White Booklet

Het Witte Boekje (English: The "White Booklet") is the popular name for the Spelling Guide of Our Language (Spellingwijzer Onze Taal), a publication of the Genootschap Onze Taal. The first edition was released in October 1998; the latest edition is the tenth and was released in 2004. All these publications are explanations of the official spelling rules, as set by the Dutch Language Union.

Although the words in the guide have been based on the same official rules as the Green Booklet, the spellings in the two booklets do not always match. To aid users, the differences between the White Booklet and Green Booklet are made clear by appending "GB" to the differently spelled words.

Completely revised edition 2006

A break between the two booklets was created by the spelling reform of 2005: the White Booklet will indicate its own way to spell. August 16, 2006 a completely revised version will appear, that will respond to the criticism of the Green Booklet with an alternative spelling.

Boycott official spelling

The latest edition will, because of these changes, be unable to bear the official certification mark of the Dutch Language Union. The White Booklet will, from then on, become the spelling prescription of a group of media organizations and companies in The Netherlands who will boycott the new spelling rules. These parties have jointly announced in December 2005 that they will not switch to the new official spelling and have indeed not done so on August 1, 2006. These are de Volkskrant, Trouw, NRC Handelsblad, Elsevier, HP/De Tijd, De Groene Amsterdammer, Vrij Nederland, Planet Internet, Tekstnet, and the NOS. They will follow the spelling as determined by the White Booklet.

Note that, despite Onze Taal being a society for both countries, no large media or publisher in Flanders uses the White Booklet.

External links

* [http://www.spellingwijzer.nl/ Spellingwijzer.nl]
* [http://www.dewittespelling.nl/ Platform 'de witte spelling']