Talking Dutch: Lost for words
The city of Ghent has spent much time trying to come up with an alternative word to describe its many inhabitants who come from abroad
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So I was quite intrigued back in 2012 when daily newspaper De Morgen announced that it was banning the word allochtoon – a foreigner. I didn’t like being called an allochtoon, although I knew very well that I wasn’t the other available option – autochtoon – a native. I felt more like I was in the middle, an alloautochtoon.
The city of Ghent liked the idea – In Gent wonen ruim 160 nationaliteiten, die via heel verschillende migratiekanalen in de stad terechtkomen, om heel uiteenlopende redenen – some 160 different nationalities live in Ghent who have moved to the city via various migration routes for all sorts of reasons, said equality alderman Resul Tapmaz in an interview with De Morgen. De Gentenaars van andere origine zijn geen homogene groep – the Gentenaars from other places are not a homogeneous group.
So the word allochtoon was too narrow. Zij voelen zich Gentenaars, geen allochtonen – they consider themselves Gentenaars, not foreigners. De noemer allochtoon verbindt niet, maar sluit uit – the word foreigner doesn’t connect them, but excludes them.
No one alternative
But what should these people be called? They aren’t pure Gentenaars because they have roots in a different country. But they aren’t totally foreign either. It was a tricky problem, requiring serious discussion. Een speciaal opgerichte werkgroep heeft er een jaar over moeten nadenken – a special working group spent a year thinking about it.
A year seems a long time, but it was a difficult issue. It was so difficult, in fact, that they failed to find a single word that did the job. Het resultaat is niet één alternatief woord, maar een richtlijn met opties – the final result is not one alternative word but a directive with options.
Als het echt niet anders kan, mag het Gentse stadspersoneel nog wel een overkoepelende term gebruiken – if there is really no alternative, city staff are permitted to use a general term. And here it is – personen met een migratieachtergrond – people with a migrant background.
So if you are not a real Gentenaar, but you live in Ghent, that’s what you are going to be called. Until they find a better word.
Photo courtesy Ingimage
