Polder Dutch in a nutshell
1. Polder Dutch is a variant of Dutch speech that differs from standard Dutch because the diphtongs /ei/, /ui/ and /ou/au are pronounced with a wider mouth opening, which makes them sound more or less like [ai], [αy] and [au].
2. The fact that standard Dutch still has the sounds ei, ui, and ou, phonetic: [ei], [œy] and [αu], is the result of language culture and language construction. It was the choice of 17th century linguists and writers.
3. Lowering of the diphtongs is a universal phenomenon; consider for example, the German word "Wein" and the English word "wine." The standard Dutch language is unique in retaining its original diphthongs in the pronunciation.
4. Polder Dutch is not a Dutch dialect, nor has it emerged from one. Its speakers intend to speak standard Dutch, but as for the diphtongs they do not conform to the norm, even though they are not aware of this.
5. Taking into account that the current speakers are middle-aged (educated) women, Polder Dutch must have started in the 1970's. It has been a result of women's emancipation.
6. Women's emancipation has brought along a looser attitude towards language norms, and has thus lead to the lowering of the diphtongs.
7. From a sociolinguistic point of view, Polder Dutch is a very interesting phenomenon: for the first time, women lead the way in a language change that drifts away from the language variant that was the norm.
8. Since the amount of Polder Dutch speakers grows very rapidly every generation, in men/boys as well as in women/girls, it's reasonable to expect that Polder Dutch will become the norm instead of standard Dutch.
9. The name "Polder Dutch" refers to the Dutch political term "poldermodel" (meaning consensus politics), which has spurred economic growth, which has profited the women's emancipation movement greatly.
10.
real audio
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Now, listen to a typicl Polder Dutch speaker: Click on the loud?speaker.