Dutch
Biography of a Language
Published on 11. April 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-0-19-985871-2 (ISBN)
Description
More than 22 million people speak Dutch-primarily in Holland, Belgium, Suriname, and the Antilles. This book offers a well-researched and highly readable survey of the language in all its historical, geographic, and social aspects. In addition to providing a general introduction to the evolution of Dutch, Willemyns pays special attention to oft-neglected topics, such as the question of whether Dutchmen and Flemings are separated by a common language, and the contentious matter of the spread of Dutch abroad through colonization, which led to "exotic" variations such as Afrikaans, pidgins, and creoles.
Dutch: Biography of a Language will appeal to students of Dutch and general readers interested in the history of the language.
Dutch: Biography of a Language will appeal to students of Dutch and general readers interested in the history of the language.
Reviews / Votes
All in all, Willemyns' biography of Dutch is a very dense book, clearly striving to provide as much information as possible on the history of Dutch. It remains, however, a very readable book, suitable for different groups of readers ranging from interested non-native speakers and foreigners to specialists in the Dutch language. * Ulrike Vogel, Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics * a survey that brings a broad public up to date with the evolution of a language through centuries of contacts and conflicts with other tongues. Finally, you can trace the entire history of Dutch in an English-language book. * Andy Furniere, Flanders Today * Willemyns has splendidly packed a great deal of fascinating material into 260 pages of this highly readable and comprehensive survey * Joe Sinclair, Nurturing Potential * This book drives home the sociohistorical complexity of the language [with] fascinating illustrations of questions of linguistic form * Kathryn Woolard, Language in Society * vivid and clear ... a wonderful book * Neder-L *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
527 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-985871-2 (9780199858712)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Person
Roland Willemyns is Emeritus Professor of Dutch Linguistics at Vrije Universiteit Brussels
Content
Chapter One: Who speaks Dutch and where? ; Chapter Two: Old Dutch. Its Ancestors and Its Contemporaries ; Chapter Three: Middle Dutch: Language and Literature ; Chapter Four: Early New Dutch 1500-1800 ; Chapter Five: Reunion and Secession: The Nineteenth Century ; Chapter Six: Twentieth Century: The Age of the Standard Language ; Chapter Seven: Colonial Dutch ; Chapter Eight: Afrikaans ; Chapter Nine: Progress or Decay? The future development of Dutch ; Chapter Ten: Chapter Main Sources and Further Reading