Middle Dutch language
| Middle Dutch | |
|---|---|
| Region | the Low Countries |
| Era | developed into modern Dutch by the middle of the 16th century |
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Indo-European
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Early form
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| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | dum |
| 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. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500, there was no overarching standard language but the dialects 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.
Long vowels and diphthongs cannot be clearly distinguished in Middle Dutch, as many long vowels had or developed a diphthongal quality, while existing diphthongs could also develop into monophtongs. Sometimes, this occurred only in restricted dialects, other developments were widespread.
Many details of the exact phonetics are uncertain, and seemed to have differed by dialect. The overal system is clear, however, as almost all the vowels remain distinct in modern Limburgish: /iː/, /iə̯/, /eɛ̯/, /eː/ and /aː/ appear in modern Limburgish as /iː/, /eː/, /iə̯/, /æː/ and /aː/ respectively.
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