Dutch Pronunciation Content from the guide to life, the universe and everything

Dutch Pronunciation

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Faculty of Science

The Netherlands: Introduction | Topography | Facts and Figures | Polders and Dykes | The Dutch National Anthem | Dutch - the Language | Dutch Pronunciation | Dutch Grammar | Handy Dutch Phrases | The Dutch | Transportation in the Netherlands

Introduction

The pronunciation of some letters and letter combinations is very different to anything English uses. The explanation of some letters might sometimes be lacking, or slightly different to the actual Dutch pronunciation. In those cases there is no English equivalent of the phonetic sound.

The Letters

LetterName
Pronunciation
Pronunciation in a word
AAaah usually as in cat
Bbay like English
Csay like English
Dday in the middle of a word like dog, at the end as a 't'
Eay a short 'eh' sound
Fef like English
G(dutch g) -ay The g in dutch is pronounced so that you make rougly the sound of clearing your throat, it is the same sound as the Scottish loch.
Hhaaah like English
Ieee like English
Jjay like English
Kkaah like English
Lel like English
Mem like English
Nen like English
Ooh usually like the english word awe, but shorter
Ppay like English
Qkoo kw
Rer a rolling r
Ses like English
Ttay like English
Uoe like the e in her
V[dutch v]ay bit between a 'v' and a 'f'
W[dutch w] vay short 'v'
Xix like English
Yee-grec like English
IJlaahnge ay ai as in train, not quite but nothing is closer...
Zzed like English

Vowel combinations

CombinationPronunciation
auow
ailike the English name for the letter 'i'
aaaaah
euher
eiai, as in train (see IJ from the letter list - this has the same sound)
eeay
ieeee
ouow
oioi
oeoo, like in boot
uuoo, like in loo, but longer
uioe, like in foe

Consonant combinations

CombinationPronunciation
chlike a dutch g, sound of clearing your throat
dtt

For more information on the Dutch language, see the Dutch language page.


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