Although God has long spoken in Dutch, Philip Droge shows how Dahl lost importance in America.

Philippe Drage traveled to America on his bicycle to search for clues the frog, American version of Dutch. After English became dominant, Dutch was necessary because it continued to be used in the church for some time.

Dutch could easily have been the official language of the United States. Only one vote for Congress. That is the essence of a beloved story that grows over and over again. It also has variants, where Dutch replaces German, Swedish or Latin.

This already shows that it is a piece of cake. To this day, the United States does not have an official national language. A firm decision has not been made on this. English simply rose to the top. And with a growing number of Spanish speakers, even the dominance of English doesn’t seem sacrosanct.

A country of immigrants like the United States has traditionally been multicultural and the Dutch have long been a non-negligible factor, Philip Drage makes clear in his new book Daval. How Dutch (Almost) Conquered America.

Gin, cookie, landscape

The promise of that verse was not fully fulfilled. Of course, America has plenty of places and street names with Dutch origins. And according to linguist and lexicographer Charlton Laird, Dutch has more personal loanwords than any other language. think about Gin (Jin), Cookie (cookie), Terrain (territory) and Kidnapping (Abduction).

But Drage has written books worth reading Shadow of Tambora And Mother City. Jakarta, A Family HistoryIt rarely talks about how the frog Placed. And how he writes the frog lost importance. English became so popular in the New World that God continued to speak in Dutch for a long time. It kept the language alive in some parts of the United States, especially in the Northeast. At least you needed him on Sundays.

Pastors were brought from the Netherlands if needed. Otherwise they were expected to master the language quickly. The first signs of the departure of the Dutch god appeared in New York. The most prominent Reformed church in Manhattan began in 1764 with English-language services in addition to Dutch services (Trage errs in speaking of ‘misses’).

This so upset some Dutch-speaking reformers that they sued over this blasphemous error. It didn’t help them get their point across. The judge wisely refrained from passing judgment. He does not feel qualified to make a statement about the way the Dutch communicate with heaven.

In the struggle for independence, the Dutch colonies distinguished themselves by their ability to fight against the British oppressors. George Washington talked about this.Loyal Dutch Belt‘. In nineteenth-century New York, it was considered very chic for a while to boast the family tree of the first Dutch settlers who founded New Amsterdam. At the end of the same century there was even a Holland craze in America, and everything from that country attracted great interest.

Rough bowel sounds

But none of those developments were completed the frog save In 1802, a British minister wrote with horror of the Dutch-speaking people who passed through. His distaste was not for their horribly raspy vocal sounds. He thought those preachers were a bit too simple. And many of their husbands got married Native AmericansAfter that they blended both cultures in their families.

The son of Martin Van Buren, the only president of the United States to be educated in Dutch (in the White House between 1837 and 1841), he found his father’s language dubious as swearing and the ‘croak of frogs’. In his view, the speakers were ‘wild, rude, rude and generally drunk. They are little better than the neighboring Indians.

Comedian Frank Kennedy created a sensation in the 1900s in various theaters with a repertoire full of crude tongue-in-cheek. The alter egos he toured on stage with were called the Dutch philosopher and Hans den Hollander. teasing the frog And its speakers built up a lucrative business, until Dutch became more obscure in America.

How the doul came to sound is a mystery

Drage’s book makes it very clear how the frog The night went out like a candle. Interest in this linguistic interest quickly declined. As a result, the writer is lost as he can only provide fragments of the story. Even how the frog It sounded like a mystery. One of the few sources of the sound was the comedian Kennedy’s recordings.

Fortunately, one of Drage’s specialties is the tasteful presentation of relatively minor, obscure history. He has done it before, for example, in his book MoresnetAbout the stamp area that was the third neighbor of the Netherlands.

By bike

Somewhat less successful is the author’s own adventure, which he uses as a binding agent for his findings. In typical Dutch fashion, by bicycle, he goes looking for clues the frog . It doesn’t offer much experience than a flat tire at an unfortunate time and in an unfortunate place. However, he repeatedly shares the insight that Americans don’t care about their past. Dutch roots are discussed in song along with other roots, and almost everyone knows how to recite them regularly when asked.

Daval Most of all, it inspires a desire to really dive deep into the life and death of the Dutch in America. This could be an exciting joint project for scientists from universities in both countries. But in times when only half a man and a horse’s head choose to study languages, that’s probably wishful thinking.

Philip Droge
Daval. How Dutch (Almost) Conquered America
the spectrum; 256 pages. €24.99