In Dutch we know two ways of writing the sound “ei” (“ij”). On the right you see the egg. Immediately the correct way of writing the sound. How do we get the other spelling? In this article we hope to make this clear.
Middle Dutch
In the Middle Ages, people in the low countries by the sea wrote and spoke Middle Dutch, just as Middle English, Middle French and Middle High German are also spoken in that period (1000-1500). The letter ij as we use it was unknown in Middle Dutch.
At that time it often happened that after a vowel that had to sound long, an i was placed. For this we use (in closed syllables that is) the same vowel twice: aa, ee, oo, uu. If two of the same vowels are used, it means that the sound must be long. In Middle Dutch, it was decided to put the letter i after the single vowel. Some examples: the word “heir” (army), the place name “Oisterwijk”. It was therefore the intention that the e in heir, should be kept for a long time, as well as the o of Oisterwijk. So: Heer and Oosterwijk.
This was also done after the letter i, so that two i’s appeared next to each other. So it meant: pronounce the letter i long. That second i was probably tricky. Perhaps to avoid confusion with the letter u, the second i was made into j. Behold: the letter ij appeared on the scene! Note: pronounced like an i (ie)!
So when one wrote “He” it had to be pronounced “Hie”.
It is nice to mention the origin of a few words in that context. The Middle Dutch word “lic” meant “meat”. This word, after placing the second i, became “liic”. After the second i was replaced by a j, the word “Lijc” appears. The last letter was later replaced by a k. We then read the word “corpse”. So flesh, nothing but material casing, from which the spirit has departed. This is also the case with the word Corn, only there is no question of placing a second i. So actually, licorice. The meaning is obvious: a thorn in the flesh. Likewise the word scar. (beware: never: scar!). Originally, people wrote scars. The c (k) was later corrupted to t. This meaning is also obvious: a sign in the flesh. Even the first part of the body composition has the meaning of flesh. By the way, the Middle Dutch lic has been fully maintained here. Body; lic meaning flesh and hame, or heme, meaning residence or country of origin. Lic-haam thus means “house of flesh”. The house (dwelling place) of the spirit, the soul.
Amsterdam
Everyone knows that Amsterdam has something to do with Het IJ. It will be less well known that Amsterdam also has something to do with the ij. Amsterdammers traditionally speak a dialect of the city. That was no different in the Middle Ages, although the Amsterdam of that time will not have sounded the same as the Amsterdam of today. In any case, the people of Amsterdam pronounced the Middle Dutch letter ij, originally an ie sound, in such a way that it began to resemble the sound “ei”. This is how the “ie” sound disappeared before the letter ij and was replaced by the “egg” sound. The Amsterdam dialect is therefore the cause of the opinion for some time that the ij should be pronounced as an egg.
However, areas that had little or no (trade) contacts with Amsterdam in the Middle Ages and the centuries immediately following, roughly the areas more than a hundred kilometers from Amsterdam, continued to pronounce the ij as “ie”. This is still done in Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel, parts of Gelderland and Zeeland. The Zeelanders speak of “high trees an den diek”. And they have liked.
Also in normal, everyday usage, we all participate, far from Amsterdam or close by, yes even to the city. Who says now, “What has he No one says that. Every Dutch person says in such a case: “What has he done? “Kiek es an! The Middle Ages are not over yet, even in our common language!
The “short” egg
The egg was originally pronounced ee. In the Middle Ages, the i had not been put behind the e for nothing. Over time, the egg appears to have changed its sound. Around the year 1600, this sound was pronounced almost everywhere as “ai”. This pronunciation is still encountered in many dialects. Around 1700, the pronunciation of ei and ij started to run parallel and the difference disappeared. The fact that in many dialects, especially in the west of the country, the ij is also pronounced as ai, has to do with the identical pronunciation of both spellings.
And now?
We did, however, have an additional language problem. Because when do we write an ij and when should the egg be? There are dozens of exercises in language books to sharpen the different writing methods. “You have to see it”, they say. So that is not entirely true. For children who are used to pronouncing ij as ie in their dialect, the problem is not that difficult; they then write the “long” ij. So so to speak an “egg”, or in other words: the egg of Columbus.