WNT - Het Woordenboek Der Nederlansche Taal

The ''Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal'' (''WNT''; ) is a

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...

of the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

. It contains between 350,000 and 400,000 entries describing Dutch words from 1500 to 1976. The paper edition consists of 43 volumes (including three supplements) on 49,255 pages. It is believed to be the largest dictionary in the world in number of pages. The dictionary was nearly 150 years in the making from 1849; the first volume was published in 1864, and the final volume was presented to Albert II of Belgium and

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born ...

in 1998.

Background

The ''WNT'' follows the formula of the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' and the ''

Deutsches Wörterbuch The ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' (; "German Dictionary"), abbreviated ''DWB'', is the largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the German language in existence. in being a

historical dictionary A historical dictionary or dictionary on historical principles is a dictionary which deals not only with the latterday meanings of words but also the historical development of their forms and meanings. It may also describe the vocabulary of an earl ...

whose entries are based on primary sources of actual usage. Its impetus was the inaugural 1849 ''Nederlandsch Congres'' ("Dutch Congress"), a conference of linguists from the Netherlands and Belgium. The conference, which was held alternately south and north of the border, ran from 1849 to 1912; its goal was to (re-)establish contacts between Netherlanders and Belgians (after Belgium split off from the Netherlands in 1830) and to lend strength to the Flemish movement in Belgium (which was up against the widespread influence of French). At that first conference, in August 1849 at

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

, it was proposed that a dictionary be written "for our common tongue". Dutch linguist (1820–1892) was given the task of writing it. Financial support for the project came from the Dutch and Belgian governments. Also part of the project was spelling reform; De Vries's coauthor (1809–1868) designed the new orthography, though the system is named for both. Another project related to the ''WNT'' was the development of a dictionary of

Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...

, the ' (1885–1927), by two students of De Vries, and . De Vries published the first fascicle (''A-Aanhaling'') in 1864; the first volume (''A-Ajuin'') in 1882. The last (''Zuid''-''Zythum'') was published in 1998; afterward, three supplements to the original dictionary text containing modern-day Dutch words were published, in 2001. It is published by the ''Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie'' ("Institute for Dutch Lexicology"), which works under the supervision of the

Dutch Language Union The Dutch Language Union ( , NTU) is an international regulatory institution that governs issues regarding the Dutch language. It is best known for its spelling reforms which are promulgated by member states, grammar books, the Word list of th ...

, and is available for free online.

Importance

Besides its sheer size and its historical value, the ''WNT'' is credited with supporting the "integrationist" movement in Flanders, that is, those who sought a rapprochement between the speakers of Dutch in the Netherlands and Belgium. The De Vries-Te Winkel orthography was made mandatory by the Belgian government in 1864, and shortly thereafter by the Dutch government. It still underlies the rules for orthography and has thus contributed to orthographic unity between the two countries.

References

External links

''Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal'' at the INL website
{{in lang, nl 1864 non-fiction books Dutch dictionaries Dutch non-fiction literature

Background

Importance

See also

References

External links