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The Dutch Language Union ( Dutch: , NTU) is an international regulatory institution that governs issues regarding the
Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. '' Afrikaan ...
. It is best known for its spelling reforms which are promulgated by member states, grammar books, the
Green Booklet The Word list of the Dutch language ( nl, Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal ) is a spelling dictionary of the Dutch language ( Dutch orthography). It is officially established by the Dutch Language Union (). Because of the colour of its published f ...
and its support of Dutch language courses and studies worldwide. It was founded on a treaty concluded between the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
(in respect of the Flemish Community) on 9 September 1980.
Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
has been an associate member of the ''Taalunie'' since 2004.


History

The Dutch Language Union was established by a treaty between Belgium and the Netherlands, signed on 9 September 1980 in Brussels. It succeeded the "Cultural Agreement" (governing more than just language) between the two countries signed just after the Second World War. This agreement was redone in 1995, after the federalization of Belgium, and a new treaty was signed between the Netherlands and
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
.Willemyns 176. On 12 December 2003, president of the Committee of Ministers of the Dutch Language Union Medy van der Laan and Minister of Education of Suriname
Walter Sandriman Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born ...
signed the agreement to the accession of Suriname to the union. The accession was ratified by the National Assembly of Suriname in 2004 and came into force in 2005. Standard Dutch (''Algemeen Nederlands'', often abbreviated to ''AN'') is the standard language as it is taught in schools and used by authorities in the Netherlands,
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
, Suriname, and the
Dutch Caribbean The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-w ...
. The Dutch Language Union defines what is ''AN'' and what is not. Since efforts to "uplift" people had come to be considered rather presumptuous, the earlier name ''Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands'' ("Common Civilised Dutch") and its abbreviation, ''ABN'', were replaced with ''Algemeen Nederlands'' (''AN''). The implication that non-standard varieties are not civilised was thus removed.


Word list

An important change that was carried out by the Dutch Language Union was the
modification Modification may refer to: * Modifications of school work for students with special educational needs * Modifications (genetics), changes in appearance arising from changes in the environment * Posttranslational modifications, changes to prote ...
of Dutch orthography in 1995, regarding in particular the writing of the interfix ''-n'' in many compounds. Among the Union's publications is the well-known Word list of the Dutch language (''Woordenlijst Nederlandse taal''), commonly known as the “''Groene boekje''” ("''Green booklet''", because of its distinctive green colour). The green booklet is the official orthographic and grammatical reference of the Dutch language. It is laid out like a vocabulary, including plural forms and spelling but without actual word definitions. The most recent version of the Green Booklet appeared on 13 October 2015. Its content does not differ from the previous version of 2005, which included a somewhat controversial spelling reform that was not received well in general because a part of the spelling reforms of 1996 was changed again. In December 2005, most of the Dutch mainstream media announced a boycott. In August 2006, they released a 'White book' as their own, subtly different guideline. Currently these two spellings are both in use, sometimes confusing people; the 'green' one is used by schools and officials, the 'white' one by papers, magazines and television stations. In Belgium, on the other hand, the spelling reform was generally accepted without protest.


Dictionary

The Van Dale dictionary is commonly accepted as the most authoritative Dutch dictionary. Commonly named the Dikke Van Dale ("Thick" Van Dale due to its size) the dictionary is split into three tomes (A–I, J–R, S–Z) and is usually updated every 7–8 years. The 15th edition was published on 23 September 2015. The '' Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal'' (''WNT'') is a historic dictionary that includes all words used from 1500 to the present day. Work began in 1864 and was finished in 1998 when the last volume was published. It has 43 volumes, needing about 3m if placed on a shelf, with about 400,000 words on 49,255 pages. In 2001, three additional volumes were published containing mostly words from the 20th century that were not included in the previous 43 volumes. This dictionary is published by Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie and can be found online.


Dutch as a foreign language

The Dutch Language Union supports the teaching of Dutch in primary and secondary schools in the neighbouring regions and countries. It concerns
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
(
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and
Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...
; 350,000 learners),
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
(
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
and
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...
, 40,000 learners) and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
(
Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of France, departments of ...
, 8,000 learners). The Union also supports the study of
Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language, after its close relatives German and English. '' Afrikaan ...
and
culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these grou ...
at universities and schools worldwide. Approximately 14,000 people study the Dutch language and Dutch literature at 140 institutions.


Organisation


Internal organisation

The NTU has offices in The Hague and Brussels, and it comprises four institutions: *The Secretariat-General, responsible for preparing and implementing policy, headed by Kris Van de Poel since March 2020 *The Committee of Ministers, containing the ministers of education and culture from the Netherlands and
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
; *The Interparliamentary Commission, made up of members of the Dutch and Flemish parliaments; *The Council for Dutch Language and Literature.


''Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal''

The binational (Belgium and the Netherlands) ''Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal'' ("Institute for the Dutch Language") in Leiden, formerly ''Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie'', works under the auspices of the Dutch Language Union, and is responsible for the '' Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal'' (Dictionary of the Dutch language). In addition, the institute publishes a number of dictionaries, including the ''Old Dutch Dictionary'', the ''Early Middle Dutch Dictionary'', and an etymological dictionary; and databases, including databases indexing various newspapers and magazines, and legal documents. The ''Spoken Dutch Corpus'' has contemporary Dutch as spoken in the Netherlands and Flanders, including audio recordings of Standard Dutch.


Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature

The Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature was founded in Belgium in 1886 to stimulate the culture and literature of Flanders. It is the official advisory board to the Flanders government, and publishes the ''Materiaal Willems'' database, based on the dialect surveys done by Pieter Willems, containing material from dialects in Flanders, the Netherlands, and
French Flanders French Flanders (french: La Flandre française) is a part of the historical County of Flanders in present-day France where a dialect of Dutch was or still is traditionally spoken. The region lies in the modern-day region of Hauts-de-France an ...
.


External connections

The organisation is also responsible for the external linguistic policy of the Netherlands and Flanders and is active in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
, two countries with historic links with the Dutch language. Nevertheless, cooperation with South Africa is not limited to the
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans g ...
language but aimed also at fostering multilingualism. The purposes of the organisation are limited to Dutch language and Dutch-language literature, and are hence not as wide as those of the
Community of Portuguese Language Countries The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa''; abbreviated as the CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth (''Comunidade Lusófona''), is an international ...
, La Francophonie or the
Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...
. The Treaty on the Dutch Language Union foresees the possibility that the Kingdom of the Netherlands extends application to NTU member's parts outside Europe. The organs of the NTU are its Committee of Ministers (composed of the ministers of education and culture of the Dutch and Flemish Governments), its Secretariat-General, an Interparliamentary Committee (composed of members of the
States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...
and the
Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament ( Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural commun ...
) and a Dutch Language and Literature Council (composed of twelve independent experts). There are specific arrangements for the participation of Suriname in the organisation's inner workings.


Member states

As the basis of the Taalunie is a treaty between the
Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...
and the
Kingdom of Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the ...
, the two sovereign states that constitute the Union. For the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the treaty is only applicable to its European territory. The treaty allows for two types of extensions: * membership of other sovereign states through an "association membership" * extension to other territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (presently: Aruba,
Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coas ...
,
Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divid ...
, and the
Caribbean Netherlands ) , image_map = BES islands location map.svg , map_caption = Location of the Caribbean Netherlands (green and circled). From left to right: Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius , elevation_max_m = 887 , elevation_max_footnotes = , demographics ...
). In 2004, Suriname signed an "associative treaty" with the Taalunie. From 27 November 2013 the treaty also applies to the
Caribbean Netherlands ) , image_map = BES islands location map.svg , map_caption = Location of the Caribbean Netherlands (green and circled). From left to right: Bonaire, Saba, and Sint Eustatius , elevation_max_m = 887 , elevation_max_footnotes = , demographics ...
. The three autonomous Caribbean countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba,
Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coas ...
, and
Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divid ...
, are designated as candidate member states. Additionally,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
are considered "special partners" of the Dutch Language Union.


See also

* Dutch orthography *
List of language regulators This is a list of bodies that consider themselves to be authorities on standard languages, often called language academies. Language academies are motivated by, or closely associated with, linguistic purism and prestige, and typically publish pre ...
* OpenTaal *
Verwantschapslanden Verwantschapslanden (; en, Kindred Countries) is an umbrella term used by some cultural institutions to refer to countries that were once, either fully or partly, Dutch colonial possessions. Besides the Netherlands itself, the countries that a ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

*


External links

*
Institute for Dutch Lexicology

P. J. Meertens Institute

Royal Academy of Dutch Language and LiteratureTreaty text
{{Authority control Dutch language Language regulators Belgium–Netherlands relations Organizations established in 1980 Intergovernmental organizations established by treaty 1980 establishments in Belgium Organisations based in The Hague International cultural organizations Cultural promotion organizations