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Dutchification^[1] (Dutch:vernederlandsing^[2]) is the spread of theDutch language,people or theculture of the Netherlands, either by force orcultural assimilation.

In the Netherlands, Dutchification focused on linguistic changes. There also were attempts to change cultural conventions on a smaller scale. Much of these efforts were focused on theFrisian region. During theFriso-Hollandic Wars (1256–1422), theCounty of Holland (whereLow Franconian and laterMiddle Dutch was spoken) managed to conquerWest Friesland; the region was slowly Dutchified thereafter. Meanwhile, the mercantile city ofGroningen gradually spread itsDutch Low Saxon dialect across theEast Frisian-speakingOmmelanden in the Late Middle Ages.^[3] By 1492, Groningen had expanded its area of control to most of the current province ofFriesland with the help of theVetkoper Frisian noblemen, at which point theSchieringer Frisian noblemen called in the help ofAlbert III, Duke of Saxony, who managed to drive out the Groningers and was appointed 'Gubernator of Frisia' byHabsburgEmperor Maximilian I in 1498. In the ensuingGuelders Wars, Habsburg generalGeorg Schenck van Toutenburg conquered Friesland in 1524 and became its first governor. The Dutch language gradually grew in administrative importance in the subsequent decades, and by the time Friesland joined theDutch Republic in the 1580s, it had replaced Frisian as the language of law and government. The ever-increasing presence of Dutch-speaking officials in the Frisian urban areas heavily influenced everyday communication, and stimulated the emergence of theStadsfries dialects.^[4] As a result, theWest Frisian language assimilated various Dutch words, many of which arecalques orloanwords from Dutch.^{[citation needed]}

Between the 1950s and early 1980s, the percentage of inhabitants of Friesland using West Frisian as their home language dropped from 71% to 59%, primarily due to the migration of rural West Frisian speakers to the non-West Frisian urban areas and the settling of Dutch speakers from outside the province in the Frisian countryside. The West Frisian language itself gradually Dutchified as well.^[1][5]

A 2016Radboud University Nijmegen study by linguist Geert Driessen showed that the percentage of West Frisian speakers steadily declined between 1994 and 2014 in favour of Dutch. During those twenty years, the number of West Frisian-speaking children within families decreased from 48% to 32%, and outside families (amongst their friends) from 44% to 22%. The percentage of parents talking West Frisian amongst themselves dropped from 58% to 35%. According to Driessen, 'in two generations, there won't be much left', as people will no longer be able to read and write in West Frisian. The Dutch language may hang on for a few generations longer than West Frisian, but Driessen expects 'everything to switch toEnglish.'^[6][7]

In Belgium, the Dutchification ofeducation in Flanders was an essential part, arguably the most important, of the political objectives of theFlemish Movement, asocial movement seeking acknowledgement of the Dutch speakers' language and culture.^[8] When Belgium was established in 1830, the francophone government oppressed the Dutch-speaking populace. The Dutch language was banned from secondary and higher education, politics, and justice in favour ofFrench. Hence Dutchification in Belgium largely refers to the process of replacing French as the language of social mobility in Flanders.^{[citation needed]}

In thetoponymy of New Netherland, a 17th-century province in North America, Dutchification is seen in manyplace names based inDelaware languages.^{[citation needed]}

For the concept of Dutchification in colonial North America, see:

• John M. Murrin, "English Rights as Ethnic Aggression: The English Conquest, the Charter of Liberties of 1683, ... suggests that "Batavianization" played as significant a role as "Anglicization" in early New York.^{[citation needed]}

Also:

• Richard C. Simmons (1976):The American colonies: from settlement to independence^[9]
• Joyce D. Goodfriend (1994):Before the Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664-1730^[10]
• Jeremy Adelman, Stephen Aron (2001):Trading cultures: the worlds of Western merchants: essays on authority^[11]
• Ned C. Landsman:Crossroads of Empire: The Middle Colonies in British North America^{[citation needed]}
• Amy Turner Bushnell (1995):Establishing exceptionalism: historiography and the colonial Americas^{[citation needed]}

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For more on Dutchification in theDutch East Indies, see:

• Gerald H. Krausse (1988):Urban Society in Southeast Asia: Political and cultural issues^{[citation needed]}

• Dutch language
• Dutch people
• Dutch culture
• Dutch diaspora

• Cultural assimilation
• Dutch language

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