SmartPhrase.com: Dutch: Pronunciation: Helpful Books for Dutch;
Where is Dutch Spoken?
The Dutch language is spoken primarily in the Netherlands (Nederland), or Holland, although it is one of the two national languages of Belgium and there is a small Dutch-speaking
minority near Dunkerque in Northern France. In total there are about twenty million speakers of Dutch.
The Alphabet
In Dutch, the alphabet is exactly the same as for English, except that Q
, X, and Y are not much used.
Consonants (and combinations)
b |
• like b in boy |
c |
• c in cat |
ch |
• like ch in Scottish loch |
d |
• like d in dog |
f |
• like f in fish |
g |
• like ch in Scottich loch, never like English g |
h |
• like h in how |
j |
• like y in yes |
k |
• like ck in back, but with less air exhaled |
l |
• like l in lime |
m |
• like m in me |
n |
• like n in nice |
p |
• like p in pit, but with less air exhaled |
r |
• rolled/trilled like r in French |
s |
• like s in sit |
sch |
• between ch in Scottich loch, and s in sit |
t |
• like t in tape |
v |
• like v in give, but closer to f |
w |
• like w in will, but much closer to v, made with bottom teeth against top lip |
z |
• like ds in pads |
Vowels
a |
• short like a in hard, but even shorter, or |
e |
• short like e in set, but even shorter, or |
i |
• short like i in bit, but even shorter |
o |
• short like o in hot, but even shorter, or |
u |
• like u in hurt, but even shorter, or |
eu |
• long like u in hurt, but with tightly rounded lips |
oe |
• long like oo in book, but with rounded lips |
ie |
• long like ea in cheat |
SmartPhrase language pronunciation guide. Helping you to speak better Dutch and talk with an accent the Dutch people can understand. Explaining the pronunciation of individual letters: consonants and vowels. Pronouncing phonemes and diphthongs. Phonology, phonetics, and dialects of speech. Language pronunciation guide for spoken sounds, speech, talking.
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