Both being raised in the Netherlands, we have experienced both ourselves and our surroundings struggle with a specific rule within the Dutch language: the dt-rule. Not only failing multiple written exams, but also being called out for not applying a rule that didn’t have a clear purpose to begin with. After doing some thorough research on the subject, we found out about the origin of the rule, but more importantly, why it was indeed senseless.

Not our words, but those of Psycholinguistic/Dutch language teacher Dominiek Sandra. Backing it up with scientific research, indicating our cognitive brain is wired in a way which makes wrongly applying the rule unavoidable. He further states that: “rules should enhance the process, not complicate it.” When we got older and experienced some minor debates on the subject on LinkedIn and in small social gatherings, we decided the subject should have a broader audience, but most importantly a fresh perspective.

We have created the new font, based on the most popular/used font worldwide: Times New Roman. By taking over its elements and redirecting them, we were able to craft a font that can recognize the 20 most used Dutch verbs and change their last letter to the one that we created. Making it ultimately intuitive to those who naturally struggle.

Relevancy

Although this problem has been relevant ever since its conception, forcing even it’s ‘inventor’ to neglect it, it’s more relevant than ever. The Netherlands is a country with many different cultures and its language is constantly intermingling with those of other cultures. Therefore, our language is constantly adapting. As our language adapts, so should our rules of language. Moreover, it has been proven that our cognitive brain involved in reading and writing is incapable of consistently applying this rule because of its irregular application. It’s our civic duty as the new (counter)culture to question these rules and overrule them if necessary, together creating the Dutch New Times.