Amelands is one of the dialects in the province of Fryslân. The Wadden island of Ameland is indeed part of the Frisian province, but you hardly hear any Frisian there. The dialect resembles what is spoken in Het Bildt, it is very similar to Harlingers and Snekers and it partly sounds like the Luwwadders speak in Leeuwarden. After the ‘Woa ?? deboek fan ut Amelands’ that appeared in 1987, the ‘Groat Amelander Woa ?? deboek’, the large Amelander dictionary, is published in 2016. Anton Oud and Siebren Dyk put it together.
Dialect of Ameland and Frisian
Ameland has its own dialect, Amelands, which has Dutch and Frisian characteristics. The development of the dialect has to do with the history of the island. The island lies off the coast of Friesland and therefore has a relationship with this mainland. The Van Camminghas strengthened the island’s bond with the city of Leeuwarden, the Frisian capital where Luwwadders, Stadsfries, is not spoken. Amelands can be regarded as the brother of other mixed dialects, such as Harlinges and Bildts. Due to trade there was a line via the barge skipper between Harlingen and Ameland. A Old Seun (Harlinger) and an Amelander can therefore understand each other’s language very well. Amelands occupies a special place among all those regional dialects because of a large number of its own characteristics. One of the special features of Amelands are the differences in pronunciation between the villages on east Ameland and those in the west. From all villages ?? Hollum, Ballum, Nes and Buren – came islanders who had joined the working group that focused on the words. It was essential that islanders from all villages were represented, precisely because of the different words and sayings per village. Those village differences are included in the dictionary.
Anton Oud
‘Woa ?? deboek fan ut Amelands ??
The compiler of the dictionary, Anton Oud (1935-2006), was born in Buren. He moved to the mainland and lived in Joure, but he kept a warm place in his heart for Ameland and the Amelands. He was very interested in his native language and decided to record it. He started in 1977 and after years of preparation, writing, sorting and deleting it became the first dictionary in 1987: ‘Woa ?? deboek fan ut Amelands ??. By compiling the dictionary he has meant a lot for the culture of Ameland and has done Ameland a great deal of pleasure. The book was received enthusiastically, although there were some comments. The cover was flabby and dirty quickly and words and concepts were missing. The work of the compiler was not yet done. Oud embarked on an improved second edition, but he was not given the task of completing this job. In November 2005 he received a ribbon from Mayor Bert Kuiper of Skarsterlân for all the work he has done for the Amelands. He died four months later, on March 28, 2006. Anton Oud is buried in Joure.
Fryske Akademy
Groat Amelander Woa ?? debook
After the death of Anton Oud, the Fryske Akademy, the institute that conducts scientific research in the field of Frisian language, culture, history and society, picked up the project and linguist Siebren Dyk became the supervisor. In Fryslân, dictionaries had already been published for Schiermonnikoogs (1968), eastern Terschellings (1976), Hindeloopers (1981) and western Terschellings (1986). In 1991 dictionaries were published about the Leeuwarders and in 1996 about the Bildts. The Oud Harlingen Association published a book about Harlingen in 2014.
Source: Cover book
Great
The Fryske Akademy was behind the second edition on the Amelands. Just like Oud, Siebren Dyk was able to rely on Amelanders who assisted the compiler with advice and action. In November 2016 it became ?? Groat Amelander Woa ?? debook ?? presented. And it may be great ?? because it has become a pill of more than 900 pages.
Sybren Dyk
Siebren Dyk is a linguist at the Fryske Akademy. Years before the release of the second edition, he was already involved in the publication and from 2002 to 2016 he was intensively involved with it. The second dictionary of the Amelands is more extensive than the ‘Woa ?? deboek fan ut Amelands ??. The pill contains instructions on pronunciation and shows the verb tenses. At the back of the book is a separate map of Ameland with figures that can be found in a list of regional names. Where is the Groatslecht, the Galgehoek or the Kiewietsplak? Where can you find the Ydepad, Willemspâd or Kippeloopje? The map provides advice and it also explains some names on holiday homes. The linguistic peculiarities of the dialect have also been given a place in the book. A handy index has been added from Dutch to Amelands and vice versa and the book has a hard cover with silver print under the guidance of Dyk.
A nice word
Amelands is bursting with beautiful words. One of the nicest words is am’pa’t. At the beginning of the 21st century, the older Amelanders still pronounce this as they should, but more and more it becomes apa’t spit out, the Frisian variant. It Woa’deboek can play a role in the reintroduction of Amelander concepts and the Amelander pronunciations of worn, freshened and Dutch words. Am’pa’t means separate.
Hoät and Hòd
Was the word in the Second World War ‘Scheveningen’ a test to discover whether you had Dutch or German meat in the tub and it was the sentence in Friesland ‘Bûter, brea and griene tsiis, whats that just like sizze kin, is you onrjochte Frisian’ with which resistance hero Grutte Pier determined whether he had a Frisian or a Dutchman in front of him; on Ameland you hear the dialect version of Old wood in the attic ?? whether someone comes from Hollum or Nes. The Hollumers say ?? oäd hoät on soäder ?? while the Nessemers are talking about ?? òd hòd on sòder ??. It means the same thing, it sounds different. It is the language test in Amelands, the classic sentence that illustrates the differences in pronunciation between east and west Ameland, the dialect that is still the official language on the street and in living rooms, but which is also under pressure due to the Verbandsing.
Groat Amelander Woa ?? debook
- Publisher: Fryske Akademy in Leeuwarden
- Edition: 500
- ISBN: 9789492176301
- Price: ?? 44.95
Amelander Quartet
In 2010 Ari van Hardeveld of design agency AVEHA from Ballum designed an Amelander quartet, a card game with Amelander words and concepts. It was published by Ameland Press publishing house. Van Hardeveld made beautiful illustrations for it and put the icon of the lighthouse on the back. And how are quartets in the Amelands?
“Can I fan thigh fan flowers ut koëbloemke?” “No, but can I fan thij fan flowers ut siden daske? Yes? Heste then ok the hônnemiger? In hestou miskien ut koëbloemke?” De speuler it self de papekloat. “Quartet!!”
The quartet comes with a glossary and otherwise there is it Great Amelander Woa’deboek because they are all in there. A cowflower is a daisy, one siden daske is a cuckoo flower, hônnemiger is yarrow and one papekloat is an orchid.
Firecracker (Brent Goose) / Source: AVEHA / Ameland Press Agency
Kôb (herring gull) / Source: AVEHA / Ameland Press Agency
Keutelke (Kentish plover) / Source: AVEHA / Ameland Press Agency
Bóntliew (oystercatcher) “Quartet !!!” / Source: AVEHA / Ameland Press Agency
Ameland
a. Hollum
B.. Ballum
C.. Nes
D.. Neighbors
E. Ameland
