Wordlist of the Dutch language
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The Wordlist of the Dutch language, because of its colour better known as the Green Booklet (Groene Boekje) is the publication of the Dutch Language Union (Nederlandse Taalunie) and includes an overview of the correct official spelling of the Dutch language (Dutch orthography). It differs from a dictionary in that it does not give the meanings of the lemmas.
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[edit] Editions
The Green Booklet is published by Sdu in the Netherlands and Lannoo in Flanders. It is available in a paper edition and on CD-ROM at a fee; the Dutch Language Union offers a free official internet version of the list. The latest edition was released on October 15, 2005.
[edit] History
The first publication was in 1954. A Revised Wordlist was not released until 1990. The most recent publication was in 2005, and is effective since August 1, 2006.
In 1994 the committee of Ministers of the Dutch Language Union decided that the wordlist of the Green Booklet will be updated every ten years. The 2005 edition is also the first time that Suriname-Dutch words have been included, about 500 of them were added as was agreed upon when Suriname joined the Language Union in January 2005.
The Green Booklet should not be confused with the Green dictionary, which is also a publication of Sdu.
[edit] Criticism
The Green Booklet has been severely criticised in recent decades because of its many complicated rules such as the rules on how to use an -n between certain compound words. Opponents claim that the rules are too fuzzy and are changing too fast, causing problems in education. Teachers and pupils complain about the lack of simple rules and the many exceptions.
In December 2005 a number of major Dutch newspapers, magazines and the broadcaster NOS announced that they will boycott the latest edition of the Green Booklet. It is said to be too confusing, illogical and unworkable to be usable. Instead they will follow the spelling which is laid out in the White Booklet (Witte Boekje).
[edit] See also
- White Booklet, the wordlist of the Genootschap Onze Taal.
- Van Dale Great dictionary of the Dutch language, uses the official spelling since 2005.
[edit] References
- Wordlist on-line - Dutch Language Union
- Dutch Language Union
