A polder ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpɔldər] ) is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes . The three types of polder are:
50-471: Purmer is a polder and reclaimed lake in the Netherlands province of North Holland , located between the towns of Purmerend and Edam-Volendam . It is also a village located in the municipalities of Waterland and Edam-Volendam. Windmill reclamation activity began in 1618. Hydraulic engineer Jan Adriaanszoon Leeghwater also had stakes in the reclamation, although he was not directly involved in
100-418: A certain ruler also created a sphere of linguistic influence, with the language within the area becoming more homogeneous. Following, more or less, the political divisions of the time, several large dialect groups can be distinguished. However, the borders between them were not strong, and a dialect continuum existed between them, with spoken varieties near the edges of each dialect area showing more features of
150-692: A diphthongal quality, while existing diphthongs could also develop into monophthongs. Sometimes, this occurred only in restricted dialects, other developments were widespread. Many details of the exact phonetics are uncertain, and seemed to have differed by dialect. The overall system is clear, however, as almost all the vowels remain distinct in modern Limburgish: /iː/ , /iə̯/ , /eɛ̯/ , /eː/ and /aː/ appear in modern Limburgish as /iː/ , /eː/ , /iə̯/ , /æː/ and /aː/ respectively. The vowels /ie̯/ , /yø̯/ and /uo̯/ developed from Old Dutch opening diphthongs, but their exact character in Middle Dutch
200-519: A labial or velar consonant. Some former class 1 weak verbs retained so-called Rückumlaut . These verbs had undergone umlaut in the present tense, but the umlaut-triggering vowel was syncopated in the past tense already in Old Dutch, preventing umlaut from taking hold there. Thus, senden had the first- and third-person singular past tense sande . These verbs tended to be reinterpreted as strong verbs in later Middle Dutch; sande itself gave rise to
250-435: A meaning somewhat opposite to that in coastal context. Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch . It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550 , there was no overarching standard language , but all dialects were mutually intelligible. During that period,
300-421: A new approach to the design of dikes and other water-retaining structures, based on an acceptable probability of overflowing. Risk is defined as the product of probability and consequences. The potential damage in lives, property, and rebuilding costs is compared with the potential cost of water defences. From these calculations follows an acceptable flood risk from the sea at one in 4,000–10,000 years, while it
350-407: A piece of land elevated above its surroundings, with the augmentative suffix -er and epenthetical -d- . The word has been adopted in thirty-six languages. The Netherlands is frequently associated with polders, as its engineers became noted for developing techniques to drain wetlands and make them usable for agriculture and other development. This is illustrated by the saying "God created
400-412: A rich Medieval Dutch literature developed, which had not yet existed during Old Dutch . The various literary works of the time are often very readable for speakers of Modern Dutch since Dutch is a rather conservative language. Several phonological changes occurred leading up to the Middle Dutch period. The consonants of Middle Dutch differed little from those of Old Dutch. The most prominent change
450-433: A word could be found spelled differently in different occurrences within the same text. There was the matter of personal taste, and many writers thought it was more aesthetic to follow French or Latin practice, leading to sometimes rather unusual spellings. The spelling was generally phonetic, and words were written based on how they were spoken rather than based on underlying phonemes or morphology. Final-obstruent devoicing
500-608: Is one in 100–2,500 years for a river flood. The particular established policy guides the Dutch government to improve flood defences as new data on threat levels become available. Major Dutch polders and the years they were laid dry include Beemster (1609–1612), Schermer (1633–1635), and Haarlemmermeerpolder (1852). Polders created as part of the Zuiderzee Works include Wieringermeerpolder (1930), Noordoostpolder (1942) and Flevopolder (1956–1968) Several cities on
550-549: Is the loss of dental fricatives. In addition the sound [z] was phonemicised during this period, judging from loanwords that retain [s] to this day. For descriptions of the sounds and definitions of the terms, follow the links on the headings. Notes: Most notable in the Middle Dutch vowel system, when compared to Old Dutch, is the appearance of phonemic rounded front vowels, and the merger of all unstressed short vowels. Long vowels and diphthongs cannot be clearly distinguished in Middle Dutch, as many long vowels had or developed
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#1732771863618600-507: Is unclear. The following can be said: The vowels /eɛ̯/ , /øœ̯/ and /oɔ̯/ , termed "sharp-long" and denoted with a circumflex ê ô , developed from Old Dutch long vowels. The opening diphthong pronunciation was probably widespread, and perhaps once universal, as it is nowadays still found in both West Flemish and in Limburgish, at opposite ends of the Middle Dutch language area. In the general area in between, including standard Dutch,
650-786: The Paraíba Valley region (in the state of São Paulo ) have polders on land claimed from the floodplains around the Paraíba do Sul river. Bangladesh has 139 polders, of which 49 are sea-facing, while the rest are along the numerous distributaries of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River delta. These were constructed in the 1960s to protect the coast from tidal flooding and reduce salinity incursion. They reduce long-term flooding and waterlogging following storm surges from tropical cyclones . They are also cultivated for agriculture. The Jiangnan region, at
700-486: The Yangtze River Delta , has a long history of constructing polders. Most of these projects were performed between the 10th and 13th centuries. The Chinese government also assisted local communities in constructing dikes for swampland water drainage. The Lijia (里甲) self-monitoring system of 110 households under a lizhang (里长) headman was used for the purposes of service administration and tax collection in
750-543: The Zuyderzee inlet and to Beemster lake. The Purmer's being directly connected to open sea resulted in large-scale shoreline erosion due to wave dynamics and water currents. The high rate of erosion and the need for arable land gave rise to plans for reclamation. Once reclaimed, Purmer was given to farming, but the polder is now highly urbanised. Most of this urban sprawl is due to the town of Purmerend , which has derived its name from Purmer (the "end of Purmer"). During
800-542: The 11th century. The oldest extant polder is the Achtermeer polder, from 1533. As a result of flooding disasters, water boards called waterschap (when situated more inland) or hoogheemraadschap (near the sea, mainly used in the Holland region) were set up to maintain the integrity of the water defences around polders, maintain the waterways inside a polder, and control the various water levels inside and outside
850-593: The 13th century. Its characteristics are: Hollandic was spoken in the County of Holland . It was less influential during most of the Middle Ages but became more so in the 16th century during the "Hollandic expansion", during which the Eighty Years' War took place in the south. It shows the following properties: Limburgish was spoken by the people in the provinces of modern Dutch and Belgian Limburg . It
900-481: The 1980s and '90s Purmerend had two residential areas built in Purmer, Purmer-Noord and Purmer-Zuid. In contrast to Beemster and Schermer, Purmer is not a municipality in its own right, being divided among the municipalities of Purmerend, Edam-Volendam, and Waterland . Polder The ground level in drained marshes subsides over time. All polders will eventually be below the surrounding water level some or all of
950-408: The Middle Dutch period. A new second person plural pronoun was created by contraction of gij/jij and lui ('people') forming gullie/jullie (literally, 'you people'). Note: There are several other forms. Definite Article ( die , dat = the) Middle Dutch mostly retained the Old Dutch verb system. Like all Germanic languages, it distinguished strong , weak and preterite-present verbs as
1000-624: The Old Dutch long ā , and "soft-long" ā being the result of lengthening. These two vowels were distinguished only in Limburgish and Low Rhenish at the eastern end, and in western Flemish and coastal Hollandic on the western end. The relative backness of the two vowels was opposite in the two areas that distinguished them. The closing diphthong /ɛi̯/ remained from the corresponding Old Dutch diphthong. It occurred primarily in umlauting environments, with /eɛ̯/ appearing otherwise. Some dialects, particularly further west, had /eɛ̯/ in all environments (thus cleene next to cleine ). Limburgish preserved
1050-428: The air. Polders are at risk of flooding at all times, and care must be taken to protect the surrounding dikes. Dikes are typically built with locally available materials, and each material has its own risks: sand is prone to collapse owing to saturation by water; dry peat is lighter than water and potentially unable to retain water in very dry seasons. Some animals dig tunnels in the barrier, allowing water to infiltrate
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#17327718636181100-413: The dative singular, a remnant of the late Old Dutch inflection. In some rare occasions, the genitive singular was also endingless. Some nouns ended in -e in the singular also; these were primarily former ja-stems, which were masculine or neuter. A few were former i-stems with short stems. Nouns of this type tended to be drawn into the weak inflection by analogy. The following table shows the inflection of
1150-499: The diphthong wherever it was preserved in High German. The closing diphthong /ɔu̯/ has two different origins. In the vast majority of the Middle Dutch area, it developed through l-vocalization from older /ol/ and /al/ followed by a dental consonant. In the eastern area, Limburg in particular, it was a remnant of the older diphthong as in High German, which had developed into /oɔ̯/ elsewhere. L-vocalization occurred only in
1200-430: The distinction was mostly lost. Class 3, which retained a clear distinction that did not rely on vowel length, was levelled in favour of the o of the plural. In classes with a lengthened vowel in the present, the singular imperative often appears with a short vowel instead, e.g. les , drach . An alternative form, with final -e by analogy with the weak verbs, also occurs. The eastern dialects occasionally show i in
1250-454: The former ja-stems, had an -e even in the strong and copular form, e.g. die vrouwe is clein e "the lady is small". Middle Dutch pronouns differed little from their modern counterparts. The main differences were in the second person with the development of a T-V distinction . The second-person plural pronoun ghi slowly gained use as a respectful second-person singular form. The original singular pronoun du gradually fell out of use during
1300-524: The language. The general practice was to write long vowels with a single letter in an open syllable and with two letters in a closed syllable. Which two letters were used varied among texts. Some texts, especially those in the east, do not do so and write long vowels with a single letter in all cases (as is the predominant rule in modern German). Middle Dutch nouns inflected for number as well as case . The weakening of unstressed syllables merged many different Old Dutch classes of nominal declension. The result
1350-481: The masculine noun dach "day", feminine dâet "deed" and neuter brôot "bread". Weak nouns were characterised by the ending -en throughout the plural. The singular ended in -e . The following table shows the inflection of the masculine noun bōge "bow, arc". Middle Dutch adjectives inflected according to the gender, case and number of the noun they modified. The Germanic distinction between strong and weak, or indefinite and definite inflection,
1400-469: The modern period in Limburgish, and the distinction between /ol/ and /al/ was preserved, being reflected as ów and aa respectively. Phonological changes that occurred during Middle Dutch: Middle Dutch was not a single homogeneous language. The language differed by area, with different areas having a different pronunciation and often using different vocabulary. The dialect areas were affected by political boundaries. The sphere of political influence of
1450-472: The neighbouring areas. Middle Dutch has four major dialects groups: Flemish, Brabantic and Hollandic are known as West Franconian, while Limburgic is known as East Franconian (not to be confused with the High German dialect East Franconian ). In a finer classification there are: Brabantian was spoken primarily in the Duchy of Brabant . It was an influential dialect during most of the Middle Ages, during
1500-428: The past participle. In classes 6 and 7, there was no distinction between the two different vowels of the past tense. In classes 4 and 5, the difference was primarily one of length, since ā and â were not distinguished in most dialects. The difference between ê and ē , and between ô and ō , found in classes 1 and 2, was a bit more robust, but also eventually waned in the development to modern Dutch. Consequently,
1550-551: The polder, with a liangzhang (粮长, grain chief) responsible for maintaining the water system and a tangzhang (塘长, dike chief) for polder maintenance. In Germany, land reclaimed by diking is called a koog . The German Deichgraf system was similar to the Dutch and is widely known from Theodor Storm 's novella The Rider on the White Horse . In southern Germany, the term polder is used for retention basins recreated by opening dikes during river floodplain restoration ,
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1600-485: The polder. Water boards hold separate elections, levy taxes, and function independently from other government bodies. Their function is basically unchanged even today. As such, they are the oldest democratic institutions in the country. The necessary cooperation among all ranks to maintain polder integrity gave its name to the Dutch version of third-way politics —the Polder Model . The 1953 flood disaster prompted
1650-859: The polders into an inaccessible swamp, which allowed the Allied armies to stop the German army . The Netherlands has a large area of polders: as much as 20% of the land area has at some point in the past been reclaimed from the sea, thus contributing to the development of the country. IJsselmeer is the most famous polder project of the Netherlands. Some other countries which have polders are Bangladesh , Belgium , Canada and China . Some examples of Dutch polder projects are Beemster , Schermer , Flevopolder and Noordoostpolder . The Dutch word polder derives successively from Middle Dutch polre , from Old Dutch polra , and ultimately from pol- ,
1700-477: The project itself. In 1622 all 26.8 km (10.3 sq mi) were clear of water. The original lake of Purmer formed part of a small number of landlocked minor seas located in North Holland. Other examples of such minor seas are the lakes of Beemster and Schermer . All these lakes were directly connected to open sea, so salt water could flow in and tidal movements occurred. Purmer lake was connected to both
1750-411: The second- and third-person singular present indicative forms, instead of e . This is a remnant of older i-mutation in these forms. Umlaut is also sometimes found in the past subjunctive in the east. Middle Dutch retained weak verbs as the only productive class of verbs. While Old Dutch still had two different classes of weak verbs (and remnants of a third), this distinction was lost in Middle Dutch with
1800-483: The so-called "Brabantian expansion" in which the influence of Brabant was extended outwards into other areas. Compared to the other dialects, Brabantian was a kind of "middle ground" between the coastal areas on one hand, and the Rhineland and Limburg on the other. Brabantian Middle Dutch has the following characteristics compared to other dialects: Flemish, consisting today of West and East Flemish and Zeelandic ,
1850-569: The structure; the muskrat is known for this activity and hunted in certain European countries because of it. Polders are most commonly, though not exclusively, found in river deltas, former fenlands , and coastal areas. Flooding of polders has also been used as a military tactic in the past. One example is the flooding of the polders along the Yser River during World War I . Opening the sluices at high tide and closing them at low tide turned
1900-533: The subjunctive became distinguished from the indicative only in the singular but was identical to it in the plural, and also in the past tense of weak verbs. That led to a gradual decline in the use of the subjunctive, and it has been all but lost entirely in modern Dutch. The seven classes of strong verb common to the Germanic languages were retained. The four principal parts were the present tense, first- and third-person singular past tense, remaining past tense, and
1950-406: The three main inflectional classes. Verbs were inflected in present and past tense, and in three moods: indicative, subjunctive and imperative. The weakening of unstressed vowels affected the distinction between the indicative and subjunctive moods, which had largely been determined by the vowel of the inflectional suffix in Old Dutch. In Middle Dutch, with all unstressed vowels merging into one,
2000-500: The time. Water enters the low-lying polder through infiltration and water pressure of groundwater , or rainfall, or transport of water by rivers and canals. This usually means that the polder has an excess of water, which is pumped out or drained by opening sluices at low tide . Care must be taken not to set the internal water level too low. Polder land made up of peat (former marshland) will sink in relation to its previous level, because of peat decomposing when exposed to oxygen from
2050-435: The underlying phonemic value. However, by and large, spelling was phonetic, which is logical as people usually read texts out loud. Modern dictionaries tend to represent words in a normalised spelling to form a compromise between the variable spellings on one hand and to represent the sounds of the language consistently. Thus, normalised spellings attempt to be a general or "average" spelling but still being accurate and true to
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2100-608: The vowels merged with the "soft-long" vowels during the early modern Dutch period. The vowels /eː/ , /œː/ and /oː/ , termed "soft-long" and denoted with a macron ē ō , developed through the lengthening of Old Dutch short vowels in open syllables, but also frequently before /r/ . They were simple monophthongs in all Middle Dutch dialects, with the exception of western Flanders where /eː/ later developed into /ei̯/ . They might have been close-mid but also perhaps open-mid [ɛː] , [œː] and [ɔː] , as in modern Limburgish. There were two open vowels, with "sharp-long" â developed from
2150-465: The weakening of unstressed syllables. The past tense was formed with a suffix -ed- , which generally lost its e through syncope and thus came to be directly attached to the preceding stem. This triggered voicing assimilation, so that t appeared whenever the preceding stem ended in a voiceless consonant. This phenomenon remains in modern Dutch. Unsyncopated forms, which retain the fuller suffix -ed- , are sometimes found, especially with stems ending in
2200-594: The world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands". The Dutch have a long history of reclamation of marshes and fenland, resulting in some 3,000 polders nationwide. By 1961, about half of the country's land, 18,000 square kilometres (6,800 sq mi), was reclaimed from the sea. About half the total surface area of polders in northwest Europe is in the Netherlands. The first embankments in Europe were constructed in Roman times. The first polders were constructed in
2250-585: Was a general distinction between strong and weak nouns. Eventually even these started to become confused, with the strong and weak endings slowly beginning to merge into a single declension class by the beginning of the modern Dutch period. The strong nouns generally originated from the Old Dutch a-stem, i-stem and u-stem inflections. They mostly had a nominative singular with no ending, and a nominative plural in -e or, for some neuter nouns, with no ending. Most strong nouns were masculine or neuter. Feminines in this class were former i-stems, and could lack an ending in
2300-399: Was fairly minimal in Middle Dutch, appearing only in the masculine and neuter nominative singular. These forms received an -e ending when a definite word (demonstrative, article) preceded, and had no ending otherwise. Adjectives were uninflected when connected through a copula. Thus, even for feminine nouns, no ending appeared: die vrouwe is goet "the lady is good". Some adjectives, namely
2350-471: Was not clearly tied to one political area, instead being divided among various areas, including the Duchy of Limburg (which was south of modern Limburg). It was also the most divergent of the dialects. Kleverlandish ("Kleverlands") was spoken around the area of the Duchy of Cleves , around the Lower Rhine . It represented a transitional dialect between Limburgish and Middle Low German . Middle Dutch
2400-527: Was reflected in the spelling, and clitic pronouns and articles were frequently joined to the preceding or following word. Scribes wrote in their own dialect, and their spelling reflected the pronunciation of that particular scribe or of some prestige dialect by which the scribe was influenced. The modern Dutch word maagd (" maiden ") for example was sometimes written as maghet or maegt , but also meget , magt , maget , magd , and mecht . Some spellings, such as magd , reflect an early tendency to write
2450-490: Was spoken in the County of Flanders , northern parts of the County of Artois and areas around the towns of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer . Though due to their intermediary position between West Flemish and Brabantian , the East Flemish dialects have also been grouped with the latter. Flemish had been influential during the earlier Middle Ages (the "Flemish expansion") but lost prestige to the neighbouring Brabantian in
2500-515: Was written in the Latin alphabet , which was not designed for writing Middle Dutch so different scribes used different methods of representing the sounds of their language in writing. The traditions of neighbouring scribes and their languages led to a multitude of ways to write Middle Dutch. Consequently, spelling was not standardised but was highly variable and could differ by both time and place as various "trends" in spelling waxed and waned. Furthermore,
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