Dutch refers to the inhabitants of the Netherlands and their language, and is used as an adjective meaning 'coming from or belonging to the Netherlands'. Dutch is spoken not only in the Netherlands but also by the Flemish community in Belgium (in the Flemish Region and the Brussels-Capital Region), in parts of northern France (around Dunkirk), and in Surinam, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Its southern dialects are sometimes called Flemish. Afrikaans, spoken in South Africa and the southern part of Namibia, is derived from the Dutch language and closely related to it. It is the language of the Dutch 'Boers' (farmers) as they spoke Dutch in the 16th and 17th century when they migrated to South Africa.
The English Dutch, the Dutch dietsch, and the German deutsch are cognate words. They have the same etymological origin, deriving from the Common West Germanic theodisca, which meant '(language) of the (common) people'. During the early Middle Ages, the elite mostly used Latin and the common people used their local languages.
In the 1930s, Nazis sought to "re-unite" the Dutch language area by referring to it as Dietsland.
In the United States, the term Dutch has sometimes been used instead of Deutsch to mean German or to indicate a German origin: Dutch Schultz, the Pennsylvania Dutch, 'the Flying Dutchman' for Honus Wagner, etc.
Read more about this topic: Netherlands (terminology)
Famous quotes containing the word dutch:
“Paradise endangered: garden snakes and mice are appearing in the shadowy corners of Dutch Old Master paintings.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The French courage proceeds from vanity—the German from phlegm—the Turkish from fanaticism & opium—the Spanish from pride—the English from coolness—the Dutch from obstinacy—the Russian from insensibility—but the Italian from anger.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“Too nice is neighbor’s fool.”
—Common Dutch saying, trans by Johanna C. Prins.