Dutch/Lesson 7

les 7 Samenstellingen en Verkleinwoorden ~ Compounds and Diminutives I want an ice cream Grammar: Compounding Grammar: Diminutives Gesprek 7 ~ het grote ijsje noicon|40px Moeder is met haar zoontje boodschappen shopping aan het doen. boy: Ma, krijg ik do I get een ijsje ice cream? woman: Ach vooruit dan maar all right then, je bent braaf good geweest been. Wil je een vanille-ijsje? boy: Nee, ik wil een bananenframbozen raspberrymokka-ijsje met vanilleslagroom whipped cream. woman: Een kleintje small one? boy: Nee, een grote! h ijsje ice cream h ijs ice vooruit ahead braaf good, obedient d vanille vanilla d mokka mocha d slagroom whipped cream d boodschap message, errand thumb|120px|right|het grote ijsje noicon|20px gesprek 7 Mother is doing some shopping with her little son. Mam, do I get an ice cream? Oh, all right, you've been good. You want a vanilla one? No, I want banana raspberry mocha ice cream with vanilla whipped cream! A small one? No, a big one. This conversation demonstrates the two most productive mechanisms that Dutch has to form novel words: compounding and the formation of diminutives. Grammatica 7.1 Compounds Base rule of compounding Dutchlike German, Norwegian and Danish is often mocked for its tendency of creating long compound words such as randjongerenhangplekkenbeleidsambtenarensalarisbesprekingsafspraken The agreements from the negotiations concerning the salary of public officials who decide on the policy regarding areas where unemployed youth are allowed to hang out. Actually compounds are seldom so excessive and overly long compounds like this one are typically avoided. Nevertheless, it is certainly true that compounding is one of the most important ways that Dutch forms new words for new concepts. Besprekingsafspraken e.g. would certainly be an acceptable compound word; it would mean the agreements -afspraken made during the meeting - bespreking. Compounding of words happens in English as well. However in English, compounds are typically written as separate words, so English speakers are often not aware that a word like "apple juice" is a compound, much like its Dutch counterpart "appelsap". Notice that when you pronounce "apple juice" you pronounce the word "juice" with much less emphasis than you pronounce "apple" with. This is what signals word compounding in English and Dutch alike. Apart from the orthography the two languages are actually quite similar on this point. Vocabularyde appelsapfile:nl-appelsap.oggapple juicede postbusfile:nl-postbus.oggmail boxhet besturingssysteemfile:nl-besturingssysteem.oggoperating systemhet molecuulfile:nl-molecuul.oggmoleculehet DNAfile:nl-DNA.oggDNAde deurbelfile:nl-deurbel.oggdoor bell In fact sometimes compounds are spelled as a single word even in English. For example, the word "database" is a compilation of the words "data" and "base". For some words, such as "mailbox", a double spelling can be used: "mail box" is also acceptable in English. And English spelling is not particularly predictable on this point. In Dutch, the rule for spelling compounds is simple: if two nouns form a compound, write them together. Always. Examples: apple juice → appelsap, incorrect: *appel sap mail box → postbus, incorrect: *post bus This rule even applies to words imported from English into Dutch: sciencefiction businessunit Or: Linux operating system → Linuxbesturingssysteem, incorrect: *Linux besturingssysteem Hyphenation In the latter case a hyphenated spelling Linux-besturingssysteem is actually more usual because Linux is a brand name. Besides, if the word becomes too long and too hard to read at one glance you are allowed to insert a hyphen. But these hyphens are to be used sparingly and never appear in simple two word compounds like deurbel (door bell). On the other hand, a hyphen is required when one of the elements in a compound is an initialism: DNA molecule → DNA-molecuul, incorrect: *DNA molecuul, *DNAmolecule The hyphen can also be required if one word ends in a vowel and the other begins with one and the combination of the two vowels could be misinterpreted, e.g. as a diphthong or a different vowel. E.g. 'euro enthusiasm' is euro–enthousiasme, not euroenthousiasme, because oe codes for the sound [u]. The TaalunieThe Taalunie is a joint institution of the governments of Suriname, Flanders and the Netherlands that a.o. regulates the official orthography of Dutch calls this phenomenon klinkerbotsing ("vowel collision")See this table to see which vowel are considered to collide Klinkerbotsing is why bananenframbozenmokka-ijsje and vanille-ijsje must have a hyphen between the last letter of mokka and the final -e of vanille on the one hand and the first i of ijsje on the other, because the 'ai' or 'ei' combination would otherwise 'collide'. By contrast the word bananenmokkaframbozenijsje can be written without hyphens as there are no vowel collisions in it. Please do not expect all Dutch speakers to always do that right. Because English is widely known amongst Dutch speakers there is a strong tendency to follow English spelling and write "bananen frambozen mokka ijsje" There is even a term for it: de Engelse ziekte "the English disease" Linking -s-, -e-, -en- Vocabularyde koningfile:nl-koning.oggkingde mantelfile:nl-mantel.oggmantlede pannenkoekfile:nl-pannenkoek.oggpancakede bendefile:nl-bende.oggganghet bendelidfile:nl-bendelid.ogggang memberde ondergrensfile:nl-ondergrens.ogglower limitde bovengrensfile:nl-bovengrens.oggupper limit Recall: besturingssysteem and besprekingsafspraken. Where does the extra -s- come from? When Dutch still possessed a case system two part compounds were typically made by putting the first noun in the genitive case, e.g.: de koning -> genitive des konings (of the king) de mantel van de koning -> des konings mantel (the king's mantle) -> de koningsmantel English used to have something similar, which explains word like 'kinsman, kingsman' etc. However, not all genitives were formed with -s in Dutch, some words required -e, other words -en and which word required which in the old system is about as clear as mud for a modern Dutch speaker. Besides, the old system got corrupted beyond recognition, e.g. bespreking never had a genitive is -s at all. Until 1995 the orthography of the compounds was still the traditional one that had evolved from the case system but was otherwise rather haphazard. This led to a plethora of spelling errors. In 1995 the Taalunie abandoned the historic link and formulated simplified rules for when to use -e- and when to use -en-. The basic rule is: When the word only has a plural with an ending -en, use -en-; otherwise use -e-. For the -s- linker there was no need to formulate a rule, but let's make it specific here: When the word is pronounced with an -s-, write an -s-. So, because pan only has a plural pannen, we now write pannenkoek (It used to be pannekoek, because pan was a feminine word with a genitive in -e.) And because bende gang has both benden and bendes as plural, we write bendelid gang member. (This also used to be a feminine word, its genitive was the same as the nominative: bende.) Because we actually pronounce an -s- between bespreking and afspraken we write besprekingsafspraken. Of course for mother tongue speakers it is usually pretty clear what plurals a certain word has and how it is pronounced. For non-native learners that is not the case. It is one of the many things they must acquire pretty much word by word. If it is any consolation: Dutch speakers will only sympathize if a non-native speaker makes an error linking compounds, because they often still do as well. Take besturingssysteem. Yes an -s- is pronounced, but systeem starts with an s! In this case the extra -s- is added by analogy: in e.g. besturingsmechanisme an -s- is pronounced that does not come from either noun in the compound. This -s- is then adopted for besturingssysteem as well. Yes, mistakes are made with such things by native speakers. Omission of repeated parts If you use two compound words in the same phrase that have an element in common, you can replace it by a dash: "ondergrens en bovengrens" (lower boundary and upper boundary) can be replaced by "onder- en bovengrens". (lower and upper boundary) You can omit repeated parts of compounds in English as well: "standard temperature and standard pressure" is often replaced by "standard temperature and pressure". But note that by omitting the second occurrence of "standard", the text becomes ambiguous; it can no longer be seen from the text itself whether "standard" applies to just to the temperature, or to the pressure as well. The exact meaning will have to be gathered from the context. In Dutch orthography however, by means of the dash, the difference is made clear: "Standaardtemperatuur en -druk" means standard temperature and standard pressure "Standaardtemperatuur en druk" means standard temperature, and pressure But then in thermodynamics only pressure is standardized, of course, not temperature. Grammatica 7.2 Diminutives thumb|right|200px|de vaas noicon|20pxthumb|300px|Een gerbera in een vaasje noicon|20px Recall: een ijsje, een kleintje. These are diminutive forms. Apart from a plural the Dutch noun generally also has a diminutive. It is formed by adding -je to the noun and is always neuter in gender: de vaas - het vaasje Diminutives have a plural in -s: het vaasje - de vaasjes. Compounding and the formation of diminutives are the two most productive ways of forming new words in Dutch. More so than in most other languages diminutives are used for a whole variety of purposes in Dutch. It is not possible to learn Dutch without a decent command of both compounds and diminutives. Usage Het vaasje literally means the little vase, but the usage of diminutives in Dutch is quite pervasive. Often the diminutive is as frequently or even more frequently used than the noun itself and in some cases leaving out the diminutive leads to confusion. A handsize vase, say for a single flower, will generally be called vaasje. The word 'vaas' is more reserved for something that needs to be carried with both hands. If you ask for a vaas people will give you something too big to put your single flower in, because that is not a vaas, but a vaasje and you used the wrong word. In other words in some cases using the diminutive is mandatory In some cases the diminutive has also acquired a life of its own (become 'lexicalized'). Compare: het ijs - the ice, ice cream as substance het ijsje - the ice cream (cone, cup, whatever) de meid - the maid het meisje - the girl de kaart - the (geographic, road) map, the postcard het kaartje - the ticket, the business card het krijt - the substance chalk het Krijt - the Cretaceous period het krijtje - the piece of chalk to write on the board with Vocabularyhet ijsfile:nl-ijs.oggicehet ijsjefile:nl-ijsje.oggice creamde meidfile:nl-meid.oggmaid, young womanhet meisjefile:nl-meisje.ogggirlde kaartfile:nl-kaart.oggmap, cardhet kaartjefile:nl-kaartje.oggticker, business cardhet tussendoortjefile:nl-tussendoortje.oggsnackzachtfile:nl-zacht.oggsoftzachtjesfile:nl-zachtjes.oggsoftly, gentlyhet krijtfile:nl-krijt.oggthe substance chalkhet Krijtfile:nl-krijt.oggthe Cretaceous periodhet krijtjefile:nl-krijtje.oggeen piece of chalk to write with The connotation of being 'small' has largely been lost in a case like ijsje. This implies that a big cone of ice cream becomes: een groot ijsje (lit. a big little ice). Interestingly, there used to be a word ijsco for ice cream, but it has been supplanted entirely by its diminutive cousin. The word does live on in the compound ijscoman: vendor of ice cream, usually in a car or a road stand. The word krijt means chalk as a substance is uncountable and has no plural, but krijtje means piece of chalk and does have a plural krijtjes. Similarly the uncountable word gebak (pastry) gave rise to the countable word gebakje: a piece of pastry. thumb|200px|gebakthumb|200px|gebakjes In the case of meisje, the original word meid can be rather derogatory: Die meid hoort in het gevang! lit. That 'broad' belongs in jail! It can also be a somewhat colloquial term of endearment: Wat 'n leuke meid! -- What a cutie! Grote meid! -- Atta-girl! Lexicalized diminutives are even formed from other parts of speech than nouns. tussendoor - in between een tussendoortje - a snack There are quite a few such zelfstandige verkleinwoorden that do not occur in the non-diminutive form or have gained a whole new meaning that the non-diminunitve does not possess. See for reference this WikiWoordenboek category. Adverbs can be formed from adjective by adding an extra -s: zacht - soft zachtjes - softly Even the names of persons are at times turned into the diminutive, usually as a term of endearment: Marietje, je bent een schat Mary dear, you are a darling As we saw in the conversation substantivated adjectives like een kleine (a little one) can also be used as diminutives: een kleintje. In fact. it this case een kleine would even sound odd in Dutch ears. Even cardinal numbers are not safe: We gaan met z'n tweetjes We'll go the two of us Meaning A variety of qualities can be expressed by a diminutive: small size countable unit of an uncountable substance modesty of the speaker of little or modest importance informality, not official 'gezelligheid' ~ being fun, sociable, non-threatening affection condescension (if attached to the wrong words) The latter means some words are better left alone, e.g.: de moord - the murder -> moordje de begrafenis - the funeral ->begrafenisje Putting these in the diminutive is downright disrespectful and morbid. If would indicate that the speaker is involved with such things for fun on a daily basis and thinks little of it. In other words, diminutives in Dutch express a whole lot more than just small size. They are a major mechanism of producing derived terms. Formation The formation of the diminutive sometimes requires the addition of -tje or -pje, the latter after m: het eten - the food het etentje - taking someone out for dinner, a dinner party de bloem - the flower het bloempje - the little flower In some cases the vowel changes like it does in the plural: het schip - the ship het scheepje - the little ship het pad - the path de paden - the paths het paadje - the little path, the trail but: de schildpad - the turtle de schildpadden - the turtles het schildpadje - the little turtle In other cases an extra syllable is inserted: de kom - the bowl het kommetje de bloem - the flower het bloemetje - the little flower Words ending on -ing can get -kje, but only if the stress of the word is on the previous syllable de kétting - het kéttinkje Otherwise another syllable is inserted: verándering - veránderingetje The latter also goes for words with the suffix -ling: leerling - leerlingetje The suffix -je often causes consonants to be more or less pronounced as palatals. (Paadje as IPA /'pacə/ rather than /'patje/). There is considerable variation between the dialects in the formation of the diminutives. Many dialects pronounce -je as -ie /i:/. In others, the suffix tends to be -ke: meiske, blommeke. Grammatica 7-3. Willen The verb willen means to want, to desire (not: will) and it is irregular wilwiltwillen ik wil jij wilt hij wil wij willen As in English will the third person lacks the -t ending. In the second person it does appear for jij, u and gij alike. As usual is disappears for the jij-form in inversion: Wat voor ijsje wil je? There are two different past tenses: wildewouwildenwouden ik wilde, ik wou wij wilden, wij wouden.Some speakers only find the regular weak past wilde acceptable in the written standard, but certainly in spoken Dutch wou and wouden (sometimes pronounced as wouwen) are quite common. Wou is pretty common in the written language as well, wouden much less so, although the official spelling standard of the Taalunie has no objections to it at all The word wilden also occurs as a noun and means savages; likewise wouden can also mean forests. gewild The perfect participle is gewild Woordenschat 7 Dutch wordaudio fileEnglish translationhet ijs nl-ijs.ogg ijs ice het ijsje nl-ijsje.ogg ijsje ice creambraaf nl-braaf.ogg braaf good, obedientvooruit nl-vooruit.ogg vooruit ahead, come on, to the frontkrijgen - kreeg -gekregen s nl-krijgen.ogg krijgen get, obtainde appelsap nl-appelsap.ogg appelsap apple juicede room nl-room.ogg room cream (milk fat)de slagroom nl-slagroom.ogg slagroom whipped creamde postbus nl-postbus.ogg postbus mail boxhet molecuul nl-molecuul.ogg molecuul moleculede grens nl-grens.ogg grens border, limitde temperatuur nl-temperatuur.ogg temperatuur temperaturede druk nl-druk.ogg druk pressure, print editionde vaas nl-vaas.ogg vaas vasehet meisje nl-meisje.ogg meisje girlde kaart nl-kaart.ogg kaart map, postcardzacht nl-zacht.ogg zacht softzachtjes nl-zachtjes.ogg zachtjes softlyde schat nl-schat.ogg schat treasure, darlingde moord nl-moord.ogg moord murderde begrafenis nl-begrafenis.ogg begrafenis funeralde bloem nl-bloem.ogg bloem flowerhet pad nl-pad.ogg pad pathde pad nl-pad.ogg pad toadde kom nl-kom.ogg kom bowl fruitjes Study the Dutch names for various fruits: Dutch/Vocabulary/Fruit Visit the corresponding pages of WikiWoordenboek by clicking on the linked names to study the diminutives ("verkleinwoorden"). They can be found in the little table on the right of the page. Then translate the following fruits into diminutive form: banana strawberry lemon orange almond blueberry raspberry melon blackberry apple pear walnut date fig banaantje aardbeitje citroentje sinaasappeltje amandeltje bosbesje framboosje meloentje braampje appeltje peertje walnootje dadeltje vijgje Quizlet The vocabulary for this lesson can be practiced at Quizlet (51 terms) Progress made If you studied the above thoroughly you should know about the two most important mechanisms of forming new words: compounding and diminutives Cumulative term count: Cycle1: 579 Lesson 5: 87 Lesson 6: 124 Lesson 7: 51 Total number 841 Appendix