Linguistic diversity reigned in the medieval Netherlands. In every city, and even village, they spoke their own language. Dialects can be divided into five large groups: Flemish, Braband, Dutch, Limbur and Lower Saxon.
Attempts to standardize the language were made in the 16th century in Brabant. However, for various reasons, they were unsuccessful. It was possible to create a single language in the 17th century.
In 1618-19, a synod of the Dutch Reformed Church was held in Dordrecht. It was convened to settle numerous disputes and disagreements. Among other things, the synod decided to translate the Bible into a new language that all Dutch could understand.
The translation of the Old Testament was entrusted to Johann Bogermann, William Baudartius and Gerson Buckerus.
(Johann Bogerman)
The translation of the New Testament was entrusted to Jacobus Rolandus, Hermann Faukelius and Petrus Cornelizets. True, Faukelius and Cornelisz died before they could begin translation. They were replaced by Festus Hommius and Antonius Valaeus.
(Antonius Valaeus)
The Parliament (States General) of the United Provinces (Netherlands) agreed to finance the project in 1626. In 1635, the translation of the Bible, and thus the creation of a unified Dutch language, was completed. Elements from various dialects were present in the new language. But the language was mainly based on urban Dutch (Dutch) and Braband (to a lesser extent) dialects. The common language was the key to the unification of the Netherlands.
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Subsequently, the actual Dutch and Belgian variants of the standard Dutch language diverged significantly. This happened because the Dutch did not have official status until the 20th century. The administration language was French. In recent decades, the phenomenon of Tussentaal has been gaining popularity in the Dutch-speaking provinces of Belgium. This phenomenon is akin to the Ukrainian surzhik and is a mixture of the Dutch literary language and local regional spoken dialects. Some linguists point out that Tussentaal has begun to be standardized. It is quite possible that a new language will soon be created from it.