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How do you pronounce these 'dam ship names?


cavcmy
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This is a great thread. Obviously I have been mispronouncing Volendam since I began planning an Alaska cruise. I kept saying VAHL-en-dam (rhymes with all) while talking about the ship. She will be my next one.

 

Now there is a new ship being built called the Koningdam or something like that to start sailing next year. Is that pronounced like CON or CONE?

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This is a great thread. Obviously I have been mispronouncing Volendam since I began planning an Alaska cruise. I kept saying VAHL-en-dam (rhymes with all) while talking about the ship. She will be my next one.

 

Now there is a new ship being built called the Koningdam or something like that to start sailing next year. Is that pronounced like CON or CONE?

 

She is pronounced 'Cone ings dahm'

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QUOTE: Zuiderdam "Zey-der-dam"UNQUOTE>

Almost right, unless somebody from NL can pronounce it for you, we cannot explain it.

One of those other test to check who is from NL is.... Scheveningen!

 

 

 

I remember being told that during the war, Schiphol Airport was another word that was used to check if person was from Netherlands. Germans apparently did not pronounce it correctly?

 

Fun to have this old thread revived. :)

 

Edited by sail7seas
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I remember being told that during the war, Schiphol Airport was another word that was used to check if person was from Netherlands. Germans apparently did not pronounce it correctly?

 

Yeah, Schiphol is the same first three as Scheveningen, hard to pronounce without spitting if you're not Dutch ;)

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Keith, the "W" is similar to English. "West" is pronounced the same in both languages. "Dam" is prounced "dam" as opposed to "daaam"

 

Doesn't a Dutch "W" sound like an English "V", and a Dutch "V" sound like an English "F" ? Similar to German.

 

Hence; Westerdam = Vesterdam, Volendam = Folendam ?

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Doesn't a Dutch "W" sound like an English "V", and a Dutch "V" sound like an English "F" ? Similar to German.

 

Hence; Westerdam = Vesterdam, Volendam = Folendam ?

 

West in English and West in Dutch is pronounced exactly the same way, no "v" involved

 

Foalen dahm is the correct pronunciation on that ship in Dutch

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West in English and West in Dutch is pronounced exactly the same way, no "v" involved

 

Not to quarrel with a Dutchman, but doesn't "Westerdam" and "very" (or even closer: "vestry") start with the same sound?

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The Dutch language is indeed a difficult one. I never did get the pronunciation of Zanse Schans correct. Everytime I said it someone corrected me.

 

And Vlissingen being pronounced as Flushing really blew me away when we went to the Delta Works (Neeltje Jans) guess which one I used, but had a difficult time being understood, finally pointed on the map to where we were headed. We sat at a lonely bus stop in Middleburg for a couple of hours fearing we would never get there. But we finally did and it is an engineering masterpiece for sure.

 

My two week trip to the Netherlands was awesome and I saw a lot (from Maastricht, to Arnhem, to Apeldoorn, Giethoorn, Meppel, Alkmaar, Volendam, Keukenhof, Delft and Amsterdam) and I can safely say, I never managed the language. But the Dutch people were so friendly and laughed with me or at me whenever I tried. Such wonderful memories!

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Hi Copper,

 

Almost correct

 

Ms. Maasdam is based on the river Maas, which flows through both Belgium and the Netherlands.

 

There is no real city called Maasdam, just a small village ( in the vicinity of Rotterdam), which has its name based on the nearby river Maas.

 

Yes, most, except Prinsendam, Statendam, Ryndam and the four Vista's are names of cities originally built near dams in rivers. i.e. Amsterdam, the capitol, originated in the 12th century when a dam was built on the river Amstel. Amstel was later changed in Amster

Prinsendam - based on the Princes of the House of Orange

Statendam - based on the original seven Dutch provinces

Maasdam - city in province Zuid Holland

Ryndam - dam in the river Rhine

Veendam - city in province Groningen

Rotterdam - city in province Zuid Holland

Amsterdam - city in province Noord Holland

Volendam - city in province Noord Holland

Zaandam - city in province Noord Holland

Zuiderdam - compass heading south

Oosterdam - compass heading east

Westerdam - compass heading west

Noordam - compass heading north

The Germans couldn't say it, right Ine? ;)

Edited by Despegue
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Not to quarrel with a Dutchman, but doesn't "Westerdam" and "very" (or even closer: "vestry") start with the same sound?

 

Dutchmen and Springboks always get along ;) There is a difference, albeit slight, in the pronunciation of West and Vest (as in an item of clothing) in Dutch. The "V" is softer

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Hi Copper,

 

Almost correct

 

Ms. Maasdam is based on the river Maas, which flows through both Belgium and the Netherlands.

 

There is no real city called Maasdam, just a small village ( in the vicinity of Rotterdam), which has its name based on the nearby river Maas.

 

Goeiemiddag ;) You're right of course! The rivers were there before the towns/cities which came later. So, the Maas, Rotte, Amstel and Zaan are all rivers along which towns were built

Edited by Copper10-8
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A little off topic, but the same "spitting test" is used for the Alaskan Native Tlingit word for "Thank you", which is "Gunalcheesh". Absolutely cannot be said correctly without spitting all over whomever you are thanking!! :D

 

I have been away from the Boards for a long time, mostly due to lack of cruising activity, but this thread has certainly been interesting and enlightening! Glad to see Copper 10-8 is still around!

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We think this is a great topic. Despite being 4 Star Mariners and having crusied quite a few HAL ships, we were surprised to find that we had been mispronouncing "Oosterdam" for many years. This only became apparent when we finally cruised on the Oosterdam and learned by the announcements.

 

Hank

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West in English and West in Dutch is pronounced exactly the same way, no "v" involved

 

Foalen dahm is the correct pronunciation on that ship in Dutch

 

So the letter V in Dutch is the letter F in English?

 

I wish HAL has a pronunciation guide on its website. Better yet, why didn't they use American names since it is called Holland America Line?

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So the letter V in Dutch is the letter F in English?

 

I wish HAL has a pronunciation guide on its website. Better yet, why didn't they use American names since it is called Holland America Line?

 

The pronunciation is not exactly the same as in English, but a V is a V and an F is an F in Dutch. See my video three posts ago. When they started, it was a Dutch company, Holland America Line and they still use the Dutch flag.

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The pronunciation is not exactly the same as in English, but a V is a V and an F is an F in Dutch. See my video three posts ago. When they started, it was a Dutch company, Holland America Line and they still use the Dutch flag.

 

Thanks for the video!

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Dutchmen and Springboks always get along ;) There is a difference, albeit slight, in the pronunciation of West and Vest (as in an item of clothing) in Dutch. The "V" is softer

 

Bedankt! Ek was reg. :D Thank you, I was right. :D

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A little off topic, but the same "spitting test" is used for the Alaskan Native Tlingit word for "Thank you", which is "Gunalcheesh". Absolutely cannot be said correctly without spitting all over whomever you are thanking!! :D

 

 

Years ago friends of mine from South Africa (one Dutch born) were on a Kon Tiki tour which usually has a variety of nationalities represented. The two of them would speak Afrikaans (close to Dutch) with each other and one day someone commented that they were speaking that ghe-ghe-ptu (throat clearing/spitting) language again!

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......................

I wish HAL has a pronunciation guide on its website. Better yet, why didn't they use American names since it is called Holland America Line?

 

Holland Amerika Lijn /Holland America Line, as Nederlandsch Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij/Netherlands American Steamship Co., was established in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 18 Apr 1873 with a history closely tied to that of the country.

 

Carnival Corp. made HAL its subsidiary on 15 Jan 1989, so that's 118 years as a Dutch company and the last 26 yrs as a U.S. company. Me thinks that has something to do with continuing with the Dutch ship names; tradition is the other part ;)

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