Het Nederlandse Accent, Deel 2

This is the second video of probably three. It's about vowels.

I posted the previous one six months ago, so I figured it was about time I made the sequel. I've been sitting on this footage for a month now, for no good reason. I think I was dreading all the subtitles, which are a bitch in Movie Maker.

Feel free to correct my pronunciation. (EDIT: I've already been told about "flat" -- thanks, guys!) I'm also planning an extra video in which I attempt to pronounce tricky Dutch words, so if you have any you'd like me to try, please leave them in the comments.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• prepoceros
• dutch
• english
• accent
• accents
• nederlands
• vowel
• sounds

[nakedmambo]

I'll tell you why Dutch people turn a into e. It's a tradition of mimicking a British RP accent where the 'a' in words like hat/cat/rattle/happy..etc also sound like a short 'e'. It was done in an attempt to differentiate the vowel sounds from Dutch.

I also don't think odd that pronunciation of cognate words like foot/voet, and related words like cook/koek would carry over the most familiar sound. For British English the sound isn't all that different.

[Prepoceros]

@nakedmambo I'm not sure why Dutch speakers turns a's into e's, but I don't think your explanation is correct. British RP pronounces those a's very much the same as most American speakers do. There may be some other British dialect that makes this change, but RP does not.

I agree, though, that the cognate pronunciations make sense.

[nakedmambo]

@Prepoceros The RP accent once known as the 'BBC accent' does turn 'a' to 'e'. This was even more the case up to the early 1970s and you can hear it in videos on here like Public Information Films from the '40s and '50s, such as 'New Town' or 'Your Good Health'. That was the model for an 'English accent' when English started to be widely taught in schools and in popular radio-based learning courses.

There's also the idea that the vowels are altered to mark them out as a foreign loan-word.

[Prepoceros]

@nakedmambo Hmm, I see what you mean. The older RP accent sounds even a little Australian sometimes, weird. It's not quite the same short 'e' that Dutch speakers use (a little longer, maybe?), but it's going in the same direction. Thanks for the lesson!

[YokoFromGorillaz]

The Natalie thingy... you have to try to say the T. It sounded more Nadalie. Soo... Nat. Like the T in Stupid, Table, etc.

[Prepoceros]

Yes, I pronounce my name with a sound closer to "d" than "t". In my dialect (and, as far as I know, most of American English) the "t" in "Natalie" is pronounced differently than the "t" in "stupid" and "table." People who pronounce my name with a full-on "t" sound are over-pronouncing it, usually because they are non-native speakers.

[RockDeviI]

Duur, Muur, Plamuur, Uur, Gestuurd, Geduurd, Fuut, Stuur, Buurman, Buurthuis (some more words with uu :P)

[RockDeviI]

Oh and when you say "Ik wil een auto huren" you pronounce "auto" worse than you pronounce "huren" :P (just a pointer)

[RockDeviI]

My english is pretty good, i know i have an accent but its not as clearly as you show in your video's which i see as a good thing xP i also kinda agree with fangPS, the dutch accent isnt that great xP

[fangPS]

Strange, to see people talking about the dutch accent... while I freaking hate it.. (and I am dutch)

[Janetfsho]

Now I'm frustrated because of my pronounciation of Pull and Push, it's also hard for me to say it right!

[Janetfsho]

It's so funny, because of you, I see more clearly what the Dutch accent actually is and what the differences are.. Because I'm Dutch, I don't really think about it, haha!

[1987marjo]

Not much with a uu? Huur, muur,zuur,kuur, duur, guur, tuur, buur, natuur...? Haha there are plenty! :D Practice makes perfect ;) (Yes I'm Dutch)

[EvanC0912]

if I'm not mistaken, the 'uu' in dutch is just like the u umlaut in german which is pronounced like saying 'eh' but with your lips positioned as if you are pronouncing 'u'

[TheGameMetro]

The difference is much, much bigger, you explain it really wrong.

[JolandaHeaven]

the dubbel UU and the 1 U sounds the same, but there not, but because we say it so fast that you can't hear it... But we can, so silly.... :P Maybe its only your mom, but i can say those words white out blinking ;) only pull is idd hard to say, it is idd not nataul for as to say. but push thats super easy.