Where were the Dutch from?

Answer 1

Dutch, Duits, Diets, Deitsch and Deutsch are similar because they are cognate. Meaning that they all ultimately derive from the same root word.

This root is found in the Common West Germanic of about 200-400 AD, and was þeod (or theod) and it meant people.

Though the modern words that derive from this root are similar, they have very different meanings.

Deutsch in German, and Duits in Dutch, means German.

Dutch in English, and Diets in Dutch, means Dutch.

Deitsch is the word used among the Pennsylvania Germans for both modern German and Pennsylvania German.

Answer 2

Holland also known as the Netherlands. It lies in Europe.

The proper name for the country is "The Netherlands" which means "low-lying lands".

But that's a wrong name since it's one country, one land.

The term "Holland" used to be the name of one of the provinces within The Netherlands, and somehow it's been adopted as the general name of the country in modern times. It's more commonly known as Holland (outside of the Netherlands) these days.

The dutch refer to their country as Nederland. What is a better name than the Netherlands. It should be called Netherlandactually.

Answer 3

Wow... opened a can of worms with that one :)

Ultimately it goes back to the PIE base teuta- "people". For a more complete history please go to www.etymonline.com or for the German Speaking- refer to:

dtv- Atlas der Deutschen Sprache S. 59-60 ISBN 3-423-03025-9

This brief answer-page does not do the word justice and therefore anyone seeking such an answer may refer to the above. However, please note the trend of nations/ civilizations to refer to themselves (though the meaning is often lost in time) as merely "people" or "humans". An interesting tidbit.

For those sincerely interested in the history of such Germanic words I do suggest trying to find a copy of the above listed book at a library near you!

Answer

Essentially, "Dutch" is a corruption of Deutsch, which is of course what Germans call themselves. The English tended to lump the Netherlanders in with the Germans, but since most of their trade contact was with the Dutch, they called Netherlanders Deutsch which changed over time to Dutch. The Pennsylvania Dutch are in fact mainly of German origin, called Dutch for similar reasons to the above.