Integral Dutch Course

2. aa- (long aa-: not found in English at all. It is produced by shaping the mouth for the vowel sound in the English words by, why, etc. but opening the mouth much wider). It is found in Dutch words such as: kaas (cheese) and gaan (to go) and also in open syllables, i.e. in syllables ending on a vowel, as in maken (to make) and praten (to talk).

Note i: There is en essential difference in meaning between such words as plat (flat) and plaat (picture, record), mak (tame) and maak (to make), etc. This difference is determined by the difference between the short and the long a- sounds. It is therefore very important to distinguish clearly between these sounds. Mispronunciation may, in may cases, lead to serious misunderstandings. Here are a few more examples: tak is branch in English, but taak means task; man has the same meaning as man in English but maan means moon.

Note ii: The plural of tak (branch) is takken (branches); this means that the consonant has to be doubled, otherwise we get taken (tasks), the plural of taak (tasks). This doubling of consonants after short vowel sounds constitutes a rule which applies to most words spelled like tak-takken, for example to lap-lappen (rag-rags) and zak-zakken (bag-bags).

Note iii: The a- sound in tak-takken, etc. is "short" because they are single and followed, in the same syllable, by a consonant (t, s, k, n, etc.). The plural in Dutch is generally formed by adding -en as in the examples above.

If the last syllable of a word is not stretched, the plural is often formed by adding an -s, as in English: thus the plural of tafel (table) is tafels. The plural of raam (window) is ramen (windows). The last word consists of two syllables: ra- and -men. The second a- is dropped because the a- is the last letter of the syllable. If the last letter of a syllable is a vowel, we say that that syllable is open: ra- is thus an open syllable and the single a- is pronounced like an aa- (the long aa-). There are, in other words two ways in which a long vowel sound can be formed: by doubling the vowel concerned, eg., aa- as in kaas or having it at the end of a syllable, as in ramen.

To determine the number of syllables that make up a given Dutch word, it is best to pronounce it slowly: ra-men. Again, if the last letter of a syllable is a vowel, such as an a-, this vowel is pronounced as though there were two a's: raa-men. This spelling (i.e. with two a's and a hyphen) is not normal and is here only used to indicate that the word concerned consists of more than one syllable. Words like praten (to talk), betalen (to pay), gapen (to yawn) and halen (to fetch) also contain open syllables (pra-ten, be-ta-len, ga-pen, ha-len).

3. o- (short o-: more or less as in English more, for, etc. but quite short). It is found in Dutch words such as bos (woods) and kop (head of an animal).

6. ee- (long ee-: more or less like the English ay- as in say, crazy, etc. but without the glide towards i). It is found in Dutch words such as veel (much, many) and steen (stone, brick). If e- is in an open syllable, as in stegen (ste-gen), the word is pronounced stee-gen, but never spelled that way. This is also the situation in words like breken (to break), weten (to know), vergeten (to forget) and spelen (to play).

Note v: The explanation of the difference in pronunciation of e- and ee- only applies to words in which these sounds receive the stress. If the e- sound is unstressed, such as in words like lopen (to walk), bedanken (to thank) and also in de (the), the e- is pronounced as in similar words in English, such as father, paper, etc.

Sometimes the i- is long (as in -ie below). We find this in words like radio, idee, and kritiek.

10. ie- (long ie-: heard in English words like seen and green but not stretched). It is found in Dutch words such as lied (song) and vriend (friend).

11. eu-: This is a special vowel as it consists of two letters but comprises only one sound. It is unknown in English. It is formed by shaping the lips and tongue for the oo- sound after which the tongue is lowered and pulled back somewhat. It appears in Dutch words such as neus (nose) and keuken (kitchen).

2. j-: This letter is always pronounced like the English y- and it appears in Dutch words such as ja (yes), jij (you) and bejaard (aged).

Note ix: A d- at the end of a word is pronounced like a t-. This happens in words like rood (red) and bekend (well-known).

Note x: A b- at the end of a word is pronounced like a p-, e.g. in heb (have) and lob (lobe).