Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
From nether- + Dutch, probably a calque of Dutch Nederduitsch (modern: Nederduits) or a calque of German Niederdeutsch.
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nether Dutch | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Nether-Dutch | alternative | lexicographic |
From nether- + Dutch, probably a calque of Dutch Nederduitsch (modern: Nederduits) or a calque of German Niederdeutsch.
The truth is that the Nether-Dutch of the European mainland and the Nether-Dutch—that is, the English—of Britain and America have long ceased to be mutually intelligible, but that they can again become mutually intelligible under certain circumstances. [...]. I know by experience that, in the city of Hamburg, where though the polite and literary speech is High-Dutch, the natural speech of the people is Nether-Dutch, if you speak English slowly and carefully, choosing your words well and uttering them distinctly, you will be understood by a common man in the streets of the Hanseatic city.1882, Edward A. Freeman, Lectures to American Audiences. I. The English People in its three Homes. II. The practical Bearings of general European History., Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, page 75:
But I have a deadly hatred of sch generally for a clumsy and newfangled corruption—it is either the older sc-, or it is the High Dutch way of pronouncing s followed by a consonant, … The Nether Dutch of Germany hasn't got it at all except as the representative of sc-, and that of Holland has kept the old pronunciation of sk, even though written sch, except as a termination, when I believe it is pronounced s. … and if the Germans, or rather Nether Dutchmen, of Sleswick have to become Danes in the long run, and to learn Danish at school, …letter by Strangford, in: Ten Letters to E. A. Freeman, Esq., in: 1878, Original Letters and Papers of the Late Viscount Strangford upon Philological and Kindred Subjects. Edited by Viscountess Strangford, p. 32
But round about these, in a broken curve are found the represenatives of the Low-German (Nieder-Deutsch, Netherdutch or Netherlandish) family. Along the shores of the Baltic and far inland, where German [= (Standard) High German] is established in the educated ranks, the mass of the population speak Platt-deutsch, which is nothing but a form of Dutch, not German or Hoch-deutsch.1917, The Dutch Language, in: De nieuwe gids vol. 32.1, p. 982ff., here p. 984
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nether Dutch | alternative | lexicographic | |
| Nether-Dutch | alternative | lexicographic |