Information about Dietsch

Dietsch ("Diets" in modern Dutch) is a colloquial word for the Middle Dutch language. In a linguistic context however, it specifically refers to the southern Middle Dutch dialects such as Brabantian, Flemish and Limburgish. Diets(ch) is a cognate of "Dutch", "Deutsch" and "Duits".

In 16th and 17th century "Duits" and "Diets" were spelling variants of the same word. A modern translation for this word however would in both cases be "Dutch", even though "Duits" in modern Dutch means "German".

Origin and linguistic meaning

"Diets" derives itself from the Middle Dutch word "diet" meaning "people". In a linguistic context, "Diets" refers to the southern dialects and "Duuts" (which differs from "Diets" due to Frisian influence) to the Northern ones.

The forms "duits" and "diets" evolved later on. The Old Dutch, as well a the Old High German, form of "diets" is "diut". This evolved into "diet" and "duut" and their adjective forms "diets" and "duuts". The word "duut" later became "duits" because of a specifically Dutch sound shift (u → ui) which turned a vowel into a diphthong. "Duits" soon only referred to the German language and people because the diphthong "ui" now made "duuts" sound like the German ethnonym "Deutsch", compare German [dɔʏ̯tʃ] (Deutsch) with Dutch [dœyts] (Duijtsch/Duytsch/Duits). "Diets" was used along "Nederlands" (both meaning "Dutch") until the Second World War when after the German occupation it fell in disuse because the Germans and Dutch-speaking fascists used the word extensively in their propaganda.

Disappearance from everyday speech

Until 1830, the Dutch and Flemish (who live in Northern Belgium) were considered to be one single people, and in fact some people still do so. Due to historical causes, mostly rooted in the Dutch revolt the two groups slowly started to diverge. The concept of "Diets" did not make a distinction between Dutch people even though in reality it began to form itself. Thus when Belgium, including the Flemish, proclaimed their independence from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (which included all Dutch speakers) the use of "diets" was limited and depended heavily on context.

However the main reason why "Diets" is no longer a part of common speech in Dutch, is because 20th century fascists (NSB, Zwart Front, Verdinaso and VNV) used it extensively in their propaganda. They used "Diets" to refer to the shared ethnical origin of both the Dutch and Flemish and to form the name of their dream of "Dietsland", a country in which all Dutch people were united.

See also

• Greater Netherlands
• Whole-Netherlands
• Dutch (disambiguation)
• Dutch language
• Dutch people
• Flemish people
• Low Dietsch

Sources

• M.C. van den Toorn e.a. (eds.), Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse taal, 1997.
• M. de Vries e.a., Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (1882-1998)
• Guy Janssens & Ann Marynissen, Het Nederlands vroeger en nu, 2003.
• Paardekooper, P.C. (1962). Er zijn geen Belgen!; zes causeriën (in Dutch). Standaard-Boekhandel. OCLC 38812137.