20 December 2005

AMSTERDAM — Dutch is a complicated and illogical language, according to 60 percent of the Dutch people taking part in a new opinion poll.

And 58 percent of the respondents said they have difficulty with spelling, when, for example, composing a letter. Only 37 percent of the people who took part in the Maurice de Hond poll, which was published on Tuesday, said they found Dutch to be simple and logical.

The new spelling rules that come into force on August 2006 are unknown to 67 percent of the public. While 42 percent say they try to adhere to the revision of the spelling rules of 1995, and many are opposed to the new regulations coming into force next year.

Only 28 percent of the respondents feel they have mastered the 1995 standard, as laid out in 'Het Groene Boekje' (the Dutch language 'bible'), and an equally large number of people say they still use the pre-1995 spelling.

The latest revision of standard Dutch has caused a lot of debate in recent days. Several Dutch newspapers, magazines, the national news broadcaster NOS, and news website Planet.nl have announced they will boycott the new spelling. ]

The editors claim the latest revision makes the language unnecessarily unclear and ugly.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2005]

Subject: Dutch news