''Van Dale's Great Dictionary of the Dutch Language'' ( nl, Van Dale Groot woordenboek van de Nederlandse taal ), called ' for short,
is the leading
dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
of 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
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...
. The latest edition was published in April 2022.
History
Van Dale's dictionary was first published after the death of
Johan Hendrik van Dale,
who had started work on his ''New Dictionary of the Dutch Language'' ( ) in 1867.
[About ''Van Dale'' on the official website]
/ref> This was built upon the original same-named 1864 dictionary of I.M. Calisch and N.S. Calisch. Van Dale did not see the new work published in his lifetime, as he died in 1872. It was finished by his student Jan Manhave. Today it is published by the private company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
Van Dale Lexicografie.
Commonly nicknamed ' ("thick Van Dale") and ' ("big Van Dale") due to its size, the dictionary is published in three volumes (A-I, J-R, S-Z). It is usually updated every 7–8 years, and the 15th edition was published in 2015. Today there are compilations, pocket edition
Small-size books which could fit in a reader's pocket have existed from early times. For example, the early 8th-century gospel book known as the St Cuthbert Gospel has a page size of only . However, the concept of producing a specific pocket ed ...
s, electronic editions on CD-ROM and an online edition on the Van Dale website. The online edition includes a free version for the more common words, and a subscription-based professional version with access to the full 90,000-word dictionary.
Position
The ''Van Dale Dictionary'' is a private endeavor, to be distinguished from the government-published "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 for ...
" that lists the official spelling mandated for schools and government employees. ''Van Dale'' includes the official spelling of the words as well, but it further provides their definitions.
There have been arguments whether inclusion in ''Van Dale'' should be understood as an approval, in particular for words considered discriminatory like ' ("negro
In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...
", but traditionally not used in a derogatory sense in Dutch). The position of the editors is clear: the actual use is decisive. Disapproved words are marked as such, but not omitted. The purpose is to inform the reader, therefore the responsibility of using certain words lies solely on them.
Editions
See also
* Dutch Language Union
The Dutch Language Union (Dutch: , NTU) is an international regulatory institution that governs issues regarding the Dutch language. It is best known for its spelling reforms which are promulgated by member states, grammar books, the Green Boo ...
* ''Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal
The ''Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal'' (''WNT''; ) is a dictionary of the Dutch language. It contains between 350,000 and 400,000 entries describing Dutch words from 1500 to 1976. The paper edition consists of 43 volumes (including three sup ...
''
* ''Word list of the Dutch language
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 for ...
''
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.vandale.nl
''Van Dale'', 14th edition
at the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
''Van Dale'', 14th edition
at WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...
Dutch dictionaries
Dutch language
1864 non-fiction books
1874 non-fiction books
1884 non-fiction books
1898 non-fiction books
1914 non-fiction books
1924 non-fiction books
1950 non-fiction books
1961 non-fiction books
1970 non-fiction books
1976 non-fiction books
1984 non-fiction books
1992 non-fiction books
1995 non-fiction books
1999 non-fiction books
2005 non-fiction books
2015 non-fiction books
Dutch non-fiction literature
Dutch culture