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7 - Why Colonial Dutch Failed to Become a Global Lingua Franca

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2023

By
Roland Willemyns
Edited by
Aneta Pavlenko
Aneta Pavlenko
Affiliation:
University of York
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Summary

The Low Countries have a tradition of language contact and conflict and, after a short overview of the situation, the main focus of this chapter will be on “Colonial Dutch”, i.e., language planning and practice in some of the former colonies of the Netherlands, including Indonesia, Suriname, and the Caribbean islands. In doing so, this chapter will provide some answers to the fascinating question of why colonial Dutch failed to become a global lingua franca, as opposed to English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese that did (partially) succeed in doing so.

Keywords

historic multilingualismhistorical sociolinguisticslanguage contactLow Countriescolonial Dutchcolonial language policylinguistic imperialismIndonesiaSuriname
Type
Chapter
Information
Multilingualism and History , pp. 138 - 152
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

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