Hear the Names, See the Mistakes (original) (raw)

Mrs Dodge writes

Correct (or More Likely) Dutch, Notes

Characters in The Story

Annie click to hear

Boekman click to hear 2

the doctor

Bouman click to hear

also spelled as 'Bouwman'

Broom

probably: Bram click to hear Washington Irving has a Dutch-American character 'Brom' - that English spelling is phonetically closer to Dutch Bram.

Carl

a German and English name; Dutch form: Karel click to hear

Diedrich

a German name; Dutch form Diederik click to hear or Dirk click to hear

Gretel

a German name - more likely Dutch:Grietje click to hear or Greetje click to hear - I think there are really very few Dutch girls named 'Gretel.'
The fairy tale of the witch in the gingerbread house is Hans en Grietje click to hear 2 in Dutch, 'Hansel und Gretel' in German.
A strange footnote in the book says 'Carl, Gretel and Ludwig were named after German friends,' and gives the Dutch versions of the names. It doesn't make the story more realistic.

Hans click to hear

Hans Brinker click to hear -Hansje click to hear 2

Hoogsvliet

a much more likely name is: Hoogvliet click to hear

Huygen click to hear
Huygens click to hear 2

Huygen is a first name,Huygens is a family name, meaning 'son of Huygen'

Jacob click to hear 2

Janzoon

Janszoon click to hear 2 ("Jan's son") I may be mistaken, but I think it's only used as a middle or last name

Kassy

probably: Keessie click to hear - diminutive of Kees click to hear 2

Katy

an English name; Dutch form: Kaatje click to hear

Kleef

more likely: Van Kleef click to hear

Lambert click to hear

Laurens click to hear

Ludwig

a German name - more likely: French Louis click to hear or Dutch Lodewijk click to hear

Mayken

more likely: Maaike click to hear 2

Meitje

more likely: Meisje click to hear ('girl') - were they thinking of German Mädchen? Maybe: Metje click to hear 2

Van Mounen click to hear

an unlikely Dutch family name. It sounds unpleasant, and there is at present no-one by that name living in Holland. A more likely name:Van Manen click to hear 2

Poot click to hear 2

'animal leg'

Raff

probably: Rolf click to hear

Rychie

probably: Riekie click to hear 2 - diminutive of Riek click to hear from Hendrika click to hear 2 or Marieke click to hear
or maybe Rijkje click to hear 2 - a diminutive of Rijk click to hear or Marijke click to hear

Schimmelpenninck click to hear 2

Schummel click to hear 2

an unlikely Dutch family name, it sounds unpleasant, and there is at present no person by that name in Holland. Maybe:Schimmel click to hear 2

Voost

probably: Joost click to hear (maybe Mrs Dodge misread bad-handwriting 'Yoost.' See note above) Washington Irving has a character named 'Yost.'

Voostenwalbert

probably: Joost-Albert click to hear 2

Hear Dutch First and Last Names

Historical Personages

Admiraal van der Eijck click to hear

Name of a tulip in the wild tulips speculation of 1637. I'd never heard of this admiral before - according toan article by Liesbeth Missel, curator of Wageningen University Library, Holland, 'admiral'(admiraal click to hear 2) and 'general'(generaal click to hear 2) in tulip names refers to coloring. Hear more Dutch tulip names.

Willem Beukles

Willem Beukelsz. click to hear 2. Herring is gutted and immersed in brine for preservation:haring kaken click to hear. Dutch fishermen had discovered that the taste of the fish was greatly improved by leaving in the pancreas (alvleesklier click to hear) - its enzymes would do something beneficial to the fish meat. Traditionally ascribed to Willem Beukelsz. aka_Willem Beukelszoon_ click to hear, ca 1400.

Boerhaave click to hear

18th Century medical doctor and researcher

Jacob Cats click to hear 'Vadertje Cats' click to hear 2 3

An early 17th Century diplomat and a rather moralistic poet, not a philosopher (Thank you, Alan Caron)

Laurens Janszoon Coster click to hear

an early Dutch printer

Jan van Gorp click to hear 2

better known by the latinized version of his name: Goropius click to hear 2 - 17th Century linguist who claimed that Dutch was the mother of all languages.

Volgens Goropius spraken Adam en Eva Nederlands. click to hear 2 According to Goropius, Adam and Eve spoke Dutch.
Goropius zegt dat Adam en Eva Nederlands spraken. click to hear 2 Goropius says that Adam and Eve spoke Dutch.
"Adam en Eva spraken Nederlands in het Paradijs." click to hear "Adam and Eve spoke Dutch in Paradise."
"In het Paradijs spraken Adam en Eva Nederlands" click to hear 2 "In Paradise, Adam and Eve spoke Dutch."

Kanau Hesselaer

Kenau Hasselaer click to hear also known as Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer click to hear 2 leader of the women of Haarlem during the siege by the Spanish army (1573)

Lucas van Leyden click to hear

16th Century painter, also known as Lucas Hugensz. click to hear 2

Harel de Moor

Karel de Moor click to hear 2 - 17th Century painter

Paul Potter

Paulus Potter click to hear 2 - 17th Century painter. His most famous painting:De Stier click to hear 2 ('The Bull') at Het Mauritshuis click to hear 2 in The Hague

Van Tromp

Tromp click to hear 2 - family name of two 17th Century admirals,Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp click to hear 2 and_Cornelis_ click to hear Tromp.

Wouvermans

Philips Wouwerman click to hear 2 - 17th Century painter - also:Wouwermans click to hear

Hear the names of more Dutch painters:170 - Vermeer - Rembrandt - Early Flemish and Dutch Painters

Place Names

Amsterdam click to hear

the capital of Holland, though parliament meets in The Hague, and most government buildings and embassies are in that city too.

Blomendal

Bloemendaal click to hear

Brabant click to hear

Noord Brabant click to hear 2 is a province in the South of The Netherlands, and 'Brabant' is a province in Belgium (in the Middle Ages one duchy, dukedom)

Breede straat Breedstraat Breedstratt

Breestraat click to hear 2 'the wide street' - a common street name

Broek click to hear 2

There really is a town named 'Broek,' North of Amsterdam. In modern Dutch, 'broek' means 'pants, trousers,' but in 17th- and 18th-Century Dutch it also meant 'swamp.' It's often found in family names, like for instance_Van den Broek_ click to hear and Westbroek click to hear. The old, Dutch name for Georgetown, Guyana was_Stabroek_ click to hear ('swamp of stagnant water.')

Delft Haven

Delfshaven click to hear 2 was the port (haven click to hear) of the city of Delft click to hear 2 - the Pilgrims left for America from Delfshaven - now part of the city of_Rotterdam_ click to hear

Friesland click to hear 2

a province in the North of the country

Gouda click to hear

also the name of a kind of cheese

Haarlem click to hear

Haarlemmermeer click to hear

reclaimed in 1852 - the national airport_Schiphol_ click to hear is in the old Haarlemmermeer

Halfweg click to hear 2

('Midway') a small town halfway between Amsterdam and Haarlem

Heireen Gracht

Herengracht click to hear 2 - a street and canal in Amsterdam. At the time that the book was written, this was spelled Heerengracht

Huis in't Bosch

Huis ten Bosch click to hear 2 - royal palace in a forest near_Den Haag_ click to hear 2 ('The Hague') - at present the queen's residence

Leyden click to hear

Dutch spelling is: Leiden

het Mauritshuis click to hear 2

Museum in The Hague, named after prince_Maurits_ click to hear 2 (Maurice, Morris)

de Noordzee click to hear 2

'the North Sea' - Dutchmen do not call the body of water between Holland and the British Isles an 'ocean.'

Rapenburg click to hear 2

a street and canal in Leyden

Saardam

Zaandam click to hear - where Czar Peter the Great was a shipbuilder's apprentice, nowadays called Zaanstad click to hear
Washington Irving calls it 'Saardam' too.

St. Bavon

Sint Bavo click to hear a church in_Haarlem_ click to hear named after Saint Bavo

Utrecht click to hear

a large town in the center of the country

Vleit

Vliet click to hear - a common name for small streams

the Y, the Eye

het IJ click to hear - a body of water near Amsterdam.
It is NOT pronounced like English 'eye,' as Mrs Dodge says. There is no sound in English like Dutch IJ click to hear - If a Dutchman says IJ you wouldn't think he means 'eye.' Listen to Dutch:hij click to hear ('he') - zij click to hear 2 ('she') - mijl click to hear ('mile') - de Rijn click to hear 2 ('the river Rhine.') To me, the AI in these Dutch words sounds like English 'eye:'maïs click to hear 2 ('maize, (Indian) corn') - Thai click to hear - Braille click to hear >>

Zuiderzee click to hear

Closed off in 1932, now called_het IJsselmeer_ click to hear

Zwanenburg click to hear 2

Hear Dutch Place Names

Dutch Words

aanspreker click to hear

a kind of town crier, announcing deaths to friends and relatives of the deceased

blixin

bliksem click to hear 'lightning'

buiten plasten

buitenplaatsen click to hear 2 'second homes outside the city, for leisure'

Dame Brinker

There is a Dutch word_(de) dame_ click to hear meaning 'a woman who is respected.' A speaker addressing an audience will start with_"Dames en Heren,"_ click to hear 2 ('ladies and gentlemen.') But 'Dame' is not a title in Dutch. Maybe Mrs Dodge meant to use the archaic English address when she wrote 'Dame Brinker,' but I do suspect she thought it was correct Dutch.
In a Modern Dutch book, Mrs Brinker would be called_Mevrouw Brinker_ click to hear 2 or her full name (first and last name) would be given, but in the 19th Century she might have been called_Juffrouw Brinker_ click to hear 2 ('Miss' - see note under jufvrouw.)
Juffrouw Brinker click to hear 2 - Mevrouw Brinker click to hear

donder click to hear

'thunder' - onweer click to hear 'thunderstorm:' thunder + lightning

goede gunst! click to hear 2

'Good grief!' - The D in 'goede' is often softened to a Y-sound - Dutch J.)

hoezza!

a strange mixture of hoera click to hear 2 and hoezee click to hear 2 - both meaning 'hurrah,' though 'hoezee' is by now a bit old-fashioned.

jongvrowe

jonkvrouw click to hear 'a young or unmarried noble lady'

jufvrouw

juffrouw click to hear 2 3 Traditionally, in the 20th Century, this was the Dutch word for 'Miss,' an unmarried woman, but it is rarely used anymore, only female teachers at elementary schools are still called_'juffrouw.'_ The general respectful address for women is now_mevrouw_ click to hear 2 3 ('Ma'am' and 'Mrs' - see note under Dame Brinker.) There is no Dutch equivalent for Ms. I have been told, and Mrs Dodge also says so, that in the 19th Century, only women of the upper layer of society were called 'Mevrouw,' and that other women, married or unmarried, were called 'Juffrouw.'

kanaals

kanalen click to hear 'canals, ship channels' - singular:(het) kanaal click to hear. The Dutch word for city canal is_(de) gracht_ click to hear

kermis click to hear

'a fair' - from French kermesse

klompen click to hear

'clogs, wooden shoes' - singular: (de) klomp click to hear

krits

kris click to hear Indonesian dagger or short sword. Malay Words in Dutch

kwartje click to hear

a quarter, 25-cent coin

luigaard

luiaard click to hear 2 3 - 1. 'a lazy person' 2. 'a sloth.'

meester click to hear

'master' - a schoolteacher or an accomplished person.

mine gott!

correct: mijn god! click to hear 2 OMG! (Gott is German)

mynheer, mynheers

mijnheer (meneer) click to hear 'Mr' and 'Sir'- the correct plural is: heren click to hear

ophaalbrug click to hear 2

'drawbridge' (note that P and H are pronounced separately - plural: -bruggen click to hear

pakschuyt

pakschuit click to hear 2 see note under 'trekschuit.'

polders click to hear

the new, reclaimed land - singular: (de) polder click to hear 2

ruine

ruïne click to hear 'ruin' - the two dots on top of the I are called_(het) trema_ click to hear and indicate a syllable break before the letter with the_trema._ >> Here, the sound is U-I click to hear 2 - which is very different from_UI_ click to hear - compare sounds:ruïne click to hear - duinen click to hear ('dunes') -bruine click to hear ('brown') - puin click to hear ('rubble')

schipper click to hear 2

'skipper'

sluicer

sluiswachter click to hear 2 an official in charge of a sluice

spoorweg click to hear 2

'railroad'

stadhuis click to hear 2

'city hall' (the stress in the Dutch word varies)

stiver

stuiver click to hear 2 a nickel, 5-cent coin

stoomboot click to hear

'steamship'

trekschuit click to hear

a horse-drawn barge. 17th and 18th Century Holland had a network of ship channels for those barges. It was like a railroad system.
According to Mrs Dodge, the trekschuit transported people, and the pakschuit transported goods ('packages.') The book writes trekschuit correctly, but in the next line_pakschuyt_ with Y - careless?

tulpen click to hear

'tulips' - singular:(de) tulp click to hear - names of heirloom tulips

tweegevegt

tweegevecht click to hear 2 'duel' - no longer much used - Dutch duel click to hear 2

voetspoelen

The correct Dutch phrase is 'de voeten spoelen,' literally 'rinsing the feet' - a euphemism for drowning. Its victims were bound together and thrown overboard into the sea. In a dictionary I found
'de overwonnenen de voeten spoelen' click to hear 2
- consign the vanquished to the deep.
A somewhat milder shipboard punishment or disciplinary measure was to 'keelhaul,' kielhalen click to hear 2 - dragging a condemned person through the water under the keel, which could result in death by drowning. (Thank you Timothy Dickinson)

vrouw click to hear

'woman' and 'wife' - see note under 'jufvrouw'

wartaal click to hear 2

'gibberish'

zommerhuis

zomerhuis click to hear 2 'summer residence'

Notes

'the Dutch mile'

Mrs Dodge writes: 'The Dutch mile is more than four times as long as ours.' That would be about 7.4 kilometers. I had never heard of it, so I looked it up in my old 'Van Dale' Dutch dictionary. It says the German mile is 7.4 km, and the Dutch mile is 5.5 km. Around 1800 the metric system was introduced in Holland.

Governor Robles

The story about Spanish Governor Robles is total nonsense. In the 11th or 12th Century, Waterschappen click to hear ('water boards') developed, far before Burgundian (ca 1350) and later Spanish (ca 1450) foreign rulers came to Holland. The people living close to the sea organized to manage the water and worked out a taxes and payment system. Some see it as an early, limited form of democracy (of course pioneered by Greeks much earlier.)

Dutch Harvest Song

Mrs Dodge quotes a 'harvest song that is quite popular there' (in Holland) - but I doubt it is Dutch at all:
Yanker didee, dudel down Didee dudel lawnter Yankee viver, voover, vown Botermelk und Tawnter!
Mrs Dodge says 'no linguist could translate it' - but I doubt that it is Dutch. The common Dutch word for 'buttermilk' is not Botermelk but karnemelk click to hear - and 'und' is German. 'Lawnter' and 'Tawnter' don't look or sound like any Dutch words I know, and 'Doodle' is written as 'Dudel' in German, and as 'doedel' click to hear in Dutch (doedelzak click to hear 'bagpipes.')

After the disaster a grand plan was developed that drastically shortened the coastline, so it was much easier to strengthen and maintain the dikes exposed to the sea.‑>>
Het Deltaplan click to hear 2 ('The Delta Protection Plan')
De Deltawerken click to hear ('The Delta Protection Works')

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_Don't be a_dief (thief) / dievegge (female thief) - diefstal (theft) - stelen (to steal) - heler (dealer in stolen goods) -hear Dutch -2