From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dunglish on a door in Port Zélande. Note that all three languages
have errors, "Paarden Uitdeelplaats" for example should have been
"Paardenuitdeelplaats" and is in fact an example of the influence
of English on Dutch.
Dunglish is a portmanteau of Dutch and
English, a name for Dutch English. The
word is often used pejoratively to refer to the mistakes native Dutch speakers
make when speaking English. They are closely related Germanic
languages. English instruction in the Netherlands begins in
elementary school, and Dutch-speaking Belgians are usually taught
English from the age of twelve. In addition, like all
foreign-language movies, English-spoken movies are subtitled
instead of dubbed in the Netherlands and
in Flanders, the
Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.
The Dutch word for the poorest form of Dunglish is
Steenkolenengels ("Coal English"). This term goes
back to the early twentieth century when Dutch port workers used a
rudimentary form of English to communicate with the personnel of
English coal ships.
Errors occur mainly in pronunciation, word order and the meaning of words. Former
Dutch ambassador and prime minister Dries van Agt supposedly once said "I can
stand my little man" (ik kan mijn mannetje staan, a Dutch
idiom meaning roughly "I can stand up for myself"). Another example
of inappropriate English was uttered by the former leader of the
Dutch liberal party, Frits Bolkestein. When talking about economic
prospects he repeatedly referred to them as "golden showers", apparently unaware of the
term's sexual connotation.
Two American counterparts to
Dunglish were once common: Jersey Dutch, a pidgin Dutch spoken in
parts of northeastern New
Jersey, which was part of the province of New
Netherland in the 17th century. In the Midwest, a separate
pidgin Dutch was used by immigrants who came from the Netherlands in the 19th century,
primarily in Western Michigan where the largest group of Dutch
immigrants in the U.S. lived.
Jersey Dutch apparently had quite a long life despite the Dutch
disappearing as colonizers early on, and was reputed to have lasted
into the 20th century. Yankee Dutch persists to this day, with a
few speakers still living, although the likelihood of the pidgin
surviving much past the next five to ten years is unlikely. The
persistence of both pidgins was attributed to the use of Dutch in
church services. It was the anti-German sentiment of World War I that was
probably the biggest force in the demise of both pidgins, as the
language was mistaken for German by those from outside the
communities where the pidgins were spoken.
Common
errors
Incorrect meaning of
words
Errors often occur because of the false friend or false cognate
possibility: words are incorrectly translated for understandable
reasons. Examples are:
- Former prime-minister Joop den Uyl once remarked that "the
Dutch are a nation of undertakers". The Dutch verb
ondernemen is literally the English undertake (as
onder is under and nemen is
take). The noun ondernemer is thus literally
undertaker, however the idiomatic English usage is instead
the French loanword entrepreneur. (Dutch uses the more
specific begrafenisondernemer for a funeral
director.)
- The Dutch verb solliciteren means to apply for a job,
which can lead to an embarrassing situation if someone claims that
they have come to solicit.
- The word eventueel in Dutch means possibly
(like eventuel in French) and not eventually,
which is uiteindelijk in Dutch. This mistake caused a row
between the Scottish and Belgian football associations when the
Belgian football association invited delegates from various
associations over for the "eventual qualification of the Belgian
national football team" before the play-offs against Scotland
started. While the Scottish federation accused the Belgians of
sheer arrogance, the Belgian association had actually meant to hold
the drink after a "possible qualification".
Word
order
Some Dutch speakers may use Dutch syntax inappropriately when
using English, creating errors such as What mean you?
instead of What do you mean?
This is because English and Dutch do not follow exactly the same
word order. English has a SVO word order, but Dutch has this
word order only partially having a V2 word order. Used with modal
auxiliaries, Dutch perfect
participles are placed at the end of a phrase. In subordinate
clauses, the modal auxiliary follows the perfect participle.
English employs periphrastic constructions involving the
verb to do for forming questions, a rare feature
crosslinguistically. Dutch does not use this construction, but
instead utilizes a VSO word order, inverting the
subject and verb.
Verb
conjugation
English and Dutch are both West Germanic, with
many cognate verbs with
identical or nearly identical meanings. This similarity between
verbs may cause speakers of Dutch to conjugate English verbs
according to Dutch
grammar.
- We kisse(n) her. (Dutch kussen means and is
cognate with English to kiss. In Dutch grammar, verbs with
plural subjects take a form identical to the infinitive, which in
most cases has an en suffix.)
- What do you now? for What are you doing? (In
Dutch, Wat doe je nu?)
- How goes it now? for How are you doing now?
(The phrase is used particularly after someone has had a bad spell.
A similarly constructed phrase is found in Shakespeare, carrying a
slightly different meaning, which underlines the even closer
similarities between English and Dutch historically.)
Errors
in pronunciation
- Words like third and the are commonly
mispronounced by Dutch speakers as turd and
duh.
- Many Dutch speakers from the Netherlands have trouble
distinguishing between bat, bad, bet and
bed.
- Some pronounce the word idea (in Dutch: idee)
without the ending sound, making "Do you have an idea?" and "Do you
have an ID?" sound the same.
- A professor, specialized in agricultural history, stressed the
importance of "weed" production in 20th century Holland on an
international symposium - although his slides indicated that he was
referring to "wheat".
Overtranslation
Certain Dutch users have a tendency to overtranslate Dutch terms
causing a literal, sometimes incomprehensible, translation of the
Dutch term into English. For example the English and Dutch know the
famous Amsterdam church as the Westerkerk. The term "Western Church"
used to help English tourists locate this tourist attraction can
cause more confusion than necessary. (However, English users have
readily adopted "Dam
Square" instead of "Dam", the original form of this Amsterdam
open space.)
For the Dutch, the preponderance of the American English variety
over the British English variety can cause other overtranslation
issues. Whereas the Dutch and British both use the same word
lift, the Dutch, to a British user will helpfully suggest
using the elevator. A flat means the same thing in British
English and Dutch but most Dutch will suggest 'apartment' as the
English form.
Other
examples
- "Welcome in Amsterdam"
- Should be: "Welcome to Amsterdam" (in Dutch: "Welkom in
Amsterdam")
- "That can"
- Instead of: "that's possible", "sure" or "of course" (in Dutch:
"Dat kan")
- "Thank you for your reaction"
- Instead of: "Thank you for your reply" (in Dutch: "Bedankt voor
uw reactie")
- "I hate you all very welcome"
- Instead of: "I welcome you all" (in Dutch: "Ik heet u allen
zeer welkom")
- "She told me that you are a good kok"
- Should be: "She told me that you are a good cook" (in Dutch:
"Zij vertelde me dat je een goede kok bent")
- "They hardly worked...."
- Should be: "They have been working hard" (in Dutch: "Ze hebben
hard gewerkt")
- "Gas out of our bottom"
- Should be: "Gas from our soil/ground" (in Dutch: "Gas uit onze
bodem")
- "I learn you..."
- Should be "I will teach you..." (in Dutch: "Ik leer
je...")
- "I fuck horses"
- Should be "I breed horses" (in Dutch: "Ik fok paarden")
- "I first have to look the cat out of the tree."
- Should be "I have to wait and see which way the cat jumps" (in
Dutch: "Ik moet eerst de kat uit de boom kijken")
- Arthur Numan to the British press after his transfer from PSV
to Glasgow Rangers. (Supposedly)
- "How late is it?"
- Should be "What time is it?" (in Dutch: "Hoe laat is
het?").
- "What is there on the hand?"
- Should be "What is going on?" (in Dutch: "Wat is er aan de
hand?").
- "Go your gang."
- Should be "Do your thing" (in Dutch: "Ga je gang").
- "I am a bit in the war."
- Should be "I am a little bit confused" (in Dutch: "Ik ben een
beetje in de war").
- "I passed the brook."
- Should be "I tried on the trousers" (in Dutch: "Ik paste de
broek").
- "Put your mobiles out."
- Should be "Turn off your mobile phones" (in Dutch: "Zet je
mobieltjes uit").
- "I always make craft of the unit circle."
- Should be "I always use the unit circle." (in Dutch: "Ik maak
altijd gebruik van de eenheidscirkel").
- "When I'm walking over this line..."
- Should be "When I'm following this line..." (with finger) (in
Dutch: "Wanneer ik over deze lijn loop").
- "I'm sitting on this line."
- Should be "I am on this line [when pointing at a line]" (in
Dutch: "Ik zit op deze lijn").
- "I want you out of it."
- (when sending someone out of the classroom) (in Dutch: "Ik wil
je uit het klaslokaal.").
- "Are you shore of this?"
- Should be spelled "Are you sure of this?" (confusion because of
the pronunciation) (in Dutch: "Ben je hier zeker van?")
- "Are you taking me in the mailing?"
- Should be: "Are you kidding me?" (in Dutch: "Neem je mij in de
maling?")
- "Let but sit"
- Should be: "Never mind" (in Dutch: "Laat maar zitten")
- "I always get my sin"
- Should be: I always get what I want (in Dutch: "Ik krijg altijd
mijn zin")
- "This time I see it through my fingers"
- Should be: "This time I will turn a blind eye" (in Dutch "Dit
keer zal het door de vingers zien")
Jocular
reverse use
One can also observe the opposite of Dunglish: the pseudo-stupid
literal borrowing of English terms in Dutch. Usually, the speaker
doing this will be well aware of his error and wanting to achieve a
comical effect, somewhat like a pun.
The most famous example of this may be:
- "Worst-Kaas scenario"
- Refers to "worst case scenario" (literally: "sausage-cheese
scenario"). This expression uses the Dutch words that most closely
resemble their English counterparts. Amusingly, they are snacks,
often served together alongside drinks (at a "borrel"), so that the
term worst-kaas scenario may well be used to describe a situation
in which snacks are or will have to be served. E.g. "If we continue
to drink beers at this rate, this may well develop into a
worst-kaas scenario..." - at which the addressed person should
normally respond by ordering snacks without further ado.
Worst
Teacher Award
There is an ongoing debate in many Dutch universities on
whether, given the increasing number of foreign exchange students,
classes should be taught in English rather than Dutch. A common
counterargument is that a significant number of professors are not
fluent enough to teach classes in English at a university level. In
this light, the Student Union (VSSD) of Delft University of
Technology has established the "Worst Teacher Award", given
yearly to the most heinous mistake in English made by a professor.
Since 'worst' is the Dutch word for 'sausage', the prize awarded is
a large sausage. Some examples:
- Don't let them eat the cheese off your bread. (Jacques
Berenbak)
- Dutch: Laat je de kaas niet van het brood eten.
- Meaning: Don't lose your competitive edge.
- You have to screw up the number.
- Dutch: Je moet de waarde opschroeven.
- Meaning: You have to increase the number.
- This college goes over ramps.
- Dutch: Dit college gaat over rampen.
- Meaning: This lecture is about disasters.
- I tried to lead you around the garden.
- Dutch: Ik probeerde je om de tuin te leiden.
- Meaning: I tried to deceive you.
- I have an equation picked from the sky
- Dutch: Ik heb een vergelijking uit de lucht gegrepen.
- Meaning: I took a random equation.
- You have to meet this with your lat
- Dutch: Je moet dit meten met je lat.
- Meaning : You have to measure this with your ruler.
- Be very aware if you look to this graph
- Dutch: Let goed op als je naar deze grafiek kijkt
- Meaning: Pay attention when looking at this graph
See also
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