Dietsch
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For other uses, see Dietsch (disambiguation).
Dietsch ("Diets" in modern Dutch) is a colloquial word for the Middle Dutch language. In a linguistic context however, it specifically refers to the southern Middle Dutch dialects such as Brabantian, Flemish and Limburgish. Though even in modern Dutch linguistics it is rarely used. Diets(ch) is a cognate of "Dutch", "Deutsch" and "Duits".

In 16th and 17th century "Duits" and "Diets" were spelling variants of the same word. A modern translation for this word however would in both cases be "Dutch", even though "Duits" in modern Dutch means "German". During the 17th century it also became fashionable, in Protestant circles, to use Nederduitsch (to be translated as 'humble Dutch', after -nederig), as illustrated by the following 17th century Dutch text:

Neemt hy voor in Nederduitsch, zijn moederlijcke tale te zingen; des hoeft hy zich zoo luttel te schamen als de Hebreen, Griecken, Latijnen ... Wat onze spraeck belangt, die is, sedert weinige jaren herwaert, van bastertwoorden en onduits allengs geschuimt, en gebouwt, en geeft den leerling nu veel vooruit
["If he intents to sing in humble Dutch, his mother tongue, he needs to be no more ashamed of it than the Hebrews, Greeks, Romans ... As concerns our own language, in recent years it has been cleansed of loan words and un-Dutch usage, improved, and now gives the pupil great advantage"] Joost van den Vondel, Aenleidinge ter Nederduitsche Dichtkunste, 1650.
In the 19th century however, due to the true emergence of (Germanic) linguistics as a science, German terminology was literally translated into Dutch, and Nederduits (its previous meaning already obsolete) became the translation of Niederdeutsch, meaning Low German; which is a (largely depreciated) linguistic classification (lack of the Second Germanic sound shift) rather than an autonym. This shift, sometimes causes some confusion when interpreting pre-19th century Dutch texts.

Contents [hide]
1 Origin and linguistic meaning
2 Disappearance from everyday speech
3 See also
4 Sources



[edit] Origin and linguistic meaning
"Diets" derives itself from the Middle Dutch word "diet" meaning "people". In a linguistic context, "Diets" refers to the southern dialects and "Duuts" (which differs from "Diets" due to Frisian/Ingvaeonic influence) to the Northern ones. The word relates closely to the Gothic word thiuda and the Old English Þéod, both meaning the same.

The forms "duits" and "diets" evolved later on. The Old Dutch, as well as the Old High German, form of "diets" is "diut". This evolved into "diet" and "duut" and their adjective forms "diets" and "duuts". The word "duut" later became "duits" because of a specifically Dutch sound shift (u → ui) which turned a vowel into a diphthong. "Duits" soon only referred to the German language and people because the diphthong "ui" now made "duuts" sound like the German ethnonym "Deutsch", compare German [dɔʏ̯tʃ] (Deutsch) with Dutch [dœyts] (Duijtsch/Duytsch/Duits). "Diets" was used along "Nederlands" (both meaning "Dutch") until the Second World War when after the German occupation it fell in disuse because the Germans and Dutch-speaking fascists used the word extensively in their propaganda.


[edit] Disappearance from everyday speech
"Diets" is no longer a part of common speech in Dutch due to its adoption in the 20th century by fascists (NSB, Zwart Front, Verdinaso and VNV), who used it extensively in their propaganda. "Diets" was closely linked to the concept of "Dietsland", a hypothetical country in which all Dutch people were united.

The German invasion in World War II discredited this movement and made "Diets" a term for adherers to fascism.