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DUTCH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ij.

A digraph of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script; sometimes considered a letter of the Dutch alphabet.

2 characters1 syllables approx.Nederlands language

Meaning & usage

character/ɛi̯/
  1. A digraph of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script; sometimes considered a letter of the Dutch alphabet.

    letter · lowercase
Where this word comes from

From a Middle Dutch spelling for /iː/, representing a variation of ⟨ii⟩, which tended to be avoided. Besides ⟨ij⟩, another common form was ⟨y⟩. The pronunciation changed to /ɛi̯/ in Early Modern Dutch through diphthongization, at first in Brabant.

noun/ɛi̯/
  1. the digraph ij

    feminine
Where this word comes from

From a Middle Dutch spelling for /iː/, representing a variation of ⟨ii⟩, which tended to be avoided. Besides ⟨ij⟩, another common form was ⟨y⟩. The pronunciation changed to /ɛi̯/ in Early Modern Dutch through diphthongization, at first in Brabant.

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ij studioij workshello, ij

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.