1.3 Diphthongs and double vowels:

1. ei-/ij-: There is no difference between the pronunciation nor between the functions of these two symbols. The sound resembles the ay- sound in the English words say and take, including the i- sound at the end but shorter. The meaning of the Dutch words rijst (rice) and reist (the verb travels) can, in spoken form, only be determined by the context in which the words appear.

Exercise 17. Read the following words aloud: mij, mei, jij, wij, krijgen, dreigen, slijten, zeilen, blijven, slijterij, klein.  

2. au-/ou-: As with ei-/ij-, there is no difference between au- and ou- except in the spelling, and in this case not even in the meaning. The spelling can only be explained historically. The sounds appear in Dutch words such as gauw (quickly) and goud (gold) and is comparable to the vowel sound in the English word now. Exercise 18. Read the following words aloud: mouw, dauw, verkouden, vrouw, hout, zout, flauw.

3. ui-: This is apparently one of the most difficult sounds to produce for English speaking persons. It is formed lower in the mouth and by rounding the lips a little less than for the uu-. The sound produced is between the ou- and the eu-. It is found in the Dutch words huis (house) and vuil (dirty). Exercise 19. Read the following words aloud: ui, fluiten, tuin, gebruiken, kruis, besluiten, stuiten, uit, vuist.

Note viii: Diphthongs have no long and short forms. There is therefore no doubling of either vowels or consonants if the stem of a given word contains a diphthong. The plural of vuist (fist) is vuisten (fists) and of kruis (cross) it is kruizen (crosses).

Exercise 20. Give the plurals of the following words: struik (shrub), boer (farmer), groep (group), kous (sock), neus (the -s often becomes -z in the middle of a word, as in this case), brief (letter) (the -f often becomes -v in the middle of a word, as in this case), mouw (sleeve), zeil (sail), huis (house), druif (grape), buis (tube), bewijs (proof), gleuf (groove).

struiken, boeren, groepen, kousen, neuzen, brieven, mouwen, zeilen, huizen, druiven, buizen, bewijzen, gleuven.

Exercise 21. Read the following words aloud:  

1. bal, baal, zak, zaak, vak, vaak, mak, maak, maken, verhaal, graag, tamelijk, herhalen, waarom.
2. bos, boos, pot, poot, hol, kool, stok, roos, lopen, verkopen, stoppen, dood, doden, roken, top, geloof.
3. pet, veel, vel, met, vreemd, ben, been, stem, pret, nemen, zeggen, Engels, kerk, preken, vlekken, vlees, kletsen.
4. lus, stuur, puur, vullen, knul, guur, bukken, schuur, ruzie, bundel, instrument, tussen, gluren, rukken.
5. tuin, grijs, blauw, muis, trouw, geheim, luid, hijzen, prijs, duizend, stijf, vrijheid, gruis, breien, blij, knuist, bruizen, pruik, stout, bruin, bijbel, bouwen.
6. groot, groeten, rood, roet, moeten, boot, boete, mooi, moe, zo, groente, vloer, vlo, sloot, bloem.
7. raam, doel, nu, rem, kast, hond, sluiten, nee, lijst, zal, land, lief, leven, deel, bommen, bomen, mijl, zaal, vijl, trui, meisje, duinen, pijn, tijd, pijp, uur, zijn, duim, konijn, Zuiden, kuur, goed, knie, vandaag, spreken, Zaandam, angst, altijd, zoet, tien, laan, maag, mag, buigen, auto, kerk, lijden, leiden, vliegtuig, week, spelen, spellen, stelen, stel, vragen, uiting, schuin, dag, dagen, politiek, strofen, sonnet, maart, april, mond, molen, flauwe kul, doe, koets, koken, vlees, potlood, papier, einde.