland. It evolved from Hollandic, Zeelandic, and West Flemish dialects spoken by Dutch settlers in northern America, an example of which is Pavonia Dutch. The language developed a distinct identity during the 18th century and is the youngest of the Germanic languages, along with Afrikaans, spoken in southern Africa.
Amerikaens | |
|---|---|
| Amerikaens | |
_WDL4071.jpg) A page from a 1655 book by the first Director-General Adriaen van der Donck. | |
| Pronunciation | [ˌɑː.meː.riːˈkɑːns] |
| Native to | New Netherland |
| Ethnicity | Amerikaeners |
Language family | Scythian
|
Early form | Bergen Dutch
|
| Dialects | Amerikaens dialects |
Writing system | Latin |
| Official status | |
Official language in | New Netherland Tussenland South Tussenland Amerikaens Free State Opdamsland Boschland |
Recognised minority language in | |
Today, the language is currently spoken over significant portions of northern America and is an official language of the Association of North American Nations. The Amerikaens Language Commission (Amerikaense Taelkomisie) is the official regulating body and central authority for Amerikaens, responsible for developing, preserving, and promoting the language.
History
Geographic distribution
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Dorsal | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | tʃ[1] | k | |
| aspirated | ph | th | kh | |||
| voiced | b | d[2] | g[3] | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ[4] | χ[5] | h |
| voiced[6] | v | z | ʒ | ɦ | ||
| Approximant | w[7] | l | j | |||
| Rhotic | r[8] | |||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |||
| Close | i | iː | yː | uː | ||||
| Close-mid | eː | oː | ||||||
| Mid | ɛ | ə | œ | œː | ɔ | ɔː | ||
| Near-open | æ | æː | ||||||
| Open | (a) | ʌ | ɑ | ɑː | ||||
| Diphthongs | ɑi æi ɑu ɛu ɛi œu oːi ɔu ɔi | |||||||
Vowel shift from European Dutch
The vowel shift in Amerikaens began in the mid-17th century in New Netherland, gradually developing until its conclusion in the late 19th century. Some dialects of Amerikaens, such as the Voor dialects of Tussenland, preserve European Dutch pronunciations.
| Dutch | Amerikaens | Example | English | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ɪ | ɛ | [ɪk] ik | [ɛk] ik | 'I' | |
| ɛ | æ | [wɛx] weg | [wæχ] weg | 'Road' | |
| ɑ | ɑ | [bɑŋk] bank | [bɑŋk] banck | 'Couch', 'bench' | |
| ɑː | [ɑxt] acht | [ɑːχt] agt | 'Eight' | ||
| ʌ | [pɑt] pad | [pʌt] padt | 'Toad' | ||
| ʏ | [lʏxt] lucht | [lʌχt] lught | 'Sky' | ||
| o | [os] os | [ʌs] os | 'Ox' | ||
| ɔː | [ons] | [ɔːns] | 'Us' | ||
| i | iː | [tin] tien | [tiːn] tîn | 'Ten' | |
| u | uː | [stul] stoel | [stuːl] stül | 'Chair', 'seat' | |
| eː | eː | [ˈne.ɣə(n)] negen | [ˈneː.χə] nege | 'Nine' | |
| ɛə, ɛː | [neːr] neer | [nɛːr] nîr | 'Near' | ||
| iː | [eːn] een | [iːn] în | 'One' | In dialectal speech. | |
| aː | ɑː | [jaːr] jaar | [jɑːr] jaer | 'Year' | |
| ɔː | [ˈɦaː.vər] haver | [ˈhɔː.fər] hafer | 'Oats' | ||
| ɛi | ɑi | [ˈstrɛi̯kə(n)] strijken | [ˈstrɑikə] strÿcke | 'To iron' | |
| æi | [vɛi̯f] vijf | [væif] vÿf | 'Five' | ||
| œy | œu | [ɦœy̯s] huis | [hœus] huys | 'House' | |
Orthography
Divergences from Dutch
Amerikaens orthography. first recognized as distinct in the mid-18th century, preserves many forms found in early modern Dutch. In 1910, orthography was officially standardized for literary and legal Amerikaens.
| Dutch | Amerikaens | Example | Usage notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| aa | ae | Amerikaans | Amerikaens | |
| ei | ey | Înheid | Înheydt | |
| ui | uy | Fruit | Fruyt | |
| ij | ÿ | Vrijheid | Vrÿheydt | |
| uu | ue | Absoluut | Absoluet | |
| ee | î | Eenheid | Înheydt | |
| oo | ö | Voorland | Vörlandt | |
| oe | ü | Daartoe | Daertü | |
| m | mm | Komen | Komme | Does not occur at the beginning of a syllable. |
| l | ll | Graal | Graell | |
| k | ck | Boek | Boeck | Only occurs at the end of a syllable. |
| d | dt | Stad | Stadt | |
| f | v | Kalf | Kalv | |
Spelling to sound correspondences
| Vowels | Consonants | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grapheme | IPA | Grapheme | IPA | |||
| checked | free | normal | final | |||
| a | /ɑ/, /ʌ/, /ɔ/ | /ɑː/ | b | /b/ | /p/ | |
| ae | /ɑː/, /eː/ | d | /d/ | /t/ | ||
| au | /ɑu/, /ɔu/, /ɔ/ | dj, dsch | /ʒ/, /dj/ | |||
| e | /ɛ/, /ə/, /æ/ | /eː/, /ə/ | f, ph | /f/ | ||
| o | /ɔ/, /ʌ/ | /oː/ | g, gh | /χ/, /g/ | ||
| ö | /oː/ | h | /h/, /ɦ/ | |||
| ai, aei | /ɑi/, /æi/ | j | /j/ | |||
| au(x), eau(x) | /oː/ | k, ck | /k/ | |||
| auw | /ɔu/ | l | /l/ | |||
| i, ie | /i/, /ə/, /ɛ/ | /iː/ | m | /m/ | ||
| î | /eː/ | n | /n/ | |||
| îuw, ieuw | /eːu/, /iu/ | ng | /ŋ/ | |||
| ey | /ɛi/ | p | /p/ | |||
| eu | /œː/ | r | /r/ | |||
| oi | /ɔi/ | s | /s/, /sj/ | |||
| ou, ouw | /ɔu/ | sch, sh | /ʃ/, /sχ/ | |||
| ÿ | /ɑi/, /i/ | t, th | /t/ | |||
| ü | /uː/ | tsj, tj | /tʃ/, /tj/ | |||
| uy, üy | /œu/, /ɛu/ | v | /f/, /v/ | |||
| ue | /yː/ | w | /w/ | |||
| uw | /yu/ | z | /s/, /z/ | |||
Grammar
Notable features
- Grammatical gender: Language contact with English and indigenous languages, as well as exposure to various American creoles, has resulted in the loss of grammatical gender in Amerikaens, much like in its sister language Afrikaans.
- Definite articles: Amerikaens possesses one definite article, de, with het having been eliminated altogether.
- Deletion of coda: Words often drop the final sound, usually consonants and the vowel e. For example, tevreden → tevrede, and zeide → zeyd.
- Lenition of consonants: Consonants in the middle of words sometimes experience lenition. For example, politie → polisie.
Pronouns and verb conjugations
| English | Amerikaens | Dutch | Ik ben | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| I | Ik/ äk | Ik | Ik be | - |
| You | Jÿ | Jij, U | Jij be | |
| He | Hÿ | Hij | Hÿ is | - |
| She | Sÿ | Zij | Sÿ is | - |
| We | Wÿ | Wij | Wÿ is | |
| It | It | Het | It is | |
Tenses
In Amerikaens, verbs do not conjugate differently depending on the subject.
| Tense | Amerikaens | Dutch | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | ît(e) | eten | (to) eat |
| Present | Ik ît. | Ik eet. | I eat. |
| Past | Ik hab ît. | Ik at. | I ate. |
| Future | Ik wil/zhal ît. | Ik zal eten. | I will eat. |
| Past Progressive | Ik dîd ît. | Ik was aan het eten. | I was eating. |
| Present Progressive | Ik dü ît. | Ik ben aan het eten. | I am eating. |
| Future Progressive | Ik wil/zhal dü ît | I will be eating. |
| Tense | Amerikaens | Dutch | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | köck(e) | koken | (to) cook |
| Present | Ik köck. | Ik kook. | I cook. |
| Past | Ik hab köck. | Ik kookte. | I cooked. |
| Future | Ik wil/zhal köck. | Ik zal koken. | I will cook. |
| Past Progressive | Ik dîd köck. | Ik was aan het koken. | I was cooking. |
| Present Progressive | Ik dü köck. | Ik ben aan het koken. | I am cooking. |
| Future Progressive | Ik wil/zhal dü köck. | I will be cooking. |
Case system
Amerikaens preserves the possessive genitive case from archaic Dutch. Its survival may have been influenced by English.
| Dutch | Amerikaens | English | French |
|---|---|---|---|
| De vriend van de man. | Des mans friendt. | The man's friend. | L'ami de l'homme. |
Vocabulary
Tongue twisters
- Ik wil ît it if it is în weynig bît (I will eat it if it's a small beetroot).
See also
- ↑ /c/ and /tɕ/ are allophones of /tʃ/.
- ↑ /d/ is devoiced at the ends of words as /t/.
- ↑ /g/ is an allophone of [χ] and is also used in loanwords.
- ↑ /ɕ/ is an allophone.
- ↑ Merger of /ɣ/ and /x/. Before /j/, it can be fronted to /ç/.
- ↑ Voiced fricatives are generally devoiced by the majority of Amerikaens speakers.
- ↑ Due to influence from French and English, the original Dutch /ʋ/ came to be realised as /w/.
- ↑ [ʁ] and [ɾ] are allophones.