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In:Dutch and Contact Linguistics: The Dutch language outside the Low Countries
Edited by Christopher Joby and Nicoline van der Sijs
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society 55] 2025
► pp. 502–536

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Chapter 16
Variation and stability in variants of heritage Dutch

ORCiD logo with link | University of Amsterdam
ORCiD logo with link | University of Amsterdam
Published online: 4 July 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.55.16clo
Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of linguistic variation and stability of heritage Dutch in seven parts of the world. In the context of research on first and second language acquisition strategies in Dutch as well as on other heritage languages, we contextualize and interpret observations taken from existing research gathered using diverse methods such as the analysis of letters, recordings, and standardized tests. The chapter ends by discussing the implications of the results for the study of contact linguistics in general and for Dutch in particular and by identifying loose ends and directions for future research.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Defining heritage languages
  • 3.Background on selected variants of heritage Dutch
    • 3.1Migration numbers
    • 3.2Type of research
      • Canada
      • Australia
      • South Africa
      • United States
      • New Zealand
      • Brazil
      • Indonesia
  • 4.Variation and stability in heritage languages per linguistic domain
    • 4.1Phonology
    • 4.2Inflectional morphology on verbs and nouns
    • 4.3Gender assignment and gender agreement
    • 4.4Word order and conjunctions
    • 4.5Semantics
  • 5.Heritage languages and the contact scenario
    • Investigating contact with more varied contact languages
    • Language usage patterns and levels of stability
    • Longitudinal corpora and the lifespan perspective
    • Social networks, settlement patterns and horizontal versus
      vertical patterns of interaction
    • Literacy and schooling in the heritage language
    • Length of contact and intergenerational transmission
    • Circles of homeland identification
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (75)
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