In the
Dutch language
Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...
, the word t () is a
contraction
Contraction may refer to:
Linguistics
* Contraction (grammar), a shortened word
* Poetic contraction, omission of letters for poetic reasons
* Elision, omission of sounds
** Syncope (phonology), omission of sounds in a word
* Synalepha, merged ...
of the
article "het", meaning "the". 't can be found as a ''
tussenvoegsel
In a Dutch name, a (; ) is a family name affix positioned between a person's given name and the main part of their family name. There are similar concepts in many languages, such as Celtic family name prefixes, French particles, and the Germa ...
'', a word that is positioned between a person's first and last
name
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
. Careful writers should use an
apostrophe
The apostrophe (, ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes:
* The marking of the omission of one o ...
() in front of the ''t'' – and not confuse it with a left quotation mark ()
and put a
space
Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
before the apostrophe.
Examples
*
Dirk van 't Klooster
*
Evert-Jan 't Hoen
*
Gerard 't Hooft
Gerardus "Gerard" 't Hooft (; born July 5, 1946) is a Dutch theoretical physicist and professor at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He shared the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics with his thesis advisor Martinus J. G. Veltman "for elucidating t ...
*
Haas Visser 't Hooft
*
in 't Veld (surname)
**
Bart Spring in 't Veld
Bart Spring in 't Veld (born 18 September 1976 in Roelofarendsveen) is a Dutch television producer and the first winner of Big Brother in the world: in 1999 he won the first Big Brother in the Netherlands. Ever since then, he has been trying to ...
(note: surname is "Spring in 't Veld")
**
Sophie in 't Veld
Sophia Helena "Sophie" in 't Veld (born 13 September 1963) is a Dutch politician (Volt, previously D66). She was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2004, and reelected in 2009, 2014 and 2019. She was D66's top candidate for the ...
*
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jr. (; 30 August 1852 – 1 March 1911) was a Dutch physical chemistry, physical chemist. A highly influential theoretical chemistry, theoretical chemist of his time, Van 't Hoff was the first winner of the Nobe ...
*
John van 't Schip
Johannes Nicolaas "John" van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a winger. He is the current manager of Armenia.
Born in Canada, he played for the Netherlands national team for nine ...
*
Maarten 't Hart
Maarten 't Hart (born 25 November 1944 in Maassluis) is a Dutch writer. Trained as a biologist in zoology and ethology at the Leiden University, he taught that subject before becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, having made his debut as a ...
*
Tom van 't Hek
*
Van 't Hof (surname)
*
Van 't Wout (surname)
*
Willem Visser 't Hooft
Willem Adolph Visser 't Hooft (20 September 1900 – 4 July 1985) was a Dutch theologian who became the first secretary general of the World Council of Churches in 1948 and held this position until his retirement in 1966.
Biography
Visser 't H ...
*
Youp van 't Hek
Joseph Jacobus Maria "Youp" van 't Hek (born 28 February 1954) is a Dutch, author, columnist, singer-songwriter, playwright, critic and former comedian.
Biography
Van 't Hek was born and raised in the Gooi, an upper-class region to the sou ...
See also
*
Definite article reduction
Definite article reduction (DAR), in linguistics, is the use of a vowel-less form of the definite article ''the'' in Northern dialects of England English, for example in Yorkshire dialect. DAR is often represented by dialect spelling with an apos ...
, a similar contraction in some dialects of English
*
N-apostrophe
N-apostrophe (’n, a letter preceded by an apostrophe) is a digraph used in Afrikaans, a language spoken in South Africa and Namibia.
Grammar
The letter is the indefinite article of Afrikaans, and is pronounced as a schwa. The symbol its ...
, a similar digraph in
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:t
Dutch language
Dutch grammar