The Word list of the Dutch language ( nl, Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal ) is a spelling dictionary 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 ...

(

Dutch orthography Dutch orthography uses the Latin alphabet. The spelling system is issued by government decree and is compulsory for all government documentation and educational establishments. Legal basis In the Netherlands, the official spelling is regulated ...

). It is officially established by the

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 ...

(). Because of the colour of its published form, it is better known as the Green Booklet ().

Editions

The Green Booklet is published by Sdu in 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

Lannoo Uitgeverij Lannoo Groep is a Belgian publishing group, based in Tielt, with assets in Belgium and the Netherlands. Its Belgian subsidiary is Uitgeverij Lannoo. Its Dutch subsidiary is LannooMeulenhoff. Over the years Lannoo evolved from Catholic ...

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 culture, ...

. It is available in a paper edition and on

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

at a fee; the Dutch Language Union offers a free official internet version of the list.woordenlijst.org
/ref> The latest edition was released on 13 October 2015.

History

The first publication was in 1954. A revised word list was not released until 1990. The most recent publication was in 2015. Its content does not differ from the previous version published in 2005. The current spelling has been effective since August 1, 2006. In 1994 the committee of Ministers of the Dutch Language Union decided that the wordlist of the Green Booklet will be updated every ten years. The 2005 edition was the first time that

Surinamese Dutch Surinamese Dutch (, ) is the form of Dutch spoken in Suriname and is the official language in Suriname, a former Dutch colony. Dutch is spoken as a native language by about 60% of the population, most of them being bilingual with Sranan Tongo, H ...

words were included; about 500 of them were added as was agreed upon when

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 ...

joined the Language Union in January 2005. The Green Booklet should not be confused with the

Green dictionary Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, which is also a publication of Sdu.

Criticism

The Green Booklet has been criticised in recent years because of its complicated rules such as the rules on how to use an -n between certain compound words. Opponents claim that the rules are too fuzzy and are changing too fast, causing problems in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

. Teachers and pupils complain about the lack of simple rules and the many exceptions. In December 2005 a number of major Dutch newspapers, magazines and the broadcaster NOS announced that they will boycott the latest edition of the Green Booklet. It is said to be too confusing, illogical and unworkable to be usable. Instead they will follow the spelling which is laid out in the

White Booklet Witte Boekje (English: ''White Booklet'') is the popular name for the Spelling Guide of Our Language (Spellingwijzer Onze Taal), a publication of the Genootschap Onze Taal. The first edition was released in October 1998; the latest edition is the ...

(''Witte Boekje''). In Flanders, media use the official ''Green Booklet''-spelling.

The Yellow Book

Although the "Green Booklet" is also the official list of words for

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

people, they use words which are not in the Green Booklet and not known by people in

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 ...

. However, those words are so commonly used in Flanders, most people are not aware these are not official. Many of those words are even used in newspapers, magazines, and television. On 31 January 2015

De Standaard ''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...

and some language professionals published the Yellow Book. In this book a word is printed in black or in grey. A black word is a non-official word, but De Standaard will allow it in their newspapers. A grey word is a non-official word which may not be used. It is the intention that other Flemish media will use the Yellow Book.

References

{{Reflist
Dutch Language Union
Dutch dictionaries Spelling dictionaries Dutch non-fiction literature

Editions

History

Criticism

The Yellow Book

See also

References