Dutch Alphabet Guide: Learn Every Letter - Busuu (2024)

FAQs

Is v pronounced as f in Dutch? ›

J in Dutch is pronounced with an English y sound, as in year. V in Dutch sometimes makes an f sound, depending on the placement and regional dialect. W in Dutch w is a cross between an English w and v sound.

In Dutch, when pronouncing a “z”, the position of the mouth and the tongue are exactly the same as when pronouncing a “s”. The only difference is that vocal cords should vibrate while pronouncing a “z”.

That practice has long been deprecated, but the standard Dutch pronunciation of the letter Y is still ij when the alphabet is read.

Contemporary German has gone back to the unvoiced pronunciation, but idiosyncratically sometimes retained the medieval spelling. As a general (and defective) rule, it can thus be said that ⟨v⟩ is pronounced /f/ in originally German words and /v/ in words of foreign origin.

The Dutch word for water is water. But in Dutch you say: [Waater]. It is not [wa:ter] like in the pronunciation of the word “last” or “past”.

The “f” is actually just like in English. The “w” is different from the “v” and “f” because the latter ones are so called labiodental consonants. That means the lower lip contacts the upper teeth, and you press air through. Just try it.

Dutch. In Dutch, ë appears in the plural form of most words that end in -ie or -ee, like kolonie -> koloniën, zee -> zeeën, and knie -> knieën (Dutch-language rules stipulate an extra e before the ë in plurals if the accent falls on the syllable containing the ë).

The ij is made in the front of your. mouth. Start with your mouth stretched wide, and end. in a silent y (as in year).

“Dag” is a shortened version of the time-exclusive sayings listed above, and literally translates to “day”. This can be used in all the same ways as “hallo” and although it is a less formal variation of its time-sensitive counterparts, it's also not so informal that it can't be used in most situations.

Meteorologisch (meteorological) is the most difficult Dutch word to pronounce, according to Dutch language experts.

What do the Dutch call Dutch? ›

English is the only language that calls the language spoken in the Netherlands “Dutch.” The Dutch themselves called their language Nederlands, and most other languages have some variation on that theme. English has thrown around the word Dutch and its various spellings for hundreds of years.

Keeping things simple, Dutch only uses two accent marks, and both of them are not very common. It uses the acute accent (Á, É and so on) to mark stress, and it uses the diaeresis (Ö, Ü and so on) to show when two vowels need to be pronounced separately.

One of the defining phonological features of Dutch, is the general absence of the I-mutation or secondary umlaut when dealing with long vowels. Unlike English and German, Dutch does not palatalize the long vowels, which are notably absent from the language.

/f/ and /v/ share manner and place of articulation and differ in voicing (/f/ is voiceless and /v/ is voiced). So, the only difference between them is that, when we produce a /v/, the vocal folds vibrate, while in the case of /f/ they don't.

Listen: “v”, “w” (2x als sound). The “f” is actually just like in English. The “w” is different from the “v” and “f” because the latter ones are so called labiodental consonants. That means the lower lip contacts the upper teeth, and you press air through.