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YAPT: Dutch ij and ui

From:Carsten Becker <post@...>
Date:Friday, July 23, 2004, 10:38
Hello!

My parents decided the day before yesterday's noon to visit the
Netherlands the other day. When reading the road signs, we weren't sure
how to pronounce <ij>, <u> and <ui>. My father always said [i:] or [Ei)]
for <ij>, [y] for <u> and <ui> I don't remember anymore. I always
thougth that <ij> would be [Ai)] (IJsselmeer is here usually pronounced
["Ai)sl=me:6]) and <ui> would be either [Oi)] or even [9i)]. <g> is
always [x] or [X]. And <sch> is [sx], because it's ["Ens.xId@] AFAIK
(Enschede, German ["EnS@d@]). At least in the news they always said it
that way when there was a big bomb explosion (or was it a train crash?)
in Enschede some years ago.

BTW, it was a nice sunny (and very warm) day. We visited the historical
centres of Gouda and Leiden and had a quick look at the shore promenade
of Scheweningen, but there were too many people and it was too hot and
everything was far too expensive. My legs hurt when we were at home
again, and I was quite tired. Nevertheless, it was a nice day and I
could get a glimpse at (of?) the Netherlands.

Who is right concerning the pronounciation? I'm sure it depends on the
region, like so often. But what's the official Modern Dutch
pronounciation then?

Thanks,
Carsten

Replies

Tristan Mc Leay <kesuari@...>
Philippe Caquant <herodote92@...>
vehke <vaksje@...>