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Dutch alphabet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Dutch alphabet has 26 or 27 letters (always considered 26 by Dutch native speakers, though), five or six of which are vowels. The alphabet used for the Dutch language is based on the Latin alphabet.
The letters are:
A a - B b - C c - D d - E e - F f - G g - H h - I i - J j - K k - L l - M m - N n - O o - P p - Q q - R r - S s - T t - U u - V v - W w - X x - Y y (or IJ ij) - Z z
The C, Q, X and Y occur mostly in words borrowed from other languages, but may also appear in words and names which harken back to older spellings. "Q" is almost always followed by "U" (qu).
Collation varies, with IJ either being sorted as a combination I+J, among Y, after Y as an additional entry. In dictionaries, ij is treated as a digraph, sorting words beginning with ij between ih and ik. Telephone directories sort the ij as if it were a y because many surnames have nonstandard spellings: Bruijn may also be spelled Bruyn. As a further example, the famous Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff can be rendered as either "Johan Cruyff" (as he is abroad) or "Johan Cruijff" (as he is in the Netherlands and many other states).
The vowels are:
A - E - I - O - U - and some consider IJ a vowel as well.
Because IJ consists of a vowel and a non-vowel, it is not clear whether IJ is a vowel or not. In pronunciation, it is a diphthong.
In print, IJ is most often written with an I and J letter as a ligature 'IJ'. For capitalisation it is always counted as a single letter, and therefore both i and j are capitalised togethere: ijs (ice) is written IJs at the start of a sentence, and not Ijs. Note however that in some southern (Flemish) dialects the IJ is used as a digraph and counted as two letters, and the capitalization rule is therefore not followed. In the southern Netherlands the capitalization rule is followed, though it is usually counted as a digraph. See IJ (letter) for more information on this letter, including status and collation.
"E" is the mostly frequently used letter in the Dutch alphabet, usually presenting a schwa sound. The least frequently used letters are "Q", "X", and "Y".
- R. Harmsen. The Dutch "letter" IJ.