# Suriname Dutch



## Hal1fax

Does anyone know if there is much of a difference between Netherlands/Belgian Dutch and Suriname Dutch?


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## Joannes

There are mainly lexical differences between the three varieties.

What's funny about some major differences of Surinamese with northern Dutch pronunciaton is that quite some of them are shared by Belgian Dutch:
- a 'soft' pronunciation of <g> (IPA [γ] rather than 'hard' [χ])
- an alveodental /r/ (instead of a uvular one)
- a bilabial /w/ (instead of a bilabial one)
- no diphtong tendency of <ee>, <oo> and <eu> (so pronounced [e.], not towards [e.ı]; [o.], not towards [o.u]; and [ø.], not towards [ø.y])

(Sometimes there are also shared differences to Netherlandic Dutch between Surinamese and Belgian Dutch in lexis: *valies* 'koffer' and *toespijs* 'beleg' are examples.)

For European speakers of Dutch, next to mere unfamiliarity with the overseas variety, the biggest problem for understanding is probably code switching: speakers in Suriname often switch between Dutch and Sranan.


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## sound shift

Is Suriname Dutch stress-timed (like the Dutch of Belgium and the Netherlands) or is it syllable-timed? (I don't know the Dutch for 'stress-timed', so I cannot find out for myself.)


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## Joannes

sound shift said:


> Is Suriname Dutch stress-timed (like the Dutch of Belgium and the Netherlands) or is it syllable-timed? (I don't know the Dutch for 'stress-timed', so I cannot find out for myself.)


What makes you wonder? It's Dutch, it's stress-timed.

I can't edit my previous post anymore, but obviously it should have said:


Joannes said:


> - a bilabial /w/ (instead of a *labiodental* one)


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## sound shift

Joannes said:


> What makes you wonder? It's Dutch, it's stress-timed.
> 
> I can't edit my previous post anymore, but obviously it should have said:



Morgen, Joannes,

I'll explain what makes me wonder:

As you know, English is also stress-timed, but some varieties of English (Singapore English, for instance) are syllable-timed, due to the influence of other languages.


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## Joannes

sound shift said:


> As you know, English is also stress-timed, but some varieties of English (Singapore English, for instance) are syllable-timed, due to the influence of other languages.


Oh, right, I see. Well, there's no such environment in Suriname.


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## avok

Can I ask something related? I am also interested in Dutch as it is spoken in Latin America.
Are Surinamese people native speakers of Dutch along with Sranan Tongo ? Are there only native speakers of Dutch in Suriname?

Bye


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## Joannes

avok said:


> Are Surinamese people native speakers of Dutch along with Sranan Tongo ?


Yes, many people are. I don't know if much has changed since then, but I've got a source from 1993 saying that 80 % of the Surinamese population can speak both Dutch and Sranan -- which are the two languages functioning on a national level, Dutch being the only official language. This figure also includes non-natives, though.



avok said:


> Are there only native speakers of Dutch in Suriname?


Well, no, obviously not. There are many languages in Suriname. Check this out.

But maybe you mean whether there are native speakers of Dutch solely? In that case the answer is yes. But there are not quite many and most of them would be emigrated Dutch, probably.


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## avok

Joannes said:


> But maybe you mean whether there are native speakers of Dutch solely? In that case the answer is yes.


Yessss that's what I was trying to ask  I mean, are there Surinamese people who speak only Dutch (not Sranan Tongo) at home, among friends, close relatives etc? People who choose Dutch over Sranan? People who feel more comfortable with Dutch? etc. (there are so many ways to ask the same question  ) Maybe people in big cities? People in the administration...


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## Joannes

avok said:


> Yessss that's what I was trying to ask  I mean, are there Surinamese people who speak only Dutch (not Sranan Tongo) at home, among friends, close relatives etc? People who choose Dutch over Sranan? People who feel more comfortable with Dutch? etc. (there are so many ways to ask the same question  ) Maybe people in big cities? People in the administration...


As in any multilingual society, much depends on the situation. There are a lot of people that are bilingually raised at home, and not seldomly learn another or some other languages simply by having friends. The two languages mostly used in Suriname are Dutch and Sranan, the former typically seen as the official language and the language of education, and the latter as the lingua franca for many informal situations. But the most typical Surinamese language is probably the mix of both and the constant code switching.

I suppose there are people that speak only Dutch in Suriname, but I would guess those aren't Surinamese, but Dutch.


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## Outsider

Joannes said:


> - a bilabial /w/ (instead of a bilabial one)


What did you mean to post here?


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## Joannes

I always thought of you as a close reader, Outsider. 



Joannes said:


> I can't edit my previous post anymore, but obviously it should have said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Joannes said:
> 
> 
> 
> - a bilabial /w/ (instead of a *labiodental* one)
Click to expand...


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