Dutch/Lesson 7

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Les 7 ~ Lesson 7

Samenstellingen en Verkleinwoorden ~ Compounds and Diminutives

• I want an ice cream

• Grammar: compound nouns

• Diminutives

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| ^ Contents ^ | << Les 6 | Les 7 | Les 8 >>

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Contents 1 Gesprek 7 2 Grammatica 7.1 Compounds 2.1 Spelling revisions 3 Grammatica 7.2 Diminutives 3.1 Usage 3.2 Formation

[edit] Gesprek 7

Ma, krijg ik een ijsje?

Ach vooruit dan maar, je bent braaf geweest. Wil je een vanilleijsje?

Nee, ik wil een bananenframbozenmokkaijsje met vanilleslagroom.

Een kleintje?

Nee, een grote.

[edit] Grammatica 7.1 Compounds

In this chapter you will learn how to glue words together. Dutch, like German, Norwegian and Danish, is often mocked for the (theoretical) possibility of creating long words such as randjongerenhangplekkenbeleidsambtenarensalarisbesprekingsafspraken (the agreements for the negotiations concerning the salary of public officials who decide on the policy regarding areas where unemployed youth are allowed to hang out).

The compounding of words happens in English as well. In English, compounds are written as separate words, so English speakers are often not aware that words such as "apple juice" are compounds. Notice that when you pronounce "apple juice" you pronounce the word "juice" with much less emphasis than you pronounce "apple" with. This is what signals word compounding in English and Dutch alike.

Sometimes, compounds are spelled as a single word even in English. For example, the word "database" is a compilation of the words "data" and "base". For some words, such as "mailbox", a double spelling can be used: "mail box" is also acceptable in English.

In Dutch, the rule for spelling compounds is simple: if two nouns form a compound, write them together. Always.

Examples:

• apple juice → appelsap, wrong: appel sap
• mail box → postbus, wrong: post bus
• Linux operating system → Linuxbesturingssysteem, wrong: Linux besturingssysteem

Should a word get unreadable by writing it together, you can use a dash to make it more readable. In the latter case Linux-besturingssysteem is more usual because Linux is a brand name. Dashes are used sparingly and never in simple compounds like deurbel (door bell).

This rule even applies to words imported from English into Dutch:

• sciencefiction
• businessunit

This dash is required when one of the elements in a compound is an acronym:

• DNA molecule → DNA-molecuul, wrong: DNA molecuul

If you use two compound words in the same phrase that have an element in common, you can replace it by a dash:

• "ondergrens en bovengrens" (lower boundary and upper boundary) can be replaced by "onder- en bovengrens". (lower and upper boundary)

Remember that you can do this in English as well: "standard temperature and standard pressure" is often replaced by "standard temperature and pressure". But note that by omitting the second occurrence of "standard", the text becomes ambiguous; it can no longer be seen from the text itself whether "standard" applies to just to the temperature, or to the pressure as well. The exact meaning will have to be gathered from the context.

In Dutch orthography however, by means of the dash, the difference is made clear:

• "Standaardtemperatuur en -druk" means standard temperature and standard pressure
• "Standaardtemperatuur en druk" means standard temperature, and pressure

[edit] Spelling revisions

Dutch orthography -in contrast to the English one- used to be changed every half century or so, but recently we have seen revisions every decade. It is fair to say that there is a government (i.e. tax payer) sponsored craze for change and not always for the better. The question whether something is written separately, together, with a diaeresis (trema in Dutch) or with a hyphen seems to be a favorite playground for this kind of activity. A good example can be found here. This is a comparison of the changes between 1995 and 2005. Many of these words had already changed in 1995. The result is that most speakers and writers of the language do not know what to do anymore. The Genootschap Onze Taal (Society 'Our Language') has even published an alternative spelling guide (the little white book) in opposition to the governmental one (the little green book). Many publishers and media representatives have joined the revolt.

Obviously, no Dutch speaker will dare to fault a non-native for doing such things wrong.

[edit] Grammatica 7.2 Diminutives

Apart from a plural the Dutch noun generally also has a diminutive. It is formed by adding -je to the noun and is always neutral in gender:

de vaas - het vaasje

Diminutives have a plural in -s:

het vaasje - de vaasjes.

[edit] Usage

Het vaasje literally means the little vase, but the usage in Dutch is quite pervasive. One reason is that turning a word into a diminutive is another way of avoiding the m/f gender problem. Often the diminutive is as frequently or even more frequently used than the noun itself.

A handsize vase will generally be called vaasje. The word 'vaas' is more reserved for something that needs to be carried with both hands.

In some cases the diminutive has acquired a life of its own (become 'lexicalized'). Compare:

het ijs - the ice

het ijsje - the ice cream

de meid - the maid

het meisje - the girl

This implies that a big cone of ice cream becomes: een groot ijsje (lit. a big little ice). In the case of meisje, the original word meid can be rather derogatory:

Die meid hoort in het gevang!

lit. That 'broad' belongs in jail!

It can also be a somewhat colloquial term of endearment:

Wat 'n leuke meid! -- What a cutie!

Grote meid! -- Atta-girl!

Lexicalized diminutives are even formed from other parts of speech than nouns.

tussendoor - in between

een tussendoortje - a snack

Adverbs can be formed from adjective by adding an extra -s:

zacht - soft

zachtjes - softly

Even the names of persons are at times turned into the diminutive, usually as a term of endearment:

Marietje, je bent een schat

Mary dear, you are a darling

Even cardinal numbers are not safe:

We gaan met z'n tweetjes

We'll go the two of us

[edit] Formation

The formation of the diminutive sometimes requires the addition of -tje or -pje, the latter after m:

het eten - the food

het etentje - taking someone out for dinner

de bloem - the flower

het bloempje - the little flower

In some cases the vowel changes like it does in the plural:

het pad - the path

de paden - the paths

het paadje - the little path, the trail

but:

de schildpad - the turtle

de schildpadden - the turtles

het schildpadje - the little turtle

In other cases an extra syllable is inserted:

de kom - the bowl

het kommetje

The suffix -je often causes consonants to be more or less pronounced as palatals. (Paadje as IPA /'pacə/ rather than /'patje/). There is considerable variation between the dialects in the formation of the diminutives. Many dialects pronounce -je as -ie /i:/. In others, the suffix tends to be -ke: meiske, blommeke.