Dutch orthography uses the Latin alphabet according to a system which has evolved to suit the needs of the Dutch language. The regular relationship of graphemes to phonemes is listed in the article on Dutch language. This article will comment on a few interesting aspects. The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world, the standard script of the English language and most of the languages of western and central Europe, and of those areas settled by Europeans. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

Regularity

Dutch orthography has the reputation of being particularly logical. For the foreign learner it is particularly easy as, once one knows the system, one can almost always deduce pronunciation from spelling, if proper names and foreign loan-words are discounted. For Dutch children learning to read, the system is not quite so kind, as the reverse operation, deducing spelling from pronunciation, is more complicated: /k/ can be spelled <c> or <k> for example, and <ou> and <au> sound the same, as well as <ij> and <ei>. Critics might also complain that even when the system is regular it is occasionally antiquated: the digraph <oe> is spelled in this way because it was once a diphthong, but now it is a long vowel; the combination <sch> for /s/ is also historically conditioned. All in all, among the Western European languages however, Dutch is closer than average to a phonemic spelling.

Spelling reform

In order to keep the the system relevant to changing usage, Dutch orthography is modernised at regular intervals. In cross-border co-operation between the Netherlands and Flanders, the "Nederlandse Taalunie" regulates orthography on an official basis. The official system is known as the "De Vries en Te Winkel" spelling. It was established in 1863 in Belgium, implemented in the Netherlands from 1883, and reformed in 1946 (Belgium) and 1947 (Netherlands) and in 1996 (Belgium and Netherlands). For every-day purposes, the authority on orthography is the Woordenlijst Nederlandse taal, known unofficially as het Groene Boekje, "the little green book".

Doubled vowels or consonants

Since Dutch has many more vowels than the latin alphabet, a system has come into use indicating vowels by an intricate system of single and double vowels or consonants. The same letter is used to indicate a pair of vowels that are close to each other in the IPA vowel space. Depending on the particular phonological treatise, the members of each pair are given various names: sharp/dull, clear/dim, free/covered, relaxed/tense, open/closed, long/short. Although vowel length is not phonemic in Dutch, one of each pair is pronounced slightly longer by many speakers. So the naming long/short is probably most helpful for understanding the orthography system and is used here.

For a, e, o, u, the following spelling rule causes learners of Dutch many difficulties, though in fact it is very regular:

• A vowel in an open syllable (one ending with the vowel) is long:
  • "po" ('chamber pot') has a long /o:/
• A vowel in a closed syllable (one ending with a consonant) is short, unless the vowel is doubled to show its length:
  • "pot" ('pot') has a short /ɔ/
  • "poot" ('paw') has a long /o:/

What confuses learners is the fact that in a two-syllable word, the first syllable is open if it is followed by a single consonant, since this consonant belongs to the following syllable. There have to be two consonants for one of them to be closing the first syllable. So:

• "pot" has plural "potten" ('pots'); the syllables divide "pot-ten", so the double "t" indicates the first syllable is closed and has a short vowel.
• "poot" has plural "poten" ('paws'); the syllables divide "po-ten", so the "t" belongs to the second syllable, and as the first syllable is now open, the double "oo" is no longer required to mark vowel length.

Much confusion is caused by the many words that change their vowel in declinations. For example the plural of "lot" is "loten", not "lotten" as would be regular. So in fact:

• "lot" to "loten" keeps the same spelling "o", but changes sound /ɔ/ to /o:/
• "poot" to "poten" changes spelling "oo" to "o", but keeps the same sound /o:/

Similarly "vat" changes vowel to "vaten" and "gebed" to "gebeden".

Rules for "i" are more complicated.

The 't kofschip rule

Weak verbs form their past tenses by addition of a dental, <d> or <t>. Because final consonants are always devoiced, there is no difference in pronunciation between these in the participle. However, the orthography operates as though this devoicing did not take place.

The rule is that words ending in voiceless consonants take the voiceless -t-, voiced consonants the voiced d. Dutch children are taught the rule 't kofschip is met thee beladen, ("the merchant ship is loaded with tea"), that is, if the verb stem in the infinitive ends with the consonants of 't kofschip (-t, -k, -f, -s, -ch or -p), the past tense dental is a -t-; otherwise it is a -d-.

• werken, ik werkte (to work)
• krabben, ik krabde (to scratch)

See also

• Dutch language#Writing system
• English spelling
• orthography
• spelling
• punctuation