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There is ongoing dispute as to what the author meant with "Duytschen bloedt" in the songs lyrics. This has to do with both post World War II anti-German sentiment among the Dutch, and/or etymological obscurity of the word "Duytsch".
There have long been doubts on the exact meaning of "Duytsch". The cause of this is that the diphthong used in "Duytsch" had been recorded as having 2 different pronunciations, either one of which would drastically alter the meaning of the word, as Early Modern Dutch had yet to develop a truly standardized spelling. If the pronunciation of "uy" was meant to be /½y/, its meaning would be "German"; and was assumed to refer to William of Orange being born in Germany, but in the case of /i/ it would mean "Diets", an archaic term for the Dutch, and assumed to mean that William saw himself as one of the Dutch.[10]
The debate would eventually change from an academic one, into a public one as the official 1932 lyrics of Het Wilhelmus used Duits as the modernized spelling of "Duytsch", which is the contemporary Dutch term used to refer to Germans. Initially this remained largely unnoticed, but following the brutal German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II many did not like the notion of their Father of the Fatherland being of the same heritage as the people they hated so much during the 5 year occupation. Several attempts were made to change Duits to Diets after the war, but to no effect. Nevertheless the use of Diets has become a common, be it unofficial, variation on the lyrics.[10]
Today the linguists remain divided on the exact meaning, with many acknowledging it has probably been lost to time forever.
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