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The original content for this article was contributed and update by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies in May 2012. It is an excerpt from their course Research: Dutch Ancestors in the Netherlands by Susanna de Groot, PLCGS. The Institute offers over 200 comprehensive genealogy courses.

The Dutch Language
Dutch and Frisian are the two official languages of the Netherlands. Dutch is a Germanic language and many words are similar to German and English words. You will also find some are the same or similar to French words.

Frisian is the language of the northern province of Friesland. This language is often mistaken as a dialect of Dutch. It is not. To be able to research your Dutch ancestors you will have to learn how to read some Dutch, but it is not necessary to learn Frisian. The civil registration records from Friesland are written in the Dutch language.

In general, Dutch civil registration and population records follow a standard format throughout the country.

It is necessary to learn to read some Dutch to understand the information in the records. However, it is not necessary to write in Dutch when requesting information from archives in the Netherlands. Many people can speak, read and write English. A word of caution, if you have found someone who may be a relative and they are elderly, it is likely they cannot communicate with you in English. The older generation does not speak English fluently.

It is recommended you find a good Dutch-English dictionary to assist you with the translation of the language. A dictionary purchased from a used bookstore can be most useful (for example, Engels Woordenboek, Nederlands-Engels, 17th Edition; Groningen, Nethelands: H. D. Tjeenk Willink, 1974). The North American published dictionaries seem to lack entries. Dictionaries published in the United Kingdom (UK) to be better. The same applies to maps of the Netherlands. You will find much more detail in maps and atlases that are published in the UK and the Netherlands. So be sure to check the used bookstore!

There are many online translation dictionaries that are available to you. Dictionary.com Translator (http://translate.reference.com/translate) is one of the many websites available. The Verbix website (http://www.verbix.com/languages/dutch.shtml) will be of great help when you need assistance with conjugating Dutch verbs. There are a number of online translation sites that you could use to help translate your documents. One such website is [http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Babel Fish Translation].

Important Tip: These sites will return Dutch words if it cannot translate it. They can also return the wrong English word. When this happens you will still need to use your dictionary.

Perhaps you would like to learn the language of your ancestors. This too can be done online! Learn Dutch is one such website. You can even test your proficiency in Dutch on the Transparent Language website.

FamilySearch has the Netherlands Language and Languages webpage, that provides a Dutch Word List. If you are researching records prior to 1814, you may also want to see the French and Latin word lists available on the same webpage.

To assist you in becoming familiar with Dutch words, below is a list of words that you will encounter often in your research. It is also advised that you start your own list of frequently used Dutch words and terms. This list will assist you in saving time when translating documents. With all these tools, you will soon easily extract genealogical details about your Dutch ancestors from the documents!

Dutch English achternaam surname achterneef great-nephew; second cousin achternicht great-niece; second cousin adressen address akte act algemeen rijksarchief general or state archive (national archive) alhier here, at this place ambtenaar officer, civil servant arrondissement district beambte official begraafplaats cemetery begraven bury behuwd zoon brother-in-law benoeming appointment beroep occupation bevolkingsregisters population registers binnen within; inside broer brother bruid bride bruidegom bridegroom bureau office burgemeester major burger citizen burgerlijke stand civil registration buurt neighbourhood collectie(s) collection(s) dag day dagteekening date dat that datum date deel part; volume deze this dochter daughter dood dead, death doop baptism, christening doopregisters baptism register Doopsgezinde Mennonites doos box, case dopen baptisms echtgenoot husband, spouse echtgenote wife, spouse echtscheidingen divorce emigratie emigration erkende acknowledge Evangelisch Luthers Evangelical Lutheran fol. abbr. page folio page geboorte(n) birth geboren born gedaan done gedoopt baptized gegeven given gemeente city, municipality gemeentearchief city or municipal archive genaamd named, called geschied(en) happen, occur geslacht family geslachtsnaam family name gesloten declared getuige witness getuigen testify gezindte denomination gezinskaart(en) family card(s) gild(e) guild graf grave grootvader grandfather handteekening signature heben to have heeft have heden today hervormd(e) reformed Hervormd Lidmaat Reformed Church Member huis house huisvrouw housewife huwelijk marriage huwelijken marriage registers huwelijksaangiften marriage intentions huwelijksackte marriage registration huwelijksafkondigingen marriage proclamations huwelijksbijlagen marriage supplement huwelijkstoestemmingen marriage consents jaar year kanton canton kantoor office kerk church kerkmeester church warden kind child klapper index koninkrijk kingdom laatstleden last levenloos lifeless lidmaat (church) member man husband mannelijk male meerderjarige of age middags midday, noon militair military minderjarige under age moeder mother naam name naamsaanneming name adoption natuur kind natural child Nederlands Gereformeerd Dutch Reform Church Nederduits Hervormd Dutch Reformed notariële protocollen notarial records oma grandmother ondertekening signature ondertrouw marriage intentions ondertrouwd publication of the banns ongehuwd unmarried ontbonden dissolved, ended oom uncle op on opa grandfather opgemaakt made up oud old, aged ouder older, elder, parent overheid government overleden deceased overlijdens deaths persoonskaart(en) person card(s) persoonslijst(en) person list(s) plaats place polder drained land protected by dikes register register rijksarchief provincial archive stadsarchief city or municipal archives stadshuis town or city hall stadtholder governor stamboom family tree, pedigree steden towns stiefdochter stepdaughter stiefzoon stepson straat street streek region, district streekarchief regional archives tegenwoordigheid present; present day toestemming consent, assent, permission trouw marriage; wedding tussen between tussenvoegsel interpolation uit out of uittreksel extract; abstract ure hour vader father verklaard(e) declared vermelding state vertrek departure verstiging establishment, settlement volkstelling census voltrokken execute, solemnize voogd guardian voor before voorgelezen read voorletters initials voornaam given name voorouder(s) ancestor(s), forefather(s) vrouw wife; spouse vrouwelijk female waarvan of which wed. abbr. widow or widower weduwe widow weduwnaar widower weeskamer orphans chambers welk(e) which wethouder alderman wijk town district or quarter wonen live, reside woonplaats home, residence zonder without zoon son zwager brother-in-law

Tip: You may have noticed when reviewing this list that the Dutch will sometimes put two or three words together to form one word. For example, naamsaanneming is formed from naams (names) and aanneming (adoption). If you cannot find the word in your dictionary, try breaking the word down and looking for the words individually.

Days of the Week Dutch English zondag Sunday maandag Monday dinsdag Tuesday woensdag Wednesday donderdag Thursday vrijdag Friday zaterdag Saturday

Months Dutch Old Dutch English januari louwmaand January februari sprokkelmaand February maart lentemaand March april grasmaand April mei bloeimaand May juni zomermaand June juli hooimaand July augustus oogstmaand August september herfstmaand September oktober wijnmaand October november slachtmaand November december wintermaand December

Numbers Numbers are written in words on the documents you will use for your research. No. Dutch No. Dutch 0 nul 20 twintig 1 een, één 21 eenentwintig 2 twee 22 tweeëntwintig 3 drie 30 dertig 4 vier 31 eenendertig 5 vijf 32 tweeëndertig 6 zes 40 veertig 7 zeven 50 vijftig 8 acht 60 zestig 9 negen 70 zeventig 10 tien 80 tachtig 11 elf 90 negentig 12 twaalf 100 honderd 13 dertien 101 honderd een 14 veertien 110 honderd tien 15 vijftin 200 twee honderd 16 zestien 300 drie honderd 17 zeventien 1,000 duizend 18 achttien 2,000 twee duizend 19 negentien 3,000 drie duizend

Ordinals You will find that ordinals are used in documents; mostly in dates and street addresses. Ordinal Dutch Ordinal Dutch 1st eerste 6th zesde 2nd tweede 7th zevende 3rd derde 8th achste 4th vierde 9th negende 5th vijfde 10th tiende Dates The Dutch use ordinals to express dates. Here are a few examples of how you may see a date written. Dutch English één juli the first of July op één juli on the first of July twintig maart twentieth of March op twintig maart on the twentieth of March

Time In many of the Dutch civil registration records, you will find that the time of day that an event occurred has been included in full words. When the time is written in numbers, the 24-hour clock is used.

Important Tip: When reading time, remember that the half hour always refers to the previous hour rather than the following one. For example, half acht, literally means “half eight”, is actually 7:30.

Here are some examples of time: Dutch English één uur one o’clock tien uur ten o’clock vijf over één five past one tien over twee ten past two twintig over één twenty past one kwart over twee quarter past two half drie half past two tien voor twee ten to two kwart voor vier quarter to four twaalf uur ‘s middags noon middernacht midnight ‘s morgens A.M. ‘s middags P.M. Tip: The Dutch letter “Y”or “y” can be typed as “IJ” or “ij”; as in “Ype” or “IJpe”, which are both the same name. When doing searches on the Internet, use both possibilities when entering search words. Neither “Y” nor “IJ” is wrong, it depends on how a person generally types this letter. Example surname: “Van der Leij” and “Van der Ley”.

Calendar Changes in The Netherlands

The Gregorian calendar was adopted by different areas of the Netherlands at different times. The chart below provides you with the dates the Gregorian calendar was adopted and the dates that were omitted to make the correction in the calendar.

Area Date Gregorian Calendar Adopted Dates Omitted to Correct Calendar Error Brabant, Zeeland and most of Limburg 14 December 1582 15-24 December 1582 Holland (most of present-day North and South Holland) 1 January 158330 June 1700 2-11 January 1583 Gelderland 1-11 July 1700 Utrecht and Overijssel 30 November 1700 1-11 December 1700 Friesland and Groningen 31 December 1700 1- 1 January 1701 Drenthe 30 April 1701 1-11 May 1701

The area of Groningen actually first switched to the Gregorian calendar 10 February 1583 and dropped the dates 11 to 20 February 1583. However, they reverted back to the Julian calendar in November 1594. The switch to the Gregorian calendar was again made on 31 December 1700.

As if this is not confusing enough for you, remember some areas of the Netherlands were part of the French Empire. The French Empire used the French Republican calendar from 1793 to 1805. It is possible to find dates that relate to this calendar. For more details on the French Republican calendar, see the FamilySearch Wiki page, French Republican Calendar (https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/French_Republican_Calendar).

To assist you in identifying if the French Republican calendar was used in your ancestors’ record, the following chart provides you with the names of the months in English, French, Dutch and Latin.

Months of the French Republican Calendar

English French Dutch Latin Autumn months: grape harvest Vendémiaire Wijnoogstmaand mensis vindemiarum fog Brumaire Mistmaand mensis brumarum frost Frimaire Rijpmaand mensus frimarum Winter months: snow Nivôse Sneeuwmaand mensis nivium rain Pluviôse Regenmaand mensis pluviarum wind Ventôse Windmaand mensis ventorum Spring months: germination Germinal Kiemmaand mensis germinum flowering Floréal Blœmmaand mensis florum pasture Prairial Grasmaand mensis prætorum Summer months: harvest Messidor Oostmaand mensis messium heat Thermidor or Fervidor Hittemaand mensis thermarum fruit Fructidor Vruchtmaand mensis fructuum

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course Research: Dutch Ancestors in the Netherlands offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website at http://www.genealogicalstudies.com. We can be contacted at wiki@genealogicalstudies.com

We welcome updates and additions to this Wiki page.