Many 17 th century letters have been updated in modern Dutch spelling to allophones of the same phonetic sound. This list of sound correspondences shows some common sound changes that you may come across in your reading. Especially when searching for terms, consider these possible differences in orthography:

On Punctuation: Punctuation varied in 17th century texts. There were often no commas where we might see them today and, often, no periods to mark the end of one sentence and the beginning of another. Some possibilities were:

Changes in orthography between 17 th century Dutch and modern Dutch can make it difficult to recognize 17 th century Dutch words in context. Spelling changes affected vowels, diphthongs, and consonants, and abbreviations were common. The following list of changes will help with conversions.

For me, the best approach for reading or translating 17^th century Dutch texts is a methodical one. I also know that my excitement for hearing that 17^th century voice from the past can give way to feeling ready to move on with my research already. Please let me begin by empathizing, while setting your expectations realistically. Learning to read 17^th century texts takes some time. It definitely gets better with practice, and each person eventually sorts out, through trial and error, what works best for them. Having said that, here are some of the methods that have worked well for me.

Try 3-lined paper next time you decide to write out a text for translating, as suggested in my post, How to Attack 17^th Century Dutch Texts. I’ve turned the sheet horizontally to make it easier to match up with the length of a handwritten text line by line, and left a little box on the left to number each line. This is the way I generally use the three lines on this sheet:

I hereby deem this a legitimate help topic, even though I have to admit that I came upon the idea while I was supposed to be working on a 17th century text, and started playing on my computer instead. In doing this, though, I happened on some helpful ways to enhance handwritten texts using my Mac’s Preview app. Unfortunately, I am only familiar with these features on my computer, which is a Mac, so I apologize in advance for seeming exclusive.