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HOLLAND. Language. xxiii
is remarkably rich and full of vital energy, and words of purely
native growth are to be found in almost every branch of science
and art. The following lines from two popular ballads will serve
as a specimen: —
Wien Neérlandsch bloed in de aderen | Wij leven vrij, vij leven blij
vloeit, Op N sérlands dierbren grond,
i Ontworsteld aan de slayernij,
oeit, | Zijn wij door eendracht groot en v
als wij: | Hier duldt de grond geen dwing-
nd yan zin, | landij
Van vreemde
ws ns hart voorlandé
Verhef den zan
Hij stel met ons
Y r
Waar vrijheid eeuwen stond.
| (Brandt.)
en Vorst.
(Tollens.) (Literal translation: ‘We live free,
(Literal trans lation: at
whose
blood, fr
whose h
king, ra
him, in | we live blithe, on Netherlands’ dear
therlandish | ground; delivered from slavery, we
1in, and | are through concord great and free;
ntry and |here the land suffers no tyranny,
united | freedom has subsisted for
st,
pleasing to God,
nd Sovereign’.)
urt glows for cot
e the song with
in sentiment, ese unburde
in th tal g
for Fatherland,
The pronunciation of Dutch somewhat resembles that of Ger-
man, but is more guttural, and therefore more difficult for the
English student. The vowels a, e, i, 0, u are pronounced as in
French, and are lengthened , ar not altered in sound, by being
doubled (thus o ; ei and ij, or y, are like the vowel sound in
the French pays ; au and ou like ow in now, but broader (aw-00);
eu like the French eu or the German 6; oe like the English 00 or
the German u; ui has a sound fluctuating between oi and ow (as in
now). In most other combinations of vowels each retains its usual
sound. All the consonants are pronounced as in English, except g
and ch, which have a guttural sound like the ch in the Scotch word
loch, or the g in the German Tag; w, which is pronounced like v;
j Vike the English y or ee; and y like f. Final n is often dropped
in colloquial speech (e.g. Leyde’ for Leyden).
The definite article is de for the masculine and feminine, and
het for the neuter; genitive des, der, des, or van den, van de, van
het; dative den, der, den, or aan den, aan de, aan het; plural for
all genders de, der, den, de.
The declension of substantives and adjectives resembles the
German. The plural of substantives is formed by the addition of s
or of en (dative plural always en).
The pronouns are ik, 1; mij, me, to me; gij, thou, you; w, thee,
to thee, you, to you; hij, he; hem, him, to him; het, it; ij, she;
haar, her, to her } i hun, to them; hen, them. Mijn,
mijne, My; uw, wwe, thy, your; atin; zijne, his; haar, hare, her;
onze, ons, our; hun, hunne, their. Wie, who (interrog.); wat,
what; hoe, how ; wanneer, when.
Cardinal numbers: een, twee, drie, vier, vijf, zes, zeven, acht,
negen, tien, elf, twaalf, dertien, veertien, vijftien, zestien, zeven-
D0)
SATE eC TI aE Ee Nr a ceceeneeenenneininl
Sali Marwaihi ini SebARD ASMA IE SMa. acca RE bs |