The Dutch Language

Seljuk   Thu May 29, 2008 10:32 pm GMT
Hoi, I have no problem with the gutteral "g" , being a Turkish citizen, but really have a big problem with the pronunciation of verbs' infinitives' suffixes. how do you pronounce the -en at the end of all verbs? I also dont understand "uit"s pronunciation. Is it sth like "out" in English? Neither do i comprehend "een"s pronnciation... :(((
Skippy   Fri May 30, 2008 6:32 am GMT
Wow.

Anyway, back to your point, if Dutch is anything like German (and it is, to an extent), the -en ending would end up being pronounced as a syllabic 'n,' otherwise, it shouldn't be too difficult from how you would pronounce -en in Turkish.
guest   Fri May 30, 2008 1:14 pm GMT
<<how do you pronounce the -en at the end of all verbs? I also dont understand "uit"s pronunciation. Is it sth like "out" in English? Neither do i comprehend "een"s pronnciation... :((( >>

Final -en in Dutch is pronounced as a final -e, the 'n' is omitted in colloquial speech. It is really only pronounced when the speaker is conscienciously stressing the word (prescriptivism), and by some speakers.

Dutch 'ui' is a diphthong which doesn't exist in English. The closest approximation in English would be 'ou' like in "out", but it's an umlauted 'ou':/oe+y/. To English speakers, it normally gets perceived as 'ou'
guest   Fri May 30, 2008 1:40 pm GMT
<<Neither do i comprehend "een"s pronnciation>>

"een" (without accents) is pronounced like /oen/ (XSAMPA /9n/), or /n/ in sloppy speech, where the 'oe' sounds like the German short vowel 'ö', or where the 'n' is sounded (and held at length) with no distinguishable vowel, kinda like English "mmm", but "nnn". Consciencious speakers use the /oen/ pronunciation
oleole   Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:28 am GMT
"I also dont understand "uit"s pronunciation. Is it sth like "out" in English?"
there are such vowels as 'ui' in Turkish, as I know it a bit. In the word 'uit' the letter 'u' should be pronounced as letter 'â' in Turkish word 'bekâr' in soft way and letter 'i' in the same word should be pronounced as Turkish or German letter 'ü'. so the word 'uit' you can pronounce as 'âüt' according Turkish.
Seljuk   Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:51 am GMT
Thank you all really, and could you please tell me about één, What is it? I only see it in the phrase "één keer" or sth like that...
guest   Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:51 pm GMT
een = a/an
één = one

'één keer' means "one time, once (lit "one turn")"