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. 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". This reflects an earlier closer alignment of these West Germanic language, and an effort of emphasizing Dutch difference in modern times.

The language was previously called Nederduitsch (Lower German), 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 decides to sing in 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.

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 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 a 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 (Deutsch) with Dutch (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.

Disappearance from everyday speech

Until circa 1830, the Dutch and Flemish were generally considered to be one single people and are still considered as such by some. Due to historical causes, mostly rooted in the Dutch revolt, the two groups slowly started to diverge. The concept of Diets did not make a distinction between Dutch people, even though such a distinction began to form. Thus when Belgium (and thus Flanders) proclaimed its independence from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the use of Diets became limited and depended heavily on context.

In the 19th century, when the creation of national states took hold over Europe, the use of terms like Nederduits waned in the Netherlands. The German unification by Prussia led to Bismarck enforcing High German as the official language in the German-controlled regions bordering the Netherlands and Belgium. This led to suppression of the Low Franconian and Low German (i.e. Niederdeutsch, Plattdeutsch or Plattdüütsch) dialects in the western and northern part of Germany. That suppression and the growth of power of Prussia during the German unification caused a counter response to emphasise Nederlands and Vlaams as the name of their languages to signal its difference from Deutsch and Deutschland. Distance from the great German claims was considered patriotic. The term diets gradually became used only by adherers to a great German cause.

However, the main reason why "Diets" is no longer a part of common speech in Dutch is the adoption of it in the 20th century by fascists (NSB, Zwart Front, Verdinaso and VNV), who used it extensively in their propaganda. "Diets" in their use referred to the shared ethnic origin of both the Dutch and Flemish and formed a part of the name of their dream of "Dietsland", a hypothetical, conceptual country in which all Dutch people were united, but close to Germany. The German invasion in World War II discredited this movement and made "Diets" a term for adherers to a fascist great German cause.

See also

• Greater Netherlands
• Whole-Netherlands
• Dutch (disambiguation)
• Dutch language
• Dutch people
• Flemish people
• Low Dietsch

Sources

• M.C. van den Toorn e.a. (eds.), Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse taal, 1997.
• M. de Vries e.a., Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (1882-1998)
• Guy Janssens & Ann Marynissen, Het Nederlands vroeger en nu, 2003.
• : from which the chapter ''"Er zijn geen Belgen!"'' is published on the Internet

nl:Diets fr:Thiois nds:Dietsch