This dissertation provides new insights into language variation and change in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Dutch. More specifically, it investigates whether and to what extent... Show moreThis dissertation provides new insights into language variation and change in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Dutch. More specifically, it investigates whether and to what extent official language policy measures exerted influence on actual language practice.During the nation-building period around 1800, the Northern Netherlands witnessed the introduction of a national language policy, which aimed at the spread of a homogeneous written standard variety of Dutch, symbolising 'the' nation. In concrete terms, these top-down endeavours resulted in the first official codification of the Dutch orthography (Siegenbeek 1804) and grammar (Weiland 1805). Despite marking a decisive turning point in the standardisation history of Dutch, the effectiveness of the so-called schrijftaalregeling 'written language regulation' has never been investigated empirically.Taking a historical-sociolinguistic approach, this dissertation aims to fill this research gap by examining the impact of language policy on patterns of variation and change. How successful was the schrijftaalregeling in disseminating the officialised norms across the population at large, as envisaged by the government? Making use of the newly compiled Going Dutch Corpus, a diachronic multi-genre corpus comprising more than 420,000 words of authentic usage data (private letters, diaries and travelogues, newspapers), a wide range of orthographic and morphosyntactic features is analysed. Show less
This thesis deals with Dutch language education in primary schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It focuses on the role of education in the development of Dutch as a standard... Show moreThis thesis deals with Dutch language education in primary schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It focuses on the role of education in the development of Dutch as a standard language, with attention for educational practices, pedagogical discourse and passive exposure to language norms in school books. The transition from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century was marked by rapid societal and ideological changes. Part of these changes were reforms of the Dutch language and school system. Language was increasingly seen as a marker of national identity. Education in the national language became an important prerequisite for the development of a modern and national civil society. To facilitate national unity and language education, the norms for the Dutch language were officially codified. At the same time, new pedagogical ideals led to changes in the organization, means and methods of primary school education. Based on reports from the school inspection, pedagogical literature and school books, this thesis draws an image of theory and practice of Dutch language education in primary schools between 1750 and 1850. Show less
