Middle Dutch
| Middle Dutch | |
|---|---|
| Region | the Low Countries |
| Era | developed into modern Dutch by the middle of the 16th century |
|
Indo-European
|
|
|
Early forms
|
Old Dutch
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | midd1321 |
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects (whose ancestor was Old Dutch) spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. There was at that time as yet no overarching standard language but they were all mutually intelligible. During this period a rich Medieval Dutch literature developed, not yet present during the period of Old Dutch. The various literary works of that time are often very readable for modern Dutch speakers, since Dutch is a rather conservative language. By many non-linguists, Middle Dutch is often referred to as Diets.
Several phonological changes occurred leading up to the Middle Dutch period.
The consonants of Middle Dutch differed little from those of Old Dutch. The most prominent change is the loss of dental fricatives. The sound [z] was also phonemicised during this period, judging from loanwords that retain [s] to this day.
For descriptions of the sounds and definitions of the terms, follow the links on the headings.
Notes:
Most notable in the Middle Dutch vowel system, when compared to Old Dutch, is the appearance of phonemic rounded front vowels, and the merger of all unstressed short vowels.
The lengthening of vowels in open syllables, and often before /r/, created a contrast between originally long ("sharp-long" â, ê, ô) and lengthened ("soft-long" ā, ē, ō) vowels. These have all merged in modern standard Dutch, but they were still distinct in Middle Dutch, and developed differently in different dialects, although the spelling does not normally reveal this. The following points can be noted:
/ʏi/ only occurred in a small number of loanwords from French, such as fruyt/froyt /frʏit/ (Old French pronunciation [frɥit]). It is known that it eventually merged with /yː/ when the latter began to diphthongise.
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