Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde - Volume 137, Issue 4, 2021

This corpus study investigates the alternation between zo’n and zulk ‘such’ in front of plural and uncountable singular nouns, by putting three hypotheses to the test. The first hypothesis concerns the potential influence of lectal contamination. This is an effect whereby contact between two language varieties leads to lexical biases in the determinants of language variation within each of the varieties separately. Concretely, it is hypothesized that typically Belgian phrases more often exhibit zo’n than typically Netherlandic phrases, both in the language use of Belgians and in the language use of Dutchmen. The second hypothesis predicts that in the Netherlands, in front of singular, uncountable nouns, zulk is preferred in the identifying function compared to the intensifying function. Finally, the third hypothesis holds that in Belgium, in front of plural nouns, zulk is preferred in formal registers. The first hypothesis is not confirmed, while the second is confirmed, pending some qualifications, and the third is also confirmed.

The Batavian Revolution in the winter of 1794-1795 was greeted with song and dance all over the Netherlands. The first months of festivities were not, however, simply spontaneous expressions of joy over regained freedom, they were carefully designed events that had to bring people together after years of political turbulence. During these celebrations, the singing of revolutionary songs functioned as a practice that concretised abstract revolutionary ideals and made them available to the experience of the singers. As such, the revolutionary festivals and their songs offered people both spaces in which to imagine the shape of a new Batavian order, as well as opportunities to participate in and identify with this new order.