In Dutch, the word neef can mean either nephew or male cousin, while the word nicht can mean either niece or female cousin.
Automatic translators sometimes translate the terms with nephew and niece only, which can lead you to the wrong conclusion about family relationships.
About Yvette HoitinkYvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.
[…] “Quick Tip – Don’t Confuse Cousins, Nieces, and Nephews” by Yvette Hoitink on her blog Dutch Genealogy […]
Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer from the Netherlands who helps people find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certified Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials.
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I enjoy your posts. Keep them coming
In spoken Dutch, how do I distinguish between my aunts children (cousins) and my brothers children (niece & nephew)
We don’t have separate words for those relationships. You can just say, “de kinderen van mijn tante” or “de kinderen van mijn broer” to clarify. Some people clarify by saying “oomzegger” [uncle-sayer] or “tantezegger” [aunt-sayer].
Why does the Dutch language not distinguish between nieces and cousins by using the same word ? What is the reason for this? Thank you.
Why does the English language use the same word for a male and female cousin, while it has gender-specific words for all other family relationships?
Each language attaches labels/words to conceptual structures. The mapping from conceptual structure to label is not the same in different languages. Dutch chooses to address the difference in gender but not in generation while English does it the other way around. There is no rule that all languages should have the same mapping. Dutch does not have a word for “siblings” either, just for brother (broer) or sister (zus).