Netherlands Languages

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Netherlands Language and Languages Most materials used in Dutch research are written in Dutch, but actually two languages are spoken in the Netherlands; in the province of Fryslân (Friesland) the Frisian language (not a dialect!)is spoken. You do not need to speak or read Dutch to do research in records of the Netherlands. However, you will need to know some key words and phrases to understand the records.

Because of the presence of several different religions, including Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Walloon (French Reformed) and Portuguese Jewish, you will find several other languages in Dutch records. These include Latin, German, French, and Portuguese.

Dutch grammar and customs may affect the way names appear in genealogical records. For example, your ancestor’s name may vary between records in Dutch. For help in understanding name variations, see the "Names, Personal" section.

Language Aids[edit | edit source]

The Family History Library has genealogical word lists for Dutch, French, German, Latin, and Portuguese. The Dutch Word list is found below at the end of this section.

The Family History Library’s separate Germany Research Outline includes an example of the German (Gothic) alphabet in print and handwriting. Also go to Germany Handwriting."

The following books and English–Dutch dictionaries can also aid your research. You can find these and similar material at many research libraries.

Cassell’s English–Dutch Dutch–English Dictionary. 36th ed. New York: Macmillan, 1981. (FHL book 439.31321 Ca272.)

Stierp–Impink, A. C. Practisijns Woordenboekje, of Verzameling van Meest alle de Woorden in de Rechtskunde Gebruikelijk (Lawyer’s Dictionary, or List of Most Words Used in Legal Documents). Alkmaar: A. C. Stierp–Impink, 1985. (FHL book 949.2 P26s.) This legal dictionary, originally created in 1785, identifies words found in court, land, notarial, and guardianship records.

Verdam, J. Middelnederlandsch Handwoordenboek (Middle Dutch Dictionary). ’s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff, 1964. (FHL book 439.317 V582m; film 1045404 item 2.) This dictionary will help with most archaic words found in documents before 1811.

Additional language aids, including dictionaries of various dialects and time periods, are listed in the Place search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

NETHERLANDS – LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES

NETHERLANDS, [PROVINCE] – LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES

or in the "Subject Search" under:

DUTCH LANGUAGE – DICTIONARIES

Dutch Word List[edit | edit source]

This list contains Dutch words with their English translations. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Dutch-English dictionary. (See the "Additional Resources" section below.)

Dutch (like English and German), is a Germanic language derived from Old Saxon. Many of the words resemble English and German words. Latin also sometimes appears in older Dutch records. See the Latin Genealogical Word List . For a time, Dutch records were written in French. See the France Language and Languages.

Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands, northern Belgium, the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean, and Suriname. Flemish, which is spoken in Belgium, is a major dialect (regional variation) of Dutch. It uses words similar to the words on this list. Africaans, which is spoken in South Africa, is an old form (from the 1500's and 1600's) of the Dutch language, mingled with German and English words.
Frisian, which is spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland, is a different language from Dutch.
The "Additional Resources" section below will tell you how to use the Family History Library Catalog to find dictionaries of the various dialects and related languages.

In addition, Dutch is found in some early records of the United States (mostly in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Iowa) and in South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Brasil and Taiwan.

LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS[edit | edit source]

Dutch words for nouns (persons, places, and things) are classified as either common or neuter.

Variant Forms of Words

In Dutch, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in a sentence. Who—whose—whom, or marry—marries—married are examples of words in English with variant forms. This word list gives the standard form of each Dutch word. As you read Dutch records, you will need to be aware that some words vary with usage.

The prefix 't is equal to the Dutch word het, which means the. The prefix 's- is a part of many place-names and means des (of the). All prefixes are disregarded in alphabetized lists, except in Flemish records.

The endings of words in a document may differ from what you find in this list. For example, the document may use the word jonger, but you will find it in this word list as jong. In addition, the suffixes -je, -tje,-tien, or -ke are often added to words to indicate "little." These suffixes can also indicate the feminine version of a name. Therefore, the word zoontje means "little" or "young (tje) son (zoon)." The ending -sdr means "daughter of."

Plural forms of Dutch words usually add -en or -s to the singular word. Thus boer (farmer) becomes boeren (farmers), and tafel (table or index) becomes tafels (tables or indexes).

In Dutch, many words are formed by joining two or more words together. Very few of these compound words are included in this list. You will need to look up each part of the word separately. For example, geboortedag is a combination of two words, geboorte(birth) and dag (day).

Alphabetical Order

In the Dutch language, the letter combination ij is considered a single letter. It has the same value as y, and it is usually alphabetized as if it were a y. Some Dutch dictionaries and indexes use the following alphabetical order:

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, ij (or y), z

Some Dutch dictionaries alphabetize the letter ij under i then j. Just remember, when a name or town starts with the letter IJ, that you capitalize BOTH the I and the J. In the Netherlands the IJ or ij is ONE letter, not 2 and seeing that you can hardly split one letter when you capitalize it, you really have to capitalize the whole letter - IJ not Ij!

This word list follows the standard English alphabetical order. However, when working with alphabetized Dutch records, use the Dutch alphabetical order.

When the Dutch alphabetize names of places or surnames, prefixes such as van der, de, or ter are not considered in the alphabetization.

Example:

ten Brock

van der Graf

's- Gravenhage

van Hijden

de Jong

van Leeuwen

ter Pelkwijk

van IJlst

't Zandt

Spelling

Spelling rules were not standardized in earlier centuries. Writers often failed to dot the ij, so that it looks like a y. The letter y was not used in older records. In Dutch, the following spelling variations are common.

y used for ij

g used for ch

d and t used interchangeably

j and i used interchangeably

Example:

echt spelled as egt

overlijden spelled as overlyden

Arie spelled as Arij

Marietje spelled as Marietie

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES[edit | edit source]

This word list includes only the words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a Dutch-English dictionary. Several Dutch-English dictionaries are available at the Family History Library. These are in the European collection. Their call numbers begin with 439.31321.

The following dictionary is available on microfilm for use in Family History Centers:

Dutch-English, English-Dutch Van Goor Dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: G. B. Van Goor, 1938. (FHL film 1183584 item 2.)

Additional dictionaries are listed in the Subject search of the Family History Library Catalog under DUTCH LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES or in the Place search under NETHERLANDS - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES. These include dictionaries of various dialects and time periods.

KEY WORDS[edit | edit source]

To find and use specific types of Dutch records, you will need to know some key words in Dutch. This section lists key genealogical terms in English and the Dutch words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Dutch words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used in Dutch records to indicate marriage.

English	Dutch
baptism	dopen, doop, gedoopt
birth	geboren, geboorte
burial	begraven, begraaf
Catholic	rooms katholiek, oud katholiek
census	volkstelling, bevolking
child, children	kind, kinderen
christening (see baptism)
civil registry	burgerlijke stand
death	overleden, overlijden, gestorven
father	vader
husband	echtgenoot, man
index	tafel, klapper, fiche
Jewish	joods
marriage(s)	huwelijk(en), trouwen, echt, gehuwden, getrouwd
military	militaire, landweer, krijgsmacht
month	maand
mother	moeder
name, given	voornaam, eerste naam
name, surname	achternaam, familienaam, bijnaam, toenaam
parents	ouders
parish	parochie, gemeente
Protestant	protestant
supplement	bijlage
town, village	stad, gemeente, dorp
wife	huisvrouw, vrouw, echtgenote
year	jaar

NUMBERS[edit | edit source]

In some genealogical records, numbers are written out. This is especially true with dates. The following list gives the cardinal (1, 2, 3) and the ordinal (1st, 2nd, 3rd) versions of each number. Days of the month are written in ordinal form.

 Cardinal 	  	Ordinal
 1 	een 		1st 	eerste

2 twee 2nd tweede 3 drie 3rd derde 4 vie 4th vierde 5 vijf 5th vijfde 6 zes 6th zesde 7 zeven 7th zevende 8 acht 8th achtste 9 negen 9th negende 10 tien 10th tiende 11 elf 11th elfde 12 twaalf 12th twaalfde 13 dertien 13th dertiende 14 veertien 14th veertiende 15 vijftien 15th vijftiende 16 zestien 16th zestiende 17 zeventien 17th zeventiende 18 achttien 18th achttiende 19 negentie 19th negentiende 20 twintig 20th twintigste 21 eenentwintig 21st eenentwintigste 22 tweeëntwintig 22th tweeëntwintigste 23 drieentwintig 23th drieentwintigste 24 vierentwintig 24th vierentwintigste 25 vijfentwintig 25th vijfentwintigste 26 zesentwintig 26th zesentwintigste 27 zevenentwintig 27th zevenentwintigste 28 achtentwintig 28th achtentwintigste 29 negenentwintig 29th negenentwintigste 30 dertig 30th dertigste 31 eenendertig 31th eenendertigste 40 veertig 40th veertigste 50 vijftig 50th vijftigste 60 zestig 60th zestigste 70 zeventig 70th zevenstigte 80 tachtig 80th tachtigste 90 negentig 90th negentigste 100 honderd 100th honderdste 101 honderd(en)een 101st honderd(en)eerste 200 tweehonderd 200th tweehonderdste 1000 duizend 1000th duizendste

DATES AND TIME[edit | edit source]

In Dutch records, dates are often written out. For example:

Donderdag, drie en twintig maart in het jaar van onse heer een duizend acht hondert en zesendertig [Thursday, three and twenty March in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and six and thirty].

To understand Dutch dates, use the following lists as well as the preceding "Numbers" section.

Months

English 	Dutch 	        Archaic Form
January 	Januari 	  louwmaand
February 	Februari 	  sprokkelmaand
March 	        Maart 	          lentemaand
April 	        April             grasmaand
May 	        Mei 	          bloeimaand
June 	        Juni 	          zomermaand
July 	        Juli 	          hooimaand
August 	        Augustus 	  oogstmaand
September 	September (7ber)  herfstmaand
October 	October (8ber) 	  wijnmaand
November 	November (9ber)   slachtmaand
December 	December (10ber)  wintermaand

Days of the Week

English Dutch

  Sunday 	Zondag
  Monday 	Maandag
  Tuesday 	Dinsdag
  Wednesday 	Woensdag
  Thursday 	Donderdag
  Friday 	Vrijdag
  Saturday 	Zaterdag

Times of the Day

Dutch birth and death records often indicated the time of day when the birth or death occurred. This is usually written out.

    Dutch           	            English
    des avonds ('s avonds) 	    in the evening
    des middags ('s middags)        in the afternoon
    des morgens ('s morgens)        in the morning
    des nachts ('s nachts) 	    in the night
    in de namiddag 	            in the mid-afternoon
    in de voormiddag 	            in the mid-morning

Alphabetical[edit | edit source]

A[edit | edit source]

aan - upon, to
aangenomen naam - named, alias, also known as, assumed name, accepted surname
angiften - intentions (marriage), declarations
aannemen to adopt (a child), to assume, to take on
aanneming confirmation
aannemingsdag day of confirmation
aanstaande next, toward, following, expectant, future, impending
aanval stroke, attack
aarde earth (buried in), ground
aardrijkskundig woordenboek gazetteer
acht eight
achtenswaardig respectable, honorable
achtentwintig twenty-eight
achtentwintigste twenty-eighth
achterkleindochter great-granddaughter
achterkleinzoon great-grandson
achternaam surname, last name
achtste eighth
achttien eighteen
achttiende eighteenth
adel nobility
adellijk noble, titled
aderlating bleeding, bloodletting
adresboek directory
advocaat notary, lawyer
afkondigen to post banns
afkondigingen proclamations, banns
afschrift(en) extract, duplicate record, transcript, certified copy
akte certificate, deed, license
alhier here, at this place, locally
alle all, every
alleen alone, single, only
altijd, steeds always
ambt office, function, post
ambtelijk official, professional
ambtenaar official, registrar, civil servant, clerk
ander(s) other
anders genoemd alias, also known as
Apostolisch Apostolic
April, april April
arbeider laborer
archief archive
archieven archives
Augustus, augustus August
avond ('s avonds) evening, (in the evening)
Avondmaal communion, sacrament