The dialects of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Utrecht

Eric Hoekstra & Harrie Scholtmeijer

2004, Leuvense Bijdragen 93, 77-149.

I. Introduction

1.1. On the rationale behind the current enterprise

In this article, or rather collection of articles, we present an overview of the current state of linguistic research on the dialects of the three western provinces: Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Utrecht. Together they form the so-called Randstad, the most-urbanised part of the country, that houses cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Den Haag (The Hague)

The last time an overview work was written was in 1966 (Weijnen 1966). There are four important differences between Weijnen’s work and our own.

First of all, the work of Weijnen encompasses not only the Dutch dialects of ALL the provinces of The Netherlands but also the Dutch dialects of Belgium. Our work only covers the three central western provinces.

Second, the work of Weijnen was broader in scope, containing also information on dialectological methods. Our work deals merely with dialectology and linguistics, although we do give a brief overview of sociolinguistics and history as well. By drawing attention to neglected areas of research we present the outline of a research program for research on the area which we study here.

Third, Weijnen’s work was written in 1966 and now it is some thirty-odd years later. In other words, it is time for an update. A lot of interesting work has been done since 1966.

Fourth, Weijnen’s work was written in Dutch, and hence it was not generally available to the international scientific community. We write in English in order to make the world of Dutch dialect research internationally available. This is relevant for several reasons. First of all, it is a matter of historical justice. Work written in English gets more attention than work written in other languages. Thus Labov got famous with his Martha’s vineyard work, whereas Louise Kaiser is hardly known outside The Netherlands, even though she expressed similar ideas to Labov’s as early as the thirties. The Netherlands and Belgium have produced brilliant linguistic researchers in several fields of linguistics, and linguistics seems to be a Dutch-Belgian speciality, perhaps even more so than astronomy. By writing in English, this is made clear. But more importantly, the research itself deserves to be more widely known. Recent years saw a growing interest in dialect research. Even generative grammar, influential as ever, has devoted an increasing amount of attention to the problem of how to describe simply and transparently minimal grammatical differences between closely related dialects. In etymological research, methods have been developed to localise and describe non-Indo-European substratum words; the empirical evidence often involves words surviving in the dialects but not in the standard language. The growing interest in dialect study seems to justify our current enterprise.

1.2. On the content and form of the articles

Each article corresponds to a province. It was a difficult decision to split up the Dutch dialect area in provinces. However, the problem with a linguistically motivated subdivision would have been twofold. There would anyhow have been discussion about a linguistic subdivision, because different linguistic arguments support different subdivisions. But more importantly, the reader would have to bear in mind the specific division which we made, whereas the division in provinces is independently given and will be familiar to all Dutch readers. Furthermore, institutes investigating regional culture are often partly paid for by the province. Hence we decided to let each the area covered by each article correspond to a province, rather than to the area defined by one or more isoglosses.

Each article has by and large the same division into sections and subsections. At the lowest level of subsections, there may be, and will be, differences between the articles. The reason for this is that the state of research is different for different provinces. For example, the syntax and morphology of the West Frisian dialect of Noord-Holland have been well investigated, whereas the syntax and morphology of the Utrecht dialects have been much less investigated. Thus the sub-subsections dealing with morphosyntax of West Frisian (in Noord-Holland) are more numerous and more extensive than the sub-subsections dealing with the morphosyntax of Utrecht dialects.

A second reason for differences between the three articles is to be found in the different backgrounds of the authors. The first article, almost completely written by Hoekstra, points at several issues that may enthusiasm the linguists among us. The last article, by Scholtmeijer, meets the dialectologist’s need for comparison, e.g. by providing a phoneme inventory. The second article combines the best of both worlds. We did not try to harmonise between the different disciplines, as both linguistics and dialectology are entitled to their own right of looking at language facts in the region under study.

However, wherever that was possible, we stuck to a tight protocol of article subdivision and subject matter. Below we provide a skeleton outline of the section subdivision of each article.

1.3. Skeleton outline of each article

1. Classification of the area

1.1. Standard division

1.2. Dialecthistorical introduction

1.3. Dialectgeographical introduction

1.4. Dialect studies

2. Phonology and phonetics

3. Morphology (by word category)

4. Syntax (by word category)

5. Lexicon

5.1. Sources

5.2. Word-geographical distribution

6. Sociolinguistics

6.1. Sociological position of the dialect

6.2. Dialect literature

7. Example of a dialect

7.1. Text and comments

7.2. Narrow translation in Standard Dutch

7.3. Translation in English

8. Bibliography

8.1. RND

8.2. Books & Articles

8.3. Other studies

1.4. Explication of the skeleton outline

Section 1 (Classification of the area) presents the linguistic rationale behind the standard division of a province into coherent dialect areas and relates the division to historical and geographical factors, as is commonly done in classical dialectology. The section concludes with a brief overview of the most important dialect studies. Section 2, 3 and 4 take as their subject matter the grammar of a well-described dialect of the province that is being investigated. It is impossible to give a neat outline of a grammar for a large dialect area or for a province, because there will be so much variation. Hence we select for each province a dialect that is part of it and that has been relatively well described. Section 2 deals with phonology and phonetics, section 3 with. Section 5 does the same with respect to the lexicon, especially insofar as the lexicon is relevant for issues that have been subjects of classical dialectal research. Section 6 discusses the sociological position of the dialect, and gives an overview of literary and other cultural activities within the dialect such as pop songs, theatre, cabaret, and so on. Section 7 presents a short dialect fragment that is used to point out some salient characteristics of the dialect in which it is written. Section 8 contains a bibliography with some comments to guide the reader who would like to know more.

1.5. Concluding remarks

We hope that the present work fulfils its dual purpose. On the one hand, it serves as an introduction for those who would like to know more about specific dialectological phenomena or about the dialectological situation in a specific province. On the other hand, it serves as an inventarisation of the research that has been done, and thus it also makes it clear how much work has not yet been done. In the latter sense, it functions as a research program for future dialectologists and linguists. The present work is restricted to the three western provinces of The Netherlands which together make up the Randstad. It is surprising that some much variation is encountered even in this urbanised area.

II. NOORD-HOLLAND

1. Classification of the area

1.1. Standard division

The archaic and more deviant features of the dialects of Noord-Holland typically occur in rural dialects. These features are regularly found in the dialects of Friesland and Groningen as well. The less deviant properties, which are shared by a much larger number of speakers, typically occur in the west of The Netherlands, that is, in Zuid-Holland, Noord-Holland and Utrecht. Those properties are typically found in the cities, especially in low class speech.

The province itself can be subdivided in a number of regions whose borders have been determined by a combination of geographical and political factors which were relevant in to the Middle Ages, but which are now irrelevant.

Zaanstreek, Waterland and the island Marken are found to the north of Amsterdam, in the south of the province. This area was separated from the Graafschap Holland by the IJ, a wide stretch of water.

In the north of the province is Westfriesland, the island of Texel and the former island Wieringen. Geographically, Westfriesland was separated from the Zaanstreek and Waterland by a series of lakes. It could be reached through the sandy area in the west of the province, Kennemerland, which was brought under the rule of the Graafschap as a bridgehead for the conquest of Westfriesland.

Kennemerland is a heterogeneous area, in which the dialects of fishing villages stand out as most archaic.

Originally, the dialects of Noord-Holland were presumably closely related. At least this is claimed to be true for the more differentiated and relatively well-investigated dialects of the Zaanstreek, Waterland and Westfriesland (Woudt 1984:45, Daan 1956:116 among others). Differentiation between these dialects can often be related to the extent to which they underwent the influence of the Graafschap Holland, and later of the Randstad, the industrialised and densely populated area in the west roughly corresponding to the old Graafschap Holland and containing the cities of Amsterdam, Leiden, The Hague and Rotterdam.

1.2. Dialecthistorical introduction

In the second half of the first millennium AD, the dialects of Noord-Holland seem to have been part of a northern continuum including also the provinces of Friesland and Groningen. The northern area was economically powerful in that age, as is evidenced by the finds of gold treasures and other attributes indicating the presence of kings and courts. The sea had not yet eaten away so much of the inhabitable land. The western part of the country was of less economic (and therefore linguistic) importance than it is today. Historical evidence indicates that the ‘Frisians’ mediated the trade between the Franks and the Baltic Sea area. What the historical sources call ‘Frisians’ is, from a modern point of view, more properly referred to as ‘people inhabiting the coast of the northern Netherlands’, corresponding roughly to the provinces of Noord-Holland, Fryslân and Groningen. The present-day rural dialects of the northern part of the province of Noord-Holland still exhibit many similarities with the dialects of Friesland and Groningen (Hoekstra 1993, 1994a, 1994b, 1998), presumably dating back to this time. In the second millennium AD the province's history is tied in closely with that of the expanding Graafschap Holland (the county of Holland). It annexed Waterland and the Zaanstreek, in the south of the province, and finally, in 1289, Westfriesland, in the north. These military facts reflect the growing economic (and linguistic) power of the Graafschap Holland. Linguistically, Noord-Holland will be more and more orientated on the language spoken in the Graafschap Holland. The new unity which the language varieties of Noord-Holland have thus received can much later be referred to as Standard Dutch. Most traces of the old Northern unity survive to our day as archaic features of rural dialects. Thus the first half of the second millennium witnessed the rise of a western sphere of linguistic influence, at the expense of the linguistic varieties of the north, of which modern Frisian is a tenacious remainder. Below we will of course concentrate on archaic or deviant linguistic features since (i) standard Dutch is extensively described elsewhere, and (ii) these archaic features are theoretically interesting since they can tell us something about microparametric variation and the theory of grammar.

Some characteristics of Noord-Holland speech can be highlighted from the Atlas van de Nederlandse Klankontwikkeling (ANKO) ‘atlas of Dutch sound changes’.

· WGM /a/: ladder ‘ladder’. Along the coast from Zeeland to Friesland, ladder forms have been attested, though the later development in Frisian is different.

· WGM short /u/: vogel ‘bird’. Noord-Holland has a ø, like Zeeland and West-Flanders still have.

· WGM short /u/ with umlaut in brug ‘bridge’: along the coast from Flanders to Friesland we find unrounded vowels, as in England.

· WGM long /a/ in schaap ‘sheep’ and laten ‘let’. Fronted to /e./ in Noord-Holland.

· WGM long /a/ with umlaut: laag ‘low’. Fronted to /e./ in Noord-Holland. All words with WGM long /a/ have a palatal sound, irrespective of the presence of umlaut. Hence it is unclear whether umlaut operated or not.

· WGM long /o/ with umlaut. The coastal dialects did not have umlaut on long vowels, including Noord-Holland. In Friesland, as in England, such vowels are completely fronted, instead of remaining centralised as in German and the eastern Dutch dialects.

· WGM long /i/ gelijk ‘even’ was diphthongised in Noord-Holland to /ai/ or /oi/, but not on the island Texel, the (former) island Wieringen and the city Enkhuizen. The SD has /ei/. In Zandvoort and elsewhere this sound is monophthongised to /a./, presumably a recent development.

Conclusion: the old dialects of Noord-Holland still have ingwaeonic features which have been largely eliminated in Zuid-Holland due to heavy urbanization but which are historically traceable there (see also Heeroma 1935).

1.3. Dialectgeographical introduction

In the south the Noord-Holland area is dominated by Amsterdam, which, as it expanded, developed its own city dialect (Daan 1955, 1956, our source for the phonological and lexical facts presented in this section together with Weijnen 1966: 432-437). Syntactic quirks may occasionally be found in the speech of some Amsterdam speakers, such as the use of the complementiser of ‘whether’ before or after relative pronouns (Hoekstra 1994). In the previous century there seemed to be various Amsterdam subdialects, each associated with a particular neighbourhood.

To the Southeast of Amsterdam are the dialects of Het Gooi. These dialects do not exhibit the oldest typically coastal unroundings of rug ‘back’ (the noun) to /rex/ or /rix/, of put ‘well’ to /pet/ or /pit/. They also exhibit two north-eastern features, namely umlaut on WG /o:/ and palatalization in the participles of strong verbs. Some lexical isoglosses (e.g. nijt for niet ‘not’) separate these dialects from South and Noord-Holland, giving the dialect a more eastern flavor. This may well be related to the historical fact that Het Gooi belonged to the county Hamaland (until 968) and to the monastery Elten (until 1280), both of which are situated in the East of the Netherlands. Likewise the linguistic facts may also be related to the geographical fact that Het Gooi was separated from Noord- and Zuid-Holland by an inaccessible lake and bog area. Onomastic evidence suggests that the place-names in Het Gooi are of an older type than those around it.

Some speakers from the Zaanstreek and Waterland (including the island Marken) area still exhibit verb clusters like the following: hij moet staan blijven ‘he must stand stay’ ‘he must remain standing’, with the main verb staan to the left of the auxiliary blijven. The dialect of older speakers in the Zaanstreek, as written in Woudt (1984), exhibits this order systematically. This Zaan dialect can be distinguished from West Frisian in that Infinitivus-pro-Participio (henceforth IPP) is obligatory, whereas in West Frisian it is obligatorily absent in a large number of syntactic contexts. There are also word order differences with respect to the verbal cluster.

Volendam and the island Marken have each distinct dialects. There is an excellent comparative study of various aspects of the grammar of Waterland proper, Volendam and Marken (Van Ginneken 1954). The Waterland dialects exhibited the phenomenon of appending clitics to the words ja ‘yes’ and nee ‘no’. Thus (Volendam):

· Ga je mee? Jo’k. / Najnek

go you along yes-I / no-I

· Mag ik mee? Joje / Naje

may I come-along yes-you no-you

· Gaat ze mee? Joze / Najze

goes she along yes-she no-she

· Gaan we samen? Jodewe / Najnewe

go we together? yes-?-we no-?-we

· Gaan ze mee Jodeze / Najneze

go they along yes-?-they no-?-they

This phenomenon is found here and there across The Netherlands and Belgium, but also outside (see Paardekooper 1993 for a dialectgeographical study). Smessaert (1995) provides an in-depth investigation of this phenomenon in West Flemish.

The best-preserved dialects, or the dialects having the greatest distance from Standard Dutch, are doubtlessly those of Westfriesland. This is partly due to the absence of big cities in this area, and to the fact that is not so close to the Randstad. Some West Frisian dialects still preserve two infinitives, of which the distribution is syntactically determined. This is a typical feature of the Frisian dialects as well (Hoekstra 1994a).

Westfriesland has the most deviant dialect. Hence we have selected West Frisian as the focus of a detailed grammatical description in part II. This description is largely based on the excellent work of Pannekeet, especially 1979, 1995. We have supplemented this description with a typological comparison with Dutch and Frisian.

Along the west coast we find the remains of some conservative fisherman’s dialects (e.g. Egmonds). These conservative fisherman’s dialects have sometimes been called Strandhollands (Beach Dutch). Exclusively Beach Dutch is iet for niet ‘not’. Beach Dutch also shows extensive /h/-drop and unroundings like seen for zoon ‘son’, presumably via seun. Phonologically-historically the dialect shows many examples of unrounding as in zemer ‘summer’, Dutch zomer, Frisian simmer; kinst ‘art’, D. kunst, F. keunst, dinnetjes ‘thinly’, D. dunnetjes, F. tin, which do not seem to be present in West Frisian. Curious is the past tense of ‘say’: zaan, zâane; D. zei, zeiden; F. sei, seinen. Nasals have in certain positions been velarised, e.g. onger ‘under’ for D. onder, strangd ‘beach’ for D. strand. The verb zijn ‘be’ is conjugated with ebbe ‘have’.

1.4. Dialect studies

Literature about the Amsterdam dialect tends to be popularising. There is a collection of tapes with Amsterdam speech in the Meertens Institute, collected by D. Brouwer.

There is extensive research on the Zaan region, due to its economic vitality in the previous century, when it was successfully industrialised. Boekenoogen (1897) and Van Ginneken (1954) are excellent works containing a lot of material. Waterland consists of Waterland proper, Volendam and the island Marken. For Waterland, there is a book by J. van Ginneken (1954), based on material collected by his students and edited by A. Weijnen. This contains a lot of valuable material.

Attention should be drawn to Westfriesland’s Oud en Nieuw, a magazine containing valuable information about Westfriesland. Daan's (1950) dissertation contains a lot of factual information. Pannekeet’s (1995) grammar served as the basis for the description of West Frisian presented here. Pannekeet’s (1979) dissertation on derivational morphology of West Frisian was similarly detailed. This is quite rare in dialectology, where the focus is traditionally on phonology in its historical context and on aspects of lexicology, and remarks on syntax or morphology are absent or superficial. Westfriesland is without doubt the best-investigated area linguistically, due to the activities of Pannekeet.

There is a good historical description of the phonology of the dialect of Zandvoort (Van den Berg 1959).

Very little grammatical research has been done in other areas, with the exception of Beach Dutch, and thus it is a self-fulfilling prophecy that these areas are uninteresting dialectologically.

2. Phonetics and phonology

2.1.Introduction

Unfortunately, a structuralist phonological description of West Frisian does not exist. Pannekeet (1995) offers a contrastive description of vowels and consonants in West Frisian and Dutch. Van den Berg (1959) offers a historical description of the Zandvoort coastal dialect. From these sources some information may be gleaned. Karsten (1931) and Boekenoogen (1897) likewise contain a historical description.

2.2. Vowels

In the short vowels, Zandvoorts, like many other dialects, preserves the distinction between /o/ and /ò/, which many Dutch speakers have lost. Unlike Dutch, it also has a half low central vowel, in for example /dOrd∂/ derde, ‘third’ and /sO‹s/ zes ‘six’. For /u/ and /y/, like in Dutch, there is no length opposition. A long half high central vowel or diphthong /œ.(∂)/ is not only found before /r/ as in Standard Dutch but can also be found before /l, g, x/.

Zandvoort has /o.∂/ before coronal, /O./ before non-coronals, that is, labials and gutturals. Dutch only has the diphthong before /r/. Many Noord-Holland dialects make this distinction. According to Van den Berg, a long vowel is found before /r/, a diphthong before the other coronals. We doubt whether this difference occurs. Anyhow, it is obviously not phonemically relevant.

In SD, the vowels /I:(∂)/ only occurs before /r/ in native words. Zandvoorts has it for /r,l,g,w/ and at the end of a word, e.g. /krI.∂n/ ‘clean’. Exactly here /e./ is excluded. The existing descriptions do not allow us to say more about the phonemic system.

/a/ may be raised to /e/, /e/ may be raised to /I/ before nasals as in ben/bin ‘am’, also in WF: denke/dinke ‘think’, hemde/himde ‘shirts’, hem/him ‘him’. The /I/ forms are also Frisian, the /e/ forms are Dutch. Hence we expect the /I/ forms to get lost.

The unaccented vowel may be pronounced like /I/ in WF at the end of a word, and before /s/, e.g. tante ‘aunt’, nergens ‘nowhere’, and like /i/ in WF smiddies /smIdis/ ‘in the afternoon’, cf. Dutch ‘s middags /smIdαxs/, Frisian middeis /mIdj∂s/.

2.3. Consonants

There are no word-initial voiced fricatives in Zandvoorts or WF, which are similarly absent in Frisian. This is typical of the original situation in Noord-Holland. Standard Dutch has word-initial /z/ and /v/. Hypercorrection under the influence of the SD yields an exciting amount of confusion here.

Dutch /sx/ is always /sk/ in WF, as in Frisian. Dutch has /sk/ in loanwords which may cause unetymological transpositions (see next section).

The /r/ is a rolling dental /r/ like in Frisian. A uvular pronunciation, as is not uncommon in Dutch, does not occur in WF or Zandvoorts.

2.4. Intonation

West Frisian sounds sing-song like to speakers of Standard Dutch, with its flat intonation and only a rise at the end of the sentence. This feature survives into regiolect. Individual words seem to be pronounced longer. This latter observation may suggest that there are more diphthongs where Dutch has long monophthongs (as is the case in Frisian), in harmony with historical descriptions reporting diphthongs where Dutch has monophthongs. Here we again point out for future research the task of creating an exact phoneme inventory of West Frisian and a phonetic description, or any other Noord-Holland dialect.

2.5. Frisian substrate in the dialects of Noord-Holland.

Here we will discuss whether there is still a Frisian substrate in the dialects of Noord-Holland, or, in our case, in the West Frisian dialect.

2.5.1. Less fronted vowels in West Frisian and Frisian as compared to Dutch

In a number of cases WF and F have vowels which are less fronted than in Dutch, often involving WF, F /o/, /ö/ versus Dutch /I/:

West Frisian F D ommers ommers immers slokke slokke slikke sund sûnt sinds guster juster gister wulle wolle willen mosk mosk mus (a mid vowel) (t)sjirmje kerme

Frisian F D ommers ommers immers slokke slokke slikke sûnt sûnt sinds juster juster gister wolle wolle willen mosk mosk mus (a mid vowel) kerme

Dutch immers slikke sinds gister willen mus (a mid vowel)

Translation for (conjunction) swallow since yesterday want sparrow

2.5.2. Palatalisation of /k/

West Frisian F D serme mosk mus (a m

Frisian F D (t)sjirmje mosk mus (a mid vowel) k

Dutch kerme

Translation moan

The example of serme seems to have partaken of the Frisian development of k > tsj. In Frisian this is also found in tsjerke ‘church’, which is not found in WF. There is also onomastic evidence for the effect of this sound-change. In Zandvoort we find sjompe ‘cry, make faces, make a sad face’, Vlaardingen (Zuid-Holland) sjimpe, WF timpen, Frisian sjimperje, sjamperich and simperich as adjectives. In this meaning it is also found in English dialects. Its etymology is obscure.

2.5.3. -ft/-Xt alternation

Obsolete is -ft /ft/ for -cht /xt/ in words like after/efter, afterdocht, kraft, saft, graft, and some others, in accordance with Frisian efter, krêft, sêft, grêft. The f-forms are also preserved in place-names in Noord-Holland, also found in Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, and in the German and English standard language.

2.5.4. Loss of -f-

Some words show loss of /f/ before /s/, a development shared with Frisian in the same words:

West Frisian F D (t)sjirmje kerme herrest liest zelles

Frisian F D hjerst /jEst/ leafst /ljEst/ sels

Dutch herfst liefst zelfs

Translation autumn liefst zelfs

Interestingly, WF also inserts schwa where Frisian does not, as in zelles cf. F. sels ‘self, even’. Thus, loss of /f/ must have been a mutual development whereas schwa-insertion is typical of the whole of Noord-Holland. Mutual WF & F developments in the same lexical subset of words can perhaps be dated back to the time when the area was still a unity, so (very roughly) before the year 1000.

3. Morphology

This section deals with derivational morphology, that is, all morphology that is not contextually determined. Here we will present some interesting phenomena from the derivational morphology of West Frisian. The West Frisian data have mainly been taken from Pannekeet’s (1979) dissertation on word formation.

3.1. Binding morphemes

Binding morphemes are elements which are appended to the first element of a compound, such as the schwa in boek - boekeclub ‘book club’. In some cases, first elements of compounds are not marked at all, as in English book club. Sometimes first elements of compounds undergo a different change, such as vowel change, as in Frisian stien - stienslach, /sti.∂n/ - /stjinslax/, ‘stone - stone chipping’ (Hoekstra 1995). Below we will pay attention to binding morphemes in West Frisian.

3.1.1 -ERS-

Some compounds have -ERS as a binding phoneme. In some cases, this can clearly be related to the plural of the action noun, but in others it cannot (for an analysis, see J. Hoekstra 1987). In some cases there are Frisian (and Dutch) parallels:

West Frisian waskersdag melkerstoid hooiersweer verskôondersgoed opperstoid vroegopperstoid kaartersrondje handewasserskompie uitgaandersweer teugenopzienderswerk pankoekerspan

Frisian waskersdei melkerstiid haaierswaar - - - kaartersrûntsje hanwaskerskomke útgeanderswaar - pankoekpan

Dutch wasdag melktijd hooiweer - - - kaartrondje handenwaskommetje uitgaansweer - pannekoekpan

Translation cloth-washing day milking time haying weather clean clothes time to get up time to get up early cardplaying round handwashing bowl going out weather work one dislikes pancake pan

Neither verskoônder nor opper exist as independent words. Op is a particle meaning here ‘out of bed’, and verskoône exists as a verb. This indicates that -ERS/-DERS is a pure binding morpheme in the last two examples, and, by generalisation in the first three examples as well. This becomes also clear from a comparison with Dutch, where this binding morpheme is absent. -ERS is present though as a binding morpheme in Frisian, sometimes in the same compounds as in West Frisian. Interestingly, -ER occurs as a binding morpheme in Northfrisian, as shown in Århammar (1993).

3.1.2. -E-

Schwa is a common binding morpheme in Frisian, Dutch and West Frisian. It occurs in a number of words, though, where it occurs neither in Dutch nor in Frisian:

West Frisian eerdEbei kinderEwagen nagelEskeertje poipEkneêl veugelEverskrikker

Frisian ierdbei (bernewein) neilskjirke pypkaniel fûgelskrik

Dutch aardbei kinderwagen nagelschaartje pijpkaneel vogelverschrikker

Literal translation earth-berry child car nail scissors pipe cinnamon bird scarer

Translation strawberry pram nail scissors cinnamon stick scarecrow

In some of these examples, like veugeleverskrikker and nageleskeertje, the first element has a plural in -S in Dutch. The plural veugels occurs in West Frisian. If the plural is exclusively in -S, like in Dutch and Frisian, then the occurrence of -E as a binding morpheme violates a generalisation which holds without exception for Dutch. This generalisation says that schwa can only occur as a binding morpheme in words which have a plural in schwa (see Mattens 1970:189, Van Marle 1985:19, Booij & Van Santen 1995:119). It is a question for future research to investigate whether the plural veugelen is really absent in West Frisian.

3.2. Sample of diminutives: after short vowel + {L/R/N} in West Frisian and Wierings

The form of the diminutive ending in Dutch is sensitive to properties of the syllable which it appends to. The vowel is relevant in bal:baal - balletje:baaltje (‘ball:bag’). The final consonant cluster is relevant in man:mannetje - mand:mandje (‘man:basket’). Consider now the case of a short vowel followed by a nasal or a liquid. In that context, Dutch has an extra syllable based on the schwa, -etje /∂tj∂/, whereas Frisian and West Frisian keep a monosyllabic diminutive:

West Frisian waltje tortje son(t)je

WF of Wieringen walke torke sontje

Frisian waltsje tuorke sintsje

Dutch walletje torretje zonnetje

Base, translation wal ‘wall’ tor ‘beetle’ zon ‘sun’

The dialect of Opperdoes closely resembles the dialect of Wieringen in its more extensive use of -KE in forming diminutives. We will not further present similarities and differences in this field, which must still be further explored. The table in so far as it presents contrasting dialects of West Frisian illustrates the richness of the variation existing within non-standardized language varieties.

3.3. Diminutive noun formation from adjectives

West Frisian exhibits diminutive noun formation from adjectival bases, which is normally ungrammatical in both Frisian and Dutch:

West Frisian een duntje een peersie een sloumpie

Frisian * in tintsje * in pearske * in sleauke

Dutch * een dunnetje * een paarsje * een sloompje

Base, translation dun ‘thin’ paars ‘purple sloom ‘slow’

Interestingly, the suffix -IE also occurs in western Dutch city dialects of low sociological status. In those dialects, some forms with -IE from adjectives have been lexicalised, such as sloompie. Sometimes, City Dutch -IE formations have no parallel in Standard Dutch, such as WD schoffie (SD * schofje); in this case, there doesn’t exist a ground word *schof, neither in WD nor in SD. (There is, however, a ground word schoft in SD. In WD t is often deleted after f, X: hofie (head), grachie (canal).)

3.4.-SE for verb formation

This suffix is occasionally used for verb formation. In a significant number of cases, the suffix attaches to a diminutive noun, or to a noun which ends in a vowel homophonous with the diminutive ending:

West Frisian berriese peerdjese poepiese

Dutch translation per berrie vervoeren paardje spelen voortdurend afpoepen

English translation move by barrow play horsie fart continually

These forms tend to be mostly used as infinitives, and they share a specific aspectual durativity. Occasionally a participle is found:

Benne jullie nag niet uitkoppiest

are you still yet not out-cup-ed

‘Haven’t you finished drinking coffee/tea?’

3.5. Nominal purals

Obsolete West Frisian has a number of S- and SE-plurals lacking in Dutch or Frisian.

SE-plurals:

WF hakse joônse manse neefse nichse oumse

Dutch hakken jongens mannen neven nichten omes

Translation heels boys men cousins, nephews cousins, nieces uncles

Many of these denote persons or family. There is an interesting historical dimension to plurals. Philippa (1987) drew attention to the fact that Old Frisian does not have S-plurals. Paardekooper (1990) showed that West and French Flemish have quite a large number of S-plurals typically in relict words. Note that the plural ending spelled -EN in Dutch is pronounced without the -N in both West Frisian and Dutch, so /∂/. In Frisian, on the other hand, the plural is a syllabic -N, like in the Saxon dialects.

3.6. -IG/-ERIG/-DERIG and suffixes employing -IG/-ERIG as a base

This suffix is can attach to a large number of bases to which it could not possibly attach in Dutch. In Frisian this suffix is also more productive than in Dutch, though not so productive as in West Frisian.

West Frisian uitgaanderig onwerig sôsiaalderig moeilekig Volendammerig hokkiesig vroegopstaanderig

Frisian -ICH útgeanderich ûnwarich sosjaalderich * Foalendammerich * betiidopsteanderich

Dutch -IG * * * * * * *

Gloss out-go-ER-IG un-weather-IG social-IG difficult-IG Volendam-ER-IG cel-DIM-IG early-rise-ER-IG

Translation willing to go out bad weather like social-minded difficult-ish typical of city of V. with (too many) small rooms liking to rise early

In some cases West Frisian corresponds to Dutch -ACHTIG or Frisian -EFTICH, but we will leave the attempt to describe these facts as a subject for future research.

The suffix -HOID, which yields nouns, can often (presumably always) attach to a form ending in -IG. This yields forms like the following:

West Frisian uitgaanderighoid sôsiaalderighoid

Frisian útgeanderichheid sosjaalderichheid

Dutch * *

Translation willingness to go out social-mindedness

3.7. The prefix ONT-

This prefix is rarer in West Frisian words than in Dutch words. It is especially rare in its inchoative meaning:

West Frisian beginne te brande (weg)vluchte uit mekaar ploffe ofreide vange, kroige

Dutch ontbranden ontvluchten ontploffen ontraden ontvangen

Translation begin to burn / catch fire fly away from explode advise against receive

The prefix ONT is absent here. In this respect, West Frisian patterns with Frisian, and also with English. One would like to see a typological comparison of the various semantic uses of ONT- in various West-Germanic dialects. Many forms in ÛNT- in the Dutch-Frisian dictionary are absent in the speech of Frisian speakers unless they were schooled in Standard Frisian (which is a small minority).

3.8. Word accent

Compounds denoting a concrete object in and around the house often exhibit final accent instead of initial accent as is common in Dutch. Accent is indicated by underlining the accented syllable:

West Frisian keldertrap kamerdeur kamerkast

Frisian kelderstrep keamersdoar keamerskast

Dutch keldertrap kamerdeur kamerkast

Translation cellar stairs room doar room cupboard

Interestingly, this group of compounds also has final accent in Frisian, and is subject to the same semantic constraint (see J. Hoekstra 1998:52-55). In the Frisian cases, the coumpound, under certain conditions, must have a binding morpheme -S- as well. Interestingly, Frisian has minimal pairs like keamerdoar and keamersdoar ‘room door’. The latter one must be concrete and specific, it must be the door of this room. Consider the following sentences:

a. * Ik ha 100 keamersdoarren besteld

I have 100 room doors ordered

‘I ordered 100 room doors’

b. Ik ha 100 keamerdoarren besteld

The binding morpheme -s- must be absent for the sentence to be grammatical. It might be interesting to investigate this matter more deeply in West Frisian as well.

Final accent also occurs in a number of other cases, like for example compounds with the element -DAGS ‘day’, as in winterdags ‘in winter’, zeumerdags ‘in summer’, herrestdags ‘in autumn’, and in a large number of placenames, especially those ending in -broek, -brug/-breg, -dam, -doik/-dik, -(h)orre (-horn), -(h)uize, -(h)out, -karspel, -meer, -leik, -waard, -wou(d). Family names, even if they are derived from placenames, have initial accent. Thus we get: Han Akersloôt from Akersloôt, Jaap Langedoik from (De) Langedoik, Antje Oôswoud from Oôswoud, and so on.

3.9. Other (non West Frisian) aspects of morphology

Some speakers of the city dialect of Amsterdam called Jordaans allow the complementiser of ‘whether/if’ to precede Wh-elements and relativisers, as in the following examples (Hoekstra 1994d):

a. De vrouw of die ik gezien heb

the woman of that I seen have

‘the woman that I saw’

b. Het kind of dat ik gezien heb

the child of that I seen have

‘the child that I saw’

c. De auto of waar ik in reed

the car of where I in drove

‘the car which I drove in’

d. Dit doet bij mij de vraag rijzen of wie er op het instituut werken of niet

this does to me the question come-up of who there at the institute work or not

‘this raises for me the question of who is working at the institute and who is not’

e. We moeten eens vragen of waar die heengaat

we must MP ask of where that to-goes

‘perhaps we should ask where it is going to’

MP stands for ‘modal particle’in the glosses.

3.10. Changes in the suffix: ousting northern forms, importing western forms

West Frisian Frisian Dutch

-skip, -skap -skip -schap ‘company’

The suffix is used in words like: F, WF selskip ‘company’, Dutch gezelschap. The form -skip, the form that is closer to Frisian (identical in this case), is becoming obsolete through competition with the form -skap, which is closer to Dutch. This picture is encountered more often. The forms that are more similar to Frisian are ousted by competing forms that are more similar to Dutch.

A similar type of example is obsolete WF noflek ‘comfortable, cosy’, F noflik. Now the form genoeglijk is heard, identical to Dutch. Similarly:

Obsolete WF snobbe, F snobje, Dutch & Modern WF snoepe.

Obsolete WF frommes, F frommes, Dutch and Modern WF vrouwen.

Obsolete WF glik, F gelyk /glik/, Dutch /gelεik/ MWF /geloik/.

Obsolete WF rik, F ryk /rik/, Dutch and MWF /rεik/.

Some of the Frisian forms generally occur in the north-eastern part of The Netherlands.

3.11. The Verb

3.11.1 The paradigm

Alternatively, present and past tense forms are given, and finally the past participle (PP):

trappe komme

(weak verb) (strong verb)

1Sg trap kom

1Sg trapte kwam

2Sg trappe komme

2Sg trapte kwamme

3Sg trapt komt

3Sg trapte kwam

123Pl trappe komme

123Pl trapte kwamme

PP trapt kommen

3.11.2. 2SG without schwa

In inversion, the schwa in the 2SG is nearly always dropped by older and younger people. In a written text, schwa-drop took place in inversion in 97% of all potential cases

In subject-initial sentences, older people use the form with schwa. Younger people use the form without schwa. Note that both younger and older speakers deviate from Dutch, which has a form in -T here.

In the past tense of strong verbs, the tendency to drop the schwa is possibly stronger.

In the past tense of weak verbs, the schwa is never dropped. In other persons, this type of schwa-drop is not found. See, however, the section on profixed pronouns.

3.11.3. Generalisation of 2P to 2S

WF, like Dutch, exhibits the generalisation of the 2P to the 2S, ousting the original West Germanic form in -ST which is still present in Frisian, Groningen, Dutch and German. The -T ending in the 2SG in Dutch reflects the former -T ending in 2P, still present in southern Dutch dialects.

3.11.4. Past tense plural

WF and Dutch have past tense plural in -E, where Frisian has past tense plural in -EN, normally pronounced as a syllabic nasal. Possible remains of a former agreement /n/ show up in the linking /n/ after schwa before a vowel, which is found in WF and many other dialects:

Wat hoorde-n-ik?

what heard-I

‘What did I hear?’

Frisian lacks this linking /n/, possibly because /n/ still functions as a marker of past tense.

3.11.5 To BE

The paradigm

Infinitive ‘be’ 1S present - past 2S 3S 123P PfP

West Frisian weze, weize bin – waar, was binne - ware, wazze is – waar, was binne - ware, wazze weest, weist

Frisian wêze bin - wie binst - wiest is - wie binne - wienen west

Dutch zijn ben - was bent - was is - was zijn - waren geweest

The Dutch infinitive zijn is absent in WF and F. The Dutch 123P zijn is absent in WF and F. With all Dutch verbs, the infinitive is homophonous to the present tense plural, unlike Frisian and West Frisian.

3.11.6 The WF 123P ‘binne’.

The WF word binne is also Frisian. This form is found in Noord and Zuid-Holland dialect and substandard speech. B-forms are also found in the province of Zealand. The form zijn has clearly been introduced in this area through the standard language. It is found in the dialects of Brabant and Limburg.

3.12. The Adjective

3.12.1. Inflection of the nominalized adjective

Nominally used adjectives do often not inflect, as in the following examples:

West Frisian ’n aar ’n nuw

Frisian in oaren ien in nijen ien

Dutch een andere een nieuwe

Translation a new one an other (one)

In Dutch, the nominalized adjective gets marked with /∂/. In Frisian, the adjective gets marked with a (syllabic) /n/; the pronoun ien is optionally present. In English, the pronominal form ‘one’ is obligatory. In Dutch to use that pronoun would even be ungrammatical: * een grote een (‘a big one’).

3.12.2. Comparative

Comparatives can also be nominalized in West Frisian, like in Dutch, but again WF lacks an inflectional ending.

West Frisian ’n grôter

Frisian in grutteren ien

Dutch een grotere

Translation a bigger one

3.13. Adverbs

3.13.1. Comparative from diminutive adverbs and adjectives

Dutch features diminutive adverbs in -s, such as zachtjes ‘softly’, netjes ‘decent(ly)’, stilletjes ‘silent(ly)’. Interestingly, WF features comparatives based on these forms:

WF sachieser prate netjeser skroive

‘talk more softly’ ‘write more decently’

This would be ungrammatical in both Dutch and Frisian.

3.13.2 Adverbs of subjective degree

West Frisian is rich, even creative, in words expressing the concept corresponding to ‘a great lot of’ or ‘very’.

WF Het is barrebaars / krimineêl / merakel / skoftig mooi

it is barbarian / criminally / miraculously / bastard-like beautiful

The same applies to spoken Frisian. In Dutch, adverbs of degree are rarer in the standard language.

4. Morphosyntax and syntax

This section deals with syntax, that is, with inflection (contextually determined flection, or inflectional morphology) and word order phenomena.

4.1. The WF infinitive ‘weze’.

This form marginally occurs in Dutch. Where it is optionally possible it is very slightly substandard, as in the following sentence:

Zou hij ziek zijn / wezen?

Should he ill be

‘Do you think he is ill’

In a subset of syntactic configurations wezen is obligatory in Dutch, e.g. in the following:

a. Hij is wezen vissen

he is be fish

‘He has gone out to fish’

b. * Hij is zijn vissen

he is be fish

‘He has gone out to fish’

On this construction, see De Schutter (1974), De Groot (1995).

Wezen is also obligatory in certain infinitives with imperative force:

a. Weg wezen!

away be

‘Go away’

b. * Weg zijn!

away be

‘Go away’

But not in others (see Hoeksema (1992)):

a. Stil wezen

silent be

‘Be silent!’

b. Stil zijn!

silent be

‘Be silent’

4.2. The perfect participle

The perfect participle in WF and F lacks the prefix GE-, present in Dutch and German. When used as an adjective, GE- may occur but this is not a rule. Thus we find both:

troude kindere getroude kinderen

married children married children

However, it seems that if the negative prefix ON- precedes, GE- is always present. In the examples below, we present some minimal pairs contrasting the adjectival forms with ON- with the perfect participial forms. The minimal pairs have been underlined:

Adjective Perfect Participle

a. ze binne ongeslagen ze werde temet doôd sloegen

‘they are undefeated’ ‘they were nearly dead hit’

b. hai kwam ongevraagd binnen hai het niks vroegen

‘they came unasked inside’ ‘he has nothing asked’

c. je komme ongelegen hai het tebed loid

‘you come un-lain’ ‘he has on bed laid’

‘You come at the wrong time’ ‘He has laid on the bed’

d. ongewassen wossen

un-washed ‘rough’ ‘washed’

In the adjectival cases, the verb does not have the West Frisian vowel but the Dutch vowel. This fact suggests that all these forms in ON- are loans from Dutch. This correlates with the fact that ON-formations are rare in the dialect compared to Standard Dutch. The same is true for Frisian. In fact, in the spoken dialect, like in Frisian (cf. De Haan & Hoekstra 1992) and English, the perfect participle is much less used as an adjective (if so then mostly in set phrases without premodification of the participle), while this is very common in written Dutch and German. Instead, such a construction is avoided in West Frisian:

* pelde bolle * gepelde bolle bolle die peld binne

‘peeled bulbs’ ‘peeled bulbs’ ‘bulbs which are peeled’

Possibly, this relates to the presence of the prefix. To test this hypothesis, one would have to investigate adjectival use of the perfect participle in a dialect with GE-.

The prefix GE- is absent not only in Westfriesland, but also in the northern provinces. See Hol (1937) on the geographical distribution. The Zaan, as well as Zuid-Holland, used to have the prefix E-; this prefix typically shows up in between the GE- area and the prefixless area. Changes in the choice of prefix in Noord and Zuid-Holland are documented in Brok (1995).

4.3. Use of two infinitival endings

There are two infinitival endings in West Frisian, -e and -en. Dutch only has one infinitival ending, written -en and pronounced /∂/. Frisian, however, also has two infinitival endings -e and -en. Moreover, the distribution of the endings is determined by the governing verb in both West Frisian and Frisian. The infinitive in -en is also referred to as the gerund. The following facts indicate that the same verbs govern the same type of infinitival ending in West Frisian and Frisian (Hoekstra 1994a,b). The (a)-examples below are West Frisian, the (b)-examples are from Frisian. They go to show that the choice of infinitival ending is very similar in the two language varieties:

Modal verbs select the infinitive in -e:

WF Vader sil deer veur zurregE.

F Heit sil der foar soargjE.

dad will that foar take-care-of

‘Father will take care of that’

Verbs of perception select the infinitive in -en:

WF Je hore enkeld de klok tikkEN.

F Jo hearre inkeld de klok tikjEN.

you hear only the clock tick

‘You only hear the clock tick.’

Causative verb let selects the infinitive in -e:

WF Ik heb m’n heer knippE leiten.

F Ik ha myn hier knippE litten.

I have my hair cut let

‘I have let my hair cut.’

Do as auxiliary verb with preposed infinitive selects -e:

WF DonderE deed ’t niet.

F TongerjE die it net.

thunder it did not

‘Thunder, it did not.’

To selects the infinitive in -en:

WF Ik gaan te melkEN.

F Ik gean te melkEN.

I go to milk

‘I go and milk.’

Nominalisation preceded by determiner is based on -en:

WF Bai it vallen.

F By it fallEN.

with the falling

‘While falling’

Hebben ‘have’ with infinitival verb of position takes -en:

WF Die d’r hele kapitaal in d’r twei hande zittEN hewwe.

F Dy’t har hiele kaptaal yn har twa hannen sittEN hawwe.

who their whole capital in their two hands sit have

‘Who have all their capital in their two hands.’

If go takes a verb of position (sit, lie, stand or hang), then it selects -en:

WF Gaan zittEN, zoide Aris.

F Gean sittEN, sei Aris.

go sit, said Aris

‘Have a seat, said Aris.’

If stay takes a verb of position (sit, lie, stand or hang), then it selects -en

WF Bloif mar zittEN.

F Bliuw mar sittEN.

stay MP sit

‘Stay sitting.’ (‘Don’t stand up.’)

It is a typical property of the Frisian language group that there are two infinitival endings whose distribution is syntactically determined by the governing verb. Thus this phenomenon can also be found in East Frisian and North Frisian (see J. Hoekstra 1992), both of which are spoken in Germany.

4.4. The IPP-effect and word order in the verbal cluster

Dutch features the Infinitivus-pro-Participio effect. If a verb which is selected by have itself selects another verb then it does not show up as a participle but as an infinitive:

a. Hij heeft dat gewild / * willen

he has that wanted / want

b. Hij heeft dat willen / * gewild doen

he has that want / wanted do

‘he has wanted to do that’

This phenomenon also shows up in German. It is subject to a lot of variation. Dialects differ in the extent to which they have the IPP-effect. Dialects also differ with respect to the order of verbs in the verbal cluster. The IPP-effect is absent in English, Danish, and Frisian. Thus it seems to be restricted to a large subset of Westgermanic dialects.

As said, it is absent in Frisian, present in Dutch. West Frisian is geographically in between the two. It turns out that it is also in between with respect to IPP. It is not absent, as in Frisian, but it is present to a much smaller degree than in Dutch. It turns out that the IPP-effect is sensitive to the semantic class of the verb exhibiting it. Incidentally, this generally holds of variation with respect to IPP and word order in the verbal cluster. The absence of IPP in West-Frisian is clear from the presence of past participles ending in -t, -d or –n, whereas the infinitive ends in –e. Let us now turn now to an overview of the West Frisian data (from Hoekstra & Taanman 1996), where we give the highest verb in the syntactic tree a ‘1’, the next highest verb a ‘2’, and so on:

Modals do not exhibit IPP, and participate in the order 321 in West Frisian and Frisian:

WF Die ze veul gelukkiger zien wullen had. order 321

that she much happier see (3) want-PfP (2) had (1)

F Dy’t se folle lokkiger sjen wollen hie. order 321

that she much happier see want-PfP had

D Die ze veel gelukkiger had willen zien. order 123

that she much happier had want-InF see

‘Who had wanted to see them much happier.’

Causative let does not exhibit IPP, and is ordered 321:

WF Datte ze d’r gaan leiten hadde. order 321

that-PL they her go let-PfP had

F Dat se har gean litten hiene. order 321

that they her go let-PfP had

D Dat ze haar hadden laten gaan. order 123

that they her had let-InF go

‘That they had let her go.’

Perception verbs exhibit IPP, and have the order 123:

WF Tot ie d’r had zien weggaan. order 123

until he her had see-InF go-away

F Oant er har fuortgean sjoen hie. order 321

until he her go-away see-PfP had

D Tot hij haar had zien weggaan. order 123

until he her had seen-InF go-away

‘Until he had seen her go away.’

Aspectual verbs generally exhibit IPP, and have the order 12te3:

WF Ik hew temet ’n uur in die kouwe skuur zitte te bolle pellen. order 12te3

I have nearly an hour in that cold barn sit to bulbs peel

F Ik ha hast in oere yn dy kâlde skuorre sitten te bollepellen. order 12te3

I have nearly an hour in that cold barn sit to bulbs peel

D Ik heb haast een uur in die koude schuur zitten bollen te pellen. order 12te3

I have nearly an hour in that cold barn sit bulbs to peel

‘I have been peeling bulbs for nearly an hour in that cold barn.’

The presence of IPP in the last example is clear from the infinitive zitte, which also shows that the IPP-infinitive ends in –e, not in -en; the form of the past participle is zeten (Pannekeet 1995:389).

From this succinct overview it becomes clear that West Frisian linguistically occupies a middle position between Dutch and Frisian. The data are, in fact, more complex, as is clear from Pannekeet (1995:385-392).

4.5. Use of to-infinitive

The use of to-infinitives in West Frisian is different from that in Dutch. The general picture is that TE is used much more in Frisian and West Frisian than in Dutch. It is, in fact, very similar to the use of to-infinitives in the northern provinces of Friesland and Groningen. Again, I choose Frisian as a standard of comparison, because more research has been done on Frisian than on the Groningen dialect. The to-infinitive, when selected by be or go, is used to denote absence of the subject from the place that is the topic of the discourse, usually the place of speaking (see De Groot 1995 for a discussion of this construction in Dutch).

WF Hij is te vissen.

he is to fish

F Hy is te fiskjen.

he is to fish

D Hij is vissen.

he is fish

‘He went away to fish.’

A to-infinitive can freely combine with various auxiliaries, as shown below.

Combination of a to-infinitive with auxiliary stay:

WF Hij blijft te slapen.

he stays to sleep

F Hy bliuwt te sliepen.

he stays to sleep

D Hij blijft slapen.

he stays sleep

‘He stays sleeping.’

Combination of a to-infinitive with modal auxiliaries:

WF We zelle / moete / wulle te kaarten.

we shall / must / want to play-cards

F We sille / moatte / wolle te kaarten.

we shall / must / want to play-cards

D We gaan / moeten / willen kaarten.

we go / must / want play-cards

‘We shall / must / want to play cards.’

This construction has the same semantics as the to-infinitive in the presence of be or go (absentive interpretation). Indeed, be or go may be added:

WF We zelle / moete / wulle te kaarten gaan.

we shall / must / want to play-cards go

F We sille / moatte / wolle te kaarten gean.

we shall / must / want to play-cards go

D We gaan / moeten / willen kaarten.

we go / must / want play-cards

‘We shall / must / want to play cards.’

Combination of a to-infinitive with aspectual verbs of position:

WF Ik hem hem staan leiten te wachten.

I have him stand let-PfP to wait

F Ik ha him stean litten te wachtsjen.

I have him stand let-PfP to wait

D Ik heb hem laten staan wachten.

I have him let stand-InF wait

‘I have let him stand and wait.’

This is only a small sample of the available data, cf. Pannekeet (1995:409-435).

4.6. Noun-incorporation and particle-incorporation

Nouns may incorporate into to-infinitives, as shown in the following examples:

WF Hai het in de polder loupen te aaiere zoeken.

he has in the polder walked to egg search

F Hy hat yn ‘e polder rûn te aaisykjen.

he has in the polder walked to egg search

D Hij heeft in de polder eieren lopen zoeken.

he has in the polder eggs walk search

‘He has been looking for eggs in the polder.’

This phenomenon is also found in Groningen (see Schuurman 1987). Particles may also incorporate, that is, they occur sandwiched in between TE and the verb, which is ungrammatical in Standard Dutch:

WF Ze mocht op het altaar staan te voorlezen.

she was-allowed on the altar stand to PTC-read

F Hja mocht op it alter stean te foarlêzen.

she was-allowed on the altar stand to PTC-read

D Ze mocht op het altaar staan om voor te lezen.

she was-allowed on the altar stand ComP PtC to read

‘She was allowed to read from the altar.’

4.7. Constructions with DO.

Doen ‘so’ is used as an auxiliary in West Frisian, sometimes practically without semantic contribution, as in the following sentence:

WF We doene deimie wel omwasse.

we do in-a-moment MP wash

‘We’ll wash in a moment.’

This is ungrammatical in Dutch and Frisian. Grammatical in all three varieties is the use of do as auxiliary when the infinitive is preposed as in:

WF Omwasse doene we deimie wel.

wash do we in-a-moment MP

F Ofwaskje dogge we aansen wol.

wash do we in-a-moment MP

D Afwassen doen we zometeen wel.

wash do we in-a-moment MP

‘We’ll wash in a moment.’

Common to the dialects of the three northern provinces but not to Dutch is the use of do as a verb denoting high degree:

WF D’r werd oftig danst en dein.

there was often danced and done

F Der waard faak dûnse en dien.

there was often danced and done

D Er werd vaak gedanst.

there was often danced

‘They danced a lot.’

4.8. The complementiser

West Frisian frequently exhibits the presence of a ‘superfluous’ complementiser when compared to Standard Dutch:

a. Veul eerder as dat we zelf docht hadde.

much earlier than that we ourselves thought

‘Much earlier than we had thought ourselves.’

b. Weet jij hoe dat ie hiet en weer dat ie weunt?

Know you how that he is-called and where that he lives

‘Do you know how he is called en where he lives?’

c. Nou datte die lui roik binne hewwe ze puur kapsones

now that-PL those people rich are have they a-lot-of

‘Now that those people are rich, they rather put on airs.’

d. Toe datte we thuiskwamme, lagge de are al te bed

when that-PL we home came lay the others already in bed

‘When we came home, the others were already lying in their beds.’

Complementiser doubling is found in other dialects as well. The complementiser agreement ending may be appended to various complementisers and bare Wh-items like as (asse / azze) ‘if’, of (offe / ovve) ‘whether’, toe(n) (toene) ‘when’, tot (totte) ‘until’, wat (watte) ‘what’, weer (weere) ‘where’, deer (deere) ‘where’.

The last two examples also illustrate the phenomenon of complementiser agreement. Complementiser agreement is found in West Frisian in the 2SG and in the plural, i.e. in those cases in which the verbal agreement is in schwa. It is unclear why this type of complementiser agreement is optional. It has been suggested that the phonological realization of complementiser agreement is sensitive to the rhythmic properties of the following constituent (Goeman 1979, Hoekstra & Smits 1996): its realization is promoted by a following unstressed pronoun, whereas it is discouraged by a non-pronominal NP beginning with a stressed syllable.

4.9. A phonotactic remark on prepositions

The prepositions in West Frisian are more similar to those of Frisian (or rather the northern provinces) than to those of Dutch. The similarities are lexical and semantic, but we will not reproduce them here (see Pannekeet (1995:323-346). A phonotactic fact is that the determiner de often loses its consonant in combination with a preposition, just as in Frisian: inne (in de) ‘in the’, oppe (op de) ‘on the’, and so on. In Dutch, the consonant is not deleted; rather, if voiced, it triggers voicing of the preceding voiceless consonant of the preposition (if any). Thus: op de /obd∂/.

5. Lexicon

5.1. Sources

There is no extensive dictionary of any dialect or dialects in Noord-Holland. The following dictionaries rather have the character of word lists that are not very rich in examples of phrases and idioms:

West Frisian: Karsten (1931), Pannekeet (1984)

Zaanstreek: Boekenoogen (1897), Woudt (1984)

Egmond aan Zee: Eeltink (1993)

Enkhuizen: Spoelstra (1981)

5.2. Word geographical distribution

The issue of a Frisian substrate played an important part in word-geographical research. Heeroma (1935) made a case against such a Frisian substrate, arguing that Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland formed an old unified linguistic area. Karsten (1931), on the other hand, notes that West-Friesland and central Frisia frequently form one area with respect to word-geography (see also J. de Vries 1909, Nawijn 1928, Weijnen 1984 and the sources mentioned above). Some similarities between central Frisia and West-Friesland are given below (cf. Karsten 1931: 196-201):

West-Frisian hennemelker hoinstere hompe hondebaai op honk sitte

Frisian hinnemelker heisterje hompe hûnebei te honk wêze

English chicken farmer be very busy or excited walk irregularly berry of eldertree, rowantree or hawthorn be at home

It should be kept in mind that occurrence of a word in the WNT (Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, ‘Dictionary of the Dutch Language’) does not imply that that word is exclusively Dutch, and not Frisian. Words involving Frisian substrate may have entered the WNT through the dialects of Groningen and Noord-Holland.

For more information on word-geography and the dialects of Noord-Holland, see the Taalatlas van Noord- en Zuid-Nederland (TNZN, ‘Linguistic Atlas of the Northern and Southern Low Countries’) and Daan (1956).

6. Sociolinguistics

6.1. Sociological position of the dialect

The Amsterdam dialect, like most city dialects, is strongly associated with low class. This leads to the usual continuum. Many speakers from Amsterdam can vary the register in which they talk, or, put differently, their position on the linguistic continuum between Standard Dutch and the Amsterdam city dialect. The city dialect is slowly acquiring some prestige through use on local radio and television.

The dialects of the Zaanstreek and of Waterland are generally claimed to have disappeared by now. Nevertheless, traces of the original dialect can still be found in the spoken language, for example, in the form of deviant orders in the verbal cluster.

The distinctness of the West Frisian dialect as compared to other dialects of Noord-Holland perhaps corresponds to the relative intensity of regional activities in this area (see Broersen 1996 for an overview). The rural dialects are dissolving and a regional form of Dutch, in this case western Dutch, is taking its place. However, the dialect survives in a modern form. Older plays are no longer rehearsed because the dialect used there is outdated. But on the other hand, the CD's ‘West-Friesland Plat’ (‘plat’ is ‘dialect’) sell very well, according to the record shops. Thus it is often claimed that dialects are dying because an old-fashioned type of dialect is going out of use. Similarly, older people are often complaining that correct Dutch is no longer spoken by the younger generation. Again, the same mistake is made: not the language or dialect itself, but an older form, is going out of use. This explains how it is possible that people have been claiming for two centuries now that the dialects are dying out.

Beach Dutch borders on the dialects of the sandy region of Kennemerland. In Kennemerland, most distinctive features have been lost. This is not surprising as it has been a recreation and settlement area for richer (retired) citizens for several centuries. In the polders there has been levelling through immigration.

6.2. Dialect literature

In the thirties of the 20th century, West Frisian came to be used incidentally on the stage. This entailed that it became a written language for restricted purposes. Popular books about the dialect came to be written, not only scientific publications. At first, such popular books claimed that their purpose was to teach correct Dutch to West Frisians, hence the two had to be separated (an example is Langedijk 1971). This served as a politically correct excuse for the consumption of West Frisian idiom. Later on it is claimed such books are written to preserve what is lost. But finally an honest justification arises, specifically with songwriters: they say they just like to use it. The ‘Stichting Creatief Westfries’ (the society for creative writing in West Frisian) promotes the use of West Frisian as a written language for lecture and literature. Writers include: F. Butter, N. van Laren-Zwuup, J. Ham-Dekker, T. Koomen, and J. Pannekeet. Our description of the activities in West Frisian dialect literature also applies to the other dialect areas of Noord-Holland, although there activities tend to be less intense.

There is an active group of people making music of writing in the West Frisian dialect, as inventarised by Broersen (1996)

7. Example of a dialect

7.1. Text and comments

The following West Frisian text is from Leopold & Leopold (1882, vol. 1, 208).

Och je kenne¹ alles zoo zonder spreken² niet zegge³. Weet je, weerom Piet de Boer en Jan Theunissen en Willem Groot en Gert van Rain gien moidje op sleeptouw meenomen hewwe? Ienvoudig omdat er niks van er⁴ gading meer is te vinden. Ze hewwe de veugel over 't touw hippe⁵ leeten.⁶ Ik zel je zegge⁷, wat 't geval is. Zien je deer⁸ in de verte die duvelse gnappe moaid heelkendal alliendig⁹ over de baan zwieren?¹⁰

¹. The original second person plural (used as a polite form also for singular) came to be used for the second person singular in Middle Dutch and in this dialect. But the dialect had a second person plural in -e, whereas Middle Dutch, like the southern dialects from which it derives, had a second person plural in -t. Hence Modern Dutch features ‘je kunt’ instead of ‘je kenne’. The second person plural in Modern Dutch, however, ends in -e, showing the effect of northern spoken language on an originally southern written language.

². A nominalized verb requires the ending -en.

³. The infinitive in –e is selected by modal auxiliaries like kenne.

⁴. Er for Dutch ‘hun’, compare Frisian har, also in R-form.

⁵. The infinitive in -e is selected by the causative verb leeten.

⁶. The infinitive-pro-participle effect of Standard Dutch is absent. Hence we encounter a perfect participle instead of an infinitival causative. The word order is inverted when compared to SD, with the main verb preceding the causative verb.

⁷. The infinitive in -e is selected by modal auxiliaries like zelle.

⁸. Dutch -aa- was raised to –ee- , as in Frisian (dêr) and English (there).

⁹. More use of adjectival forms in -ig, compare Dutch alleen, Frisian allinnich.

¹⁰. The infinitive in -en is selected by verbs of perception like zien.

7.2. Narrow translation in Standard Dutch

Och, je kunt alles zo zonder spreken niet zeggen. Weet je waarom Piet de Boer en Jan Theunissen en Willem Groot en Gert van Rain geen meisje op sleeptouw meegenomen hebben? Eenvoudig omdat er niks van hun gading meer is te vinden. Ze hebben de vogel over het touw laten hippen. Ik zal je zeggen wat het geval is. Zie je daar in de verte die duivels knappe meid helemaal alleen over de baan zwieren?

7.3. Translation in English

O you can't say everything without speaking. Do you know why Piet de Boer and Jan Theunissen and Willem Groot and Gert van Rain haven't taken any girl in tow? Simply because there is nothing to their taste anymore. They have let the bird jump over the rope. I will tell you what is the matter. Do you see there in the distance that devilishly pretty girl swirl over the ice all by herself?

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY

8.1. Series of Dutch Dialect Atlases (RND)

The province is covered in vol. 13 ‘Dialektatlas van Noord-Holland’. This volume contains transcriptions of 70 dialects in the province of Noord-Holland.

8.2. Books & Articles

Bakker, G. (1992) Fries en Westfries. Een stand van zaken op het gebied van de taal-historie, het Ingweoons, de toponymie, het lexicon en de spraakkunst. Scriptie, Neerlandistiek (Dr. M. Philippa), U. of Amsterdam.

Berg, B. van den (1959) ‘Het dialect van Zandvoort en zijn plaats in de Hollandse dialecten’. Bijdragen en Mededelingen der Dialektencommissie van de Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 21.

Boekenoogen, G. (1897) De Zaansche Volkstaal. Bijdrage tot de kennis van den Woordenschat in Noord-Holland. A.W. Sijthoff, Leiden.

Broersen, S. (1996) ‘Koe dood, hooi op? Een eerste verkenning van de literaire en muzikale cultuur in het Westfriese dialect’. Research report, PJMI, Amsterdam.

Brok, H. (1995) ‘De middelpuntvliedende kracht van de Randstad’. In R. Belemans en H. van de Wijngaard. Het Dialectenboek 3. Dialect in Beweging. Stichting Nederlandse Dialecten, Groesbeek, 139-153.

Daan, J. (1950) Wieringer Land en Leven in de Taal. Diss, U. of Amsterdam.

Daan, J. (1955) ‘De Amsterdamse olievlek’. Taal & Tongval 7, 120-129.

Daan, J. (1956) ‘Noordhollandse dialecten’. Taal & Tongval 8, 113-121.

Eeltink, J. (1993) Wat zegge we .... Dialect - Kusthollands Egmond aan Zee. Belleman, Egmond.

Ginneken, J. van (1954) Drie Waterlandse Dialecten. Deel 1: Grammatica, Phonologie, Klankleer (bezorgd door A. Weijnen). Deel 2: De Structuur van de Woordenschat. N. Samson, Alphen aan den Rijn.

Heeroma, K. (1935) Hollandse Dialektstudies. J.B. Wolters, Groningen.

Hoekstra, E. (1993) Over de implicaties van enkele morfo-syntactische eigenaardigheden in West-Friese dialecten. Taal & Tongval 45, 135-154. (1993)

Hoekstra, E. (1994a) ‘Oer de oerienkomsten tusken de dialekten fan Noard-Hollân en it Frysk’. In Ph. Breuker, S. Dyk, D. Gorter, L. Jansma and W. Visser (eds) Philologia Frisica anno 1993. Fryske Akademy, Ljouwert, 81-103.

Hoekstra, E. (1994b) ‘Positie- en Bewegingsaspect bij Selectie van de Infinitief op -E of -EN in het Westfries en het Fries’. Taal & Tongval 46, 66-73.

Hoekstra, E. (1994c) ‘Woordvolgorde en het Infinitivus-pro-Participio Effect in het Zaans’. Taal & Tongval 46, 132-141.

Hoekstra, E. (1994d) ‘Overtollige voegwoorden en de volgorde of + interrogativum/relativum’. De Nieuwe Taalgids 87, 314-321,

Hoekstra, E. en W. Taanman (1996) ‘Een West-Friese gradatie van het Infinitivus-pro-Participio Effect’. Nederlandse Taalkunde 1, 39-51.

Hoekstra, E. (1998) Oer de oerienkomst tusken de dialekten fan Grinslânsk en it Frysk. In Ph. Breuker, S. Dyk, L. Jansma, W. Visser & J. Ytsma (redaksje) Philologia Frisica anno 1996. Fryske Akademy, Ljouwert, 117-137.

Karsten, G. (1931) Het Dialect van Drechterland. J. Musses, Purmerend.