Het groot woorden-boeck: gestelt in 't Nederduytsch, ende in 't Engelsch

Of the pronunciation of the Netherdutch Letters.

a is pronounced more fully and broader then ours, as the French a with an open mouth, or as ah in English.

b, as bea, or as the first syllable or beaten, geslagen.

c, as ce, or se, as in the first syllable of these words, ce-ment, or se-nate.

d, as de, or as the first syllable of dea-con.

e, as ea, or as the first syllable of ea-ger.

f, as ef, or as the first syllable of ef-fect.

g, as ge, or as the first syllable of Iea-lous.

h, as ha, or as the first syllable of ha-ter.

i, as our double ee, as is heard in eek.

k, as ka, as is heard in the first syllable ka-ble, for there is great affinity betweene c and k in the pronounciation of words.

l, as el, as in the first syllable of el-der.

m, as em, as is heard in the first syllable of em-bers.

n, as en, or as the first syllable of en-vie.

o, differeth not much from the sound of our o, but vvhen e follovveth and that it is a Diphtong, as in this vvord Moeder, pronounce it as u, and as if it were writen Mouder. Also vvhen as u follovveth the o as in this word vrou, pronounce it as the first syllable of frow-ard.

p, as pea, or as the first syllable of pea-cock.

q, as qu, or cu, or as the first syllables of cu-bit, or cu-rious.

r, as er, or as the first syllable or er-rour.

s, as es, or as the first syllable of es-cape.

t, as te, or as the first syllable of te-nant.

Note also the t comming before i, is pronounced as c: Example; conditie, condition, pronounce it condicie; portie, portion, as porcie.

u, as ou, having the sound of the French u, or as is heard in the first syllable of this word ou-trage.

w, as ow, or as is heard in the first syllable of ow-fill.

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x, as ex, or as the first syllable of ex-act.

y, as the sound of a double i.

z, as ze, or as the first syllable of ze-darie.

And thus much for the pronounciation of the Netherdutch letters.

These letters are divided into Vowels and Consonants.

A Vovvell is so called, because it makes a perfect sound of itselfe, and giveth life and soule to the Consonants.

There are five Vowels, a, e, i, o, u.

A Consonant is a letter which giveth a sound joyned vvith a Vowell.

I j, and u v are Vowels and Consonants.

The Vowell I i is heard in these words, Ick, I, in, in, Yemandt, Any body.

The Consonant J j is heard in these words, Ian, John, ja, jea, jock, yoake, Ionst, Favour.

The Vowell u is heard in Ure, Houre, Uyt, Out, Huys, House.

The Consonant v is seene in theese words, Vrede, Peace, Vleesch, Flesh, Vyandt, Enemy.

The Consonants are divided into Mutes and Liquids.

The Mutes are f, l, m, r, and s, because that in pronounciation these letters goe before Vowels.

The Liquid letters are b, c, d, g, h, j, k, p, t, v, w, z. These letters being pronounced, end with a Vowell, as in be, ce, de, ge, ha, je, ka, pe, que, te, va, wa, ze.

Of the changing of Letters.

In the Netherdutch words there fals some alteration of letters; as ch is changed into g, or ge, s into z, t into d, f into v, c into k: This change is seene in this example; as, Heylich and Heylige, Holy, ch into ge; VVijs and VVijze, Wise, s into z; Woort and Woorden, Words, t into d; Wijf and Wijven, Wife, Wives, f into v; Zaec and Zaecken, Cause, Causes, c into k.

There is also some change in the letter u, which in the Plurals is changed into w: as in Leeu, Lyon, Leewen, or also Leeuwen, Lyons; Zeeu, Zealander, Zeewen or Zeeuwen, Zealanders; Blaue, Blewe, Blaewen or Blaeuwen, Blewes; Hieu, Hewe, Hiewen or Hieuwen, Hewes, or Cuts. Also in the words Dagh, Levendigh, Hand, and Geleerd, the pronounciation fals lighter when the g is changed into ch; as in Dach, Day, Levendich, Living or Quickning: and the d into t, as in Hant, Hand, Geleert, Taught.

There falleth sometimes a change in the pronounciation of letters, albeit that in themselves they are without alteration when as a z followes after d f g h k p s t x, it is softly pronounced as a s. For in place of rad zeggen, af-zeggen, och zeggen, oock zeggen, op-zeggen, ons zeggen, ontzeggen, &c. wee say, rad seggen, af-seggen, och seggen, oock seggen, op-seggen, ons seggen, ontseggen, &c.

And when a v cometh after b d f g h k g s t and x, it is pronounced as f. For in place of doodt vliegen, af-varen, roock vatten, ons vieren, &c. wee pronounce doodt fliegen, af-faren, roock fatten, ons fieren, &c.

There are some words which make a great difference by t and d, written in the end of a word: As, Wand, a Wall, Want, a Mole, Rad, a Dormouse, Rat, a Wheele, Bloot, Naked, Blood, Faint-hearted, Voet, a Foote, Voed, Foode.

C is changed into K, as Cop into Kop, Pate: Coopmanschap into Koopmanschap, Marchandize.

S into Z, as Seker into Zeker, Sure; Suyver into Zuyver, Pure; and many more, as is to be seene in the Dictionarie.

Of Dipthongs.

A Dipthonge is so called, because it hath a double sound of two Vowels in one Syllable, and are called in Netherdutch Twee-klancken, which are these following: Ae, Ai or ay, Au, aeu or aeuw, Ee, Ei or ey, Eu, eeu or euy, Ieu or ieuw, Oe, Oey, Oy or ooy, Ou, Ue, Uy or uu: In the knowing of these Syllables consists the chiefest part of Ortographie.

Ae is seene and heard in these words, Paert, a Horse, Baer, a Beere, Haert, a Hart; which sometimes are written thus, Pært, Bær, Hært, for the distinction sake.

The ai or ay is heard in Hay, Kay, but the a is pronounced short. But in aey the a

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is soundeth fully; as in Zaey, Sowe, Maey, Mowe, Draey, Turne.

The syllable au is heard in Snau, a Taunt, Gau, Nimble, Kau, Chawe.

The syllable aeu seemeth to fall longer in these words, Blaeu, Blewe, Graeu, Gray, Raeu, Rawe, Paeu, Pea-cock.

The ee is heard in Zee, Sea, Mee, Woad.

The ey is heard in Geyt, Goat, Reycken, Reach, Reyn, Cleane or Pure.

The eu is heard in Heur, Their, Deur, Dore, Neuse, Nose.

The eeu is heard in Leeu, Lyon, Schreeu, Cry, Sneeu, Snowe.

The euy is heard in Leuyheydt, Lasinesse, Steuyten, to Stop, Fleuyten, to Flute. And in the Brabantish pronunciation, Uyl, Owle, Vuyl, Fowle, Luyden, Men or People, are pronounced and spelled Euyl, Veuyl, Leuyden.

The ie is heard in these wordt, Kiewitten, Lapwinckles; Also in Zie, See, Bie, Bee, Niet, Not, Iemant, Any body.

The ieu is heard in pronouncing of Hieu, Hewe, Nieu, Newe.

The oe is heard in Zoet, Sweete, Bloet, Bloud, Goet, Good.

The oey is heard in Bloeyen, to Blossome, or Flourish, Koeyen, Cowes, Roeyen, to Rowe.

The ou is heard in Grou, Growe, Vrough, Early, Vough, Joyne. Also according to the French pronounciation in Hout, Wood, Zout, Salt, Gout, Golde.

The oy or ooy is heard in Hoyen, to make Hay, Mooyen, Meanes, Doyen, to Thawe; or thus: Hoien, Moien, Doien.

The ue is heard in Buer, Neighbour, Huer, Hire, Muer, Wall, Zuer, Sowre.

The uy is heard in Huys, House, Luyt, Lute, Muys, Mouse. And it were better that they were written Huus, Luut, Muus.

Of Tripthongs called in Netherdutch Dry-klancken.

These Tripthongs are when three Vowells come together in a word, and make three severall sounds, and are these; Aeu, ieu, uae, as is heard in these words following: As aeu in Flaeu-hertigheydt, Fainthartednesse, Blaeu and Grau coleur, A Blewe and a Gray colour.

Ieu, as in Hieu, Hewe, Nieu, Newe, Schieu, Shunne. Example; Hy nam een Bijl ende Hieu een tacksken van den boom, He tooke a Hachet and Hewe a bough from the tree. Againe, Ongegronde Nieuwigheyt salmen Schieuwen, Ungrounded Novelty one must Eschewe.

Uae, in Quaecken, Quacking; as also in the words Bequaem, Fit, Quaedt, Bad or Ill.

Yeu in Yeuwers, Somewhere.

Oey in Besnoeyt, Lopt or Pruned, Geboeyt, Fettred or Shackled, Vermoeyt, Wearied, &c. And so much of Dipthongs and Tripthongs.

Of a Syllable, called in Dutch een Syllabe.

A Syllable is a word or part of a word uttered with one breath. And there are two kind of Syllables. The one is a Mono-syllable, consisting of one word, as God, God, Man, Man. The other is called a Poly-syllable, consisting of many Syllables, as in these words following; Godtheydt, Godhead, Manheydt, Manhood, Zaligheyt, Salvation, Rechtveerdigheydt, Righteousnesse, Rechtveerdighmakinge, Justification.

Of the partition of Syllables.

When a single Consonant cometh in a word, the Consonant is to be joyned to the last Syllable, as we read in these words; Wij-ze, Wise, Vro-me, Honest, Goe-de, Good, Romey-nen, Romans: So that the Consonants z, m, n, m and n, belong all to the last syllable.

But when a double Consonant comes in a word, the first part with the first Syllable, and the second, with the last; as in Wis-sen, Sages, Snel-le, Swift, Zin-nen, Senses.

When two Consonants come in a word which may be pronounced together, they commonly belong to one Syllable; as in Beschaemt, Ashamed, Gedwaelt, Erred, Geschent, Defiled, or Deflowred.

When as two different Consonants come in a word, commonly the one Consonant joynes with the precedent, and the other Consonant with the Syllable following; as in Han-den, Hands, Hoor-den, Heard, Aen-

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zien, Respect, Eer-baer, Honest, Lief-de, Love.

The partition of these Syllables in common rules might be written at lenght, but for brevities sake I will omit it.