How the Dutch named a State in New England
The clay in the Netherlands is rather boring. It is more gray than anything else. Sure, there are colorations, but nothing too exciting.
Encountering Rhode Island, the Dutch recognized the reddish color of the land immediately. Make that… the reddish color of the island.
Rood, meaning red, is ordinarily pronounced as ‘roat’ with a thick T sound at the end. However, when found in front of a word that starts with a vowel, such as ‘rood eiland’, the T sound changes into a D sound. Rode-Eiland.
- The word ‘hoed’ is pronounced as ‘hoot’ in Dutch, meaning ‘hat’. Meanwhile, the plural ‘hoeden’ (hats) explains why the singular is written with a D but pronounced as a T.
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The influence of the Dutch in New England was perhaps never great, but the name stuck. By ensuring the English had a different explanation, the name would remain in place.
- Declaring Block Island similar in shape and experience to Rhodes in Greece, or Rhode Island, the name got accepted and remained in use today.
- In reality, Aquidneck Island is the original ‘Rode Eiland.’
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The Dutch and the English fought many wars. The issue was having open seas or not, allowing…
