Meertens Institute
 Meertens Instituut (2016) | |
| Founder(s) | P.J. Meertens |
|---|---|
| Established | 1930 |
| Focus | Linguistic and cultural diversity in the Netherlands |
| Director | Hans Bennis |
| Location | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Website |
www |
The Meertens Institute (Dutch Meertens Instituut) in Amsterdam is a research institute for Dutch language and culture within the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen or KNAW).
Its two departments are Dutch ethnology, focusing on indigenous and exotic cultures in the Netherlands and their interaction, and Variation, focusing on structural, dialectal, and sociolinguistic research on language variation within the Netherlands, with an emphasis on grammar and onomastic variety.
History
The institute began in 1930 as a Dialect Office; the Folklore office was added in 1940, and Onomastics Office in 1948. These three agencies came under the umbrella of the Central Commission for Dutch Social Research. The Secretary of the three agencies, P.J. Meertens, was the first director and retired in 1965. The institute was renamed PJ Meertens Institute in 1979. In 1998 it was renamed as simply the Meertens Institute. Since 2001, the Institute has also houses the Secretariat of the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore.
Directors
| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| Piet Meertens | 1948–1965 |
| Dick Blok | 1965–1986 |
| Jaap van Marle | 1986–1997 |
| Hans Bennis | 1998-present |
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meertens Instituut. |