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101-421: Maastricht ( / ˈ m ɑː s t r ɪ x t / MAH -strikht , US also / m ɑː ˈ s t r ɪ x t / mah- STRIKHT , Dutch: [maːˈstrɪxt] ; Limburgish : Mestreech [məˈstʀeːx] ; French : Maestricht (archaic) ; Spanish : Mastrique (archaic) ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands . It is the capital and largest city of

202-698: A cot–caught merger , which is rapidly spreading throughout the whole country. However, the South, Inland North, and a Northeastern coastal corridor passing through Rhode Island, New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore typically preserve an older cot–caught distinction. For that Northeastern corridor, the realization of the THOUGHT vowel is particularly marked , as depicted in humorous spellings, like in tawk and cawfee ( talk and coffee ), which intend to represent it being tense and diphthongal : [oə] . A split of TRAP into two separate phonemes , using different

303-495: A city council , a mayor and a number of aldermen . The city council, a 39-member legislative body directly elected every four years, appoints the aldermen on the basis of a coalition agreement between two or more parties after each election. The mayor and aldermen make up the executive branch of the municipal government. The mayor from 2002, Gerd Leers ( CDA ), resigned in January 2010 following allegations of irregularities in

404-520: A pronunciations for example in gap [æ] versus gas [eə] , further defines New York City as well as Philadelphia–Baltimore accents. Most Americans preserve all historical /r/ sounds, using what is known as a rhotic accent . The only traditional r -dropping (or non-rhoticity) in regional U.S. accents variably appears today in eastern New England , New York City , and some of the former plantation South primarily among older speakers (and, relatedly, some African-American Vernacular English across

505-728: A silo was a pit for storing grain. It is distinct from a granary, which is an above-ground structure. Simple storage granaries raised up on four or more posts appeared in the Yangshao culture in China and after the onset of intensive agriculture in the Korean peninsula during the Mumun pottery period (c. 1000 B.C.) as well as in the Japanese archipelago during the Final Jōmon /Early Yayoi periods (c. 800 B.C.). In

606-616: A complex phenomenon of "both convergence and divergence": some accents are homogenizing and leveling , while others are diversifying and deviating further away from one another. Having been settled longer than the American West Coast, the East Coast has had more time to develop unique accents, and it currently comprises three or four linguistically significant regions, each of which possesses English varieties both different from each other as well as quite internally diverse: New England ,

707-447: A consonant, such as in pearl , car and fort . Non-rhotic American accents, those that do not pronounce ⟨r⟩ except before a vowel, such as some accents of Eastern New England , New York City , and African-Americans , and a specific few (often older ones) spoken by Southerners , are often quickly noticed by General American listeners and perceived as sounding especially ethnic, regional, or antiquated. Rhoticity

808-455: A double-decked tunnel. Before 2016, the A2 motorway ran through the city; heavily congested, it caused air pollution in the urban area. Construction of a two-level tunnel designed to solve these problems started in 2011 and was opened (in stages) by December 2016. In spite of several large underground car parks, parking in the city centre forms a major problem during weekends and bank holidays because of

909-441: A granary tends to contain excess moisture, which encourages mold growth leading to fermentation and heating, both of which are undesirable and affect quality. Fermentation generally spoils grain and may cause chemical changes that create poisonous mycotoxins . One traditional remedy is to spread the grain in thin layers on a floor, where it is turned to aerate it thoroughly. Once the grain is sufficiently dry it can be transferred to

1010-468: A holiday villa project in Bulgaria owned by Leers. He was replaced by Onno Hoes , a Liberal ( VVD ), the only male mayor in the country officially married to a man. In 2013 Hoes was subject to controversy after disclosures of intimate affairs with several other men, although he remained mayor. After a new affair in 2014, Hoes eventually stepped down. From July 2015, Annemarie Penn-te Strake became mayor. She

1111-447: A legend of Saint Servatius, one of the earliest works in Dutch literature . The two main churches acquired a wealth of relics and the septennial Maastricht Pilgrimage became a major event that drew up to 100,000 pilgrims. Unlike most Dutch towns, Maastricht did not receive city rights at a certain date. These gradually developed during its long history. In 1204 the city's dual authority

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1212-505: A major river crossing necessitated the construction of an array of fortifications around the city during this period. The Spanish and Dutch garrisons became an important factor in the city's economy. In 1579 the city was sacked by the Spanish army led by the Duke of Parma ( Siege of Maastricht, 1579 ). For over fifty years the Spanish crown took over the role previously held by the dukes of Brabant in

1313-586: A merger with the THOUGHT ( caught ) set. Having taken place prior to the unrounding of the cot vowel, it results in lengthening and perhaps raising, merging the more recently separated vowel into the THOUGHT vowel in the following environments: before many instances of /f/ , /θ/ , and particularly /s/ (as in Austria, cloth, cost, loss, off, often, etc.), a few instances before /ŋ/ (as in strong, long, wrong ), and variably by region or speaker in gone , on , and certain other words. Unlike American accents,

1414-669: A month. Since the 1980s, a number of European and international institutions have made Maastricht their base. They provide an increasing number of employment opportunities for expats living in the Maastricht area. Maastricht is known in the Netherlands and beyond for its lively squares, narrow streets, and historic buildings. The city has 1,677 national heritage buildings ( rijksmonumenten ), more than any Dutch city outside Amsterdam. In addition to that there are 3,500 locally listed buildings ( gemeentelijke monumenten ). The entire city centre

1515-636: A nice day , for sure); many are now distinctly old-fashioned (swell, groovy). Some English words now in general use, such as hijacking, disc jockey , boost, bulldoze and jazz , originated as American slang. American English has always shown a marked tendency to use words in different parts of speech and nouns are often used as verbs . Examples of nouns that are now also verbs are interview, advocate, vacuum, lobby, pressure, rear-end, transition, feature, profile, hashtag, head, divorce, loan, estimate, X-ray, spearhead, skyrocket, showcase, bad-mouth, vacation , major, and many others. Compounds coined in

1616-475: A process of extensive dialect mixture and leveling in which English varieties across the colonies became more homogeneous compared with the varieties in Britain. English thus predominated in the colonies even by the end of the 17th century's first immigration of non-English speakers from Western Europe and Africa. Additionally, firsthand descriptions of a fairly uniform American English (particularly in contrast to

1717-732: A river port ( Beatrixhaven ) and is connected by water with Belgium and the rest of the Netherlands through the river Meuse , the Juliana Canal , the Albert Canal and the Zuid-Willemsvaart . Although there are no regular boat connections to other cities, various organized boat trips for tourists connect Maastricht with Belgium cities such as Liège . These distances are as the crow flies and so do not represent actual overland distances. American English American English , sometimes called United States English or U.S. English ,

1818-657: A series of other vowel shifts in the same region, known by linguists as the " Inland North ". The Inland North shares with the Eastern New England dialect (including Boston accents ) a backer tongue positioning of the GOOSE /u/ vowel (to [u] ) and the MOUTH /aʊ/ vowel (to [ɑʊ~äʊ] ) in comparison to the rest of the country. Ranging from northern New England across the Great Lakes to Minnesota, another Northern regional marker

1919-509: A spot where the river Meuse was shallow and therefore easy to cross. It is not known when the Romans arrived in Maastricht, nor whether the settlement was founded by them. The Romans built a bridge across the Meuse in the 1st century AD, during the reign of Augustus Caesar . The bridge was an important link in the main road between Bavay and Cologne . Roman Maastricht was relatively small. Remains of

2020-514: A survey, completed in 2003, polling English speakers across the United States about their specific everyday word choices, hoping to identify regionalisms. The study found that most Americans prefer the term sub for a long sandwich, soda (but pop in the Great Lakes region and generic coke in the South) for a sweet and bubbly soft drink , you or you guys for the plural of you (but y'all in

2121-453: A variation of American English in these islands. In 2021, about 245 million Americans, aged 5 or above, spoke English at home: a majority of the United States total population of roughly 330 million people. The United States has never had an official language at the federal level, but English is commonly used at the federal level and in states without an official language. 32 of the 50 states, in some cases as part of what has been called

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2222-475: Is a city of linguistic diversity, partly as a result of its location at the crossroads of multiple language areas and its international student population. Religions in Maastricht (2013) In 2010–2014, 69.8% of the population of Maastricht regarded themselves as religious. 60.4% of the total population stated an affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church. 13.9% attended a religious ceremony at least once

2323-591: Is a conservation area ( beschermd stadsgezicht ) and largely traffic-free. The tourist information office ( VVV ) is located in the basement of Dinghuis, a late-medieval courthouse overlooking Grote Staat. Maastricht's main sights include: Furthermore, the Maastricht Exposition and Congress Centre (MECC) hosts many events throughout the year. There are several city parks and recreational areas in Maastricht: The municipal government of Maastricht consists of

2424-642: Is also associated with the United States, perhaps mostly in the Midwest and the South. American accents that have not undergone the cot–caught merger (the lexical sets LOT and THOUGHT ) have instead retained a LOT – CLOTH split : a 17th-century distinction in which certain words (labeled as the CLOTH lexical set ) separated away from the LOT set. The split, which has now reversed in most British English, simultaneously shifts this relatively recent CLOTH set into

2525-637: Is also home to a creole language known commonly as Hawaiian Pidgin , and some Hawaii residents speak English with a Pidgin-influenced accent. American English also gave rise to some dialects outside the country, for example, Philippine English , beginning during the American occupation of the Philippines and subsequently the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands ; Thomasites first established

2626-507: Is an Old Dutch compound Masa- (> Maas "the Meuse river") + Old Dutch *treiekt , itself borrowed from Gallo-Romance *TRA(I)ECTU cf. its Walloon name li trek , from Classical Latin trajectus (" ford , passage, place to cross a river") with the later addition of Maas "Meuse" to avoid the confusion with the -trecht of Utrecht having exactly the same original form and etymology. The Latin name first appears in medieval documents and it

2727-526: Is common in most American accents despite being now rare in England because, during the 17th-century British colonization, nearly all dialects of English were rhotic, and most North American English simply remained that way. The preservation of rhoticity in North America was also supported by continuing waves of rhotic-accented Scotch-Irish immigrants, most intensely during the 18th century (and moderately during

2828-540: Is considered the heartland of the Carolingian dynasty . At this time, the town was an important centre for river trade and manufacturing. Merovingian coins minted in Maastricht have been found throughout Europe. In 881 the town was plundered by the Vikings . In the 10th century it briefly became the capital of the duchy of Lower Lorraine . During the 11th and 12th centuries the town flourished culturally. Several provosts of

2929-501: Is not known whether * Trajectu(s) was Maastricht's name during Roman times. A resident of Maastricht is referred to as Maastrichtenaar whilst in the local dialect it is either Mestreechteneer or, colloquially, Sjeng (derived from the formerly popular French name Jean ). Neanderthal remains have been found to the west of Maastricht (Belvédère excavations). Of a later date are Palaeolithic remains, between 8,000 and 25,000 years old. Celts lived here around 500 BC, at

3030-420: Is often identified by Americans as a "country" accent, and is defined by the /aɪ/ vowel losing its gliding quality : [aː] , the initiation event for a complicated Southern vowel shift, including a " Southern drawl " that makes short front vowels into distinct-sounding gliding vowels . The fronting of the vowels of GOOSE , GOAT , MOUTH , and STRUT tends to also define Southern accents as well as

3131-829: Is operated by Arriva . The National Railway Company of Belgium runs south to Liège in Belgium . The westbound railway to Hasselt (Belgium) closed in 1954. The former railway to Aachen was closed down in the 1980s. However, Aachen can still be reached via Heerlen. Regular bus lines connect the city centre, outer areas, business districts and railway stations. The regional Arriva bus network extends to most parts of South Limburg and Aachen (Germany). Regional buses by De Lijn connect Maastricht with Hasselt , Tongeren and Maasmechelen , and one bus connects Maastricht with Liège , operated by TEC . Various bus companies such as Flixbus and Eurolines provide intercity bus services from Maastricht to many European destinations. Maastricht

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3232-661: Is served by the nearby Maastricht Aachen Airport ( IATA : MST , ICAO : EHBK ), in nearby Beek , and it is informally referred to by that name. The airport is located about 10 kilometres (6 miles) north of the city centre. The airport is served by Corendon Dutch Airlines and Ryanair which operate scheduled flights to destinations around the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, North-Africa and also London Stansted Airport from March 2022. There are also charter flights to Lourdes which are operated by Enter Air . Maastricht has

3333-607: Is the common language at home, in public, and in government. Granary From ancient times grain has been stored in bulk. The oldest granaries yet found date back to 9500 BC and are located in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A settlements in the Jordan Valley . The first were located in places between other buildings. However beginning around 8500 BC , they were moved inside houses, and by 7500 BC storage occurred in special rooms. The first granaries measured 3 x 3 m on

3434-635: Is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States ; the de facto common language used in government, education, and commerce; and an official language in 32 of the 50 U.S. states . Since the late 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide. Varieties of American English include many patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and particularly spelling that are unified nationwide but distinct from other English dialects around

3535-463: Is the variable fronting of /ɑ/ before /r/ , for example, appearing four times in the stereotypical Boston shibboleth Park the car in Harvard Yard . Several other phenomena serve to distinguish regional U.S. accents. Boston , Pittsburgh , Upper Midwestern , and Western U.S. accents have fully completed a merger of the LOT vowel with the THOUGHT vowel ( /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ , respectively):

3636-407: The Dutch soft drug policy , individuals may buy cannabis from 'coffeeshops' under certain conditions. From the 1980s, Maastricht saw a growing influx of ' drug tourists ', mainly from neighbouring Belgium, France and Germany. The city government attempted to reduce negative side effects, including illegal sale of hard drugs in the city centre and anti-social behaviour. A 2008 proposal to relocate

3737-476: The English-only movement , have adopted legislation granting official or co-official status to English. Typically only "English" is specified, not a particular variety like American English. (From 1923 to 1969, the state of Illinois recognized its official language as "American", meaning American English.) Puerto Rico is the largest example of a United States territory in which another language – Spanish –

3838-615: The Great Powers allocated the city to the Netherlands. However, neither the Dutch nor the Belgians agreed to this and the arrangement was not implemented until the 1839 Treaty of London . During this period of isolation Maastricht developed into an early industrial town. Because of its eccentric location in the southeastern Netherlands, as well as its geographical and cultural proximity to Belgium and Germany, integration of Maastricht and Limburg into

3939-608: The Mid-Atlantic states (including a New York accent as well as a unique Philadelphia–Baltimore accent ), and the South . As of the 20th century, the middle and eastern Great Lakes area , Chicago being the largest city with these speakers, also ushered in certain unique features, including the fronting of the LOT /ɑ/ vowel in the mouth toward [a] and tensing of the TRAP /æ/ vowel wholesale to [eə] . These sound changes have triggered

4040-544: The Native American languages . Examples of such names are opossum , raccoon , squash , moose (from Algonquian ), wigwam , and moccasin . American English speakers have integrated traditionally non-English terms and expressions into the mainstream cultural lexicon; for instance, en masse , from French ; cookie , from Dutch ; kindergarten from German , and rodeo from Spanish . Landscape features are often loanwords from French or Spanish, and

4141-573: The Sint Servaasbrug . Throughout the Middle Ages, the city remained a centre for trade and manufacturing principally of wool and leather but gradually economic decline set in. After a brief period of economic prosperity around 1500, the city's economy suffered during the wars of religion of the 16th and 17th centuries, and recovery did not happen until the industrial revolution in the early 19th century. The strategic location of Maastricht at

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4242-524: The Sundanese leuit and Minang rangkiang . In the South Hams in southwest Great Britain , small granaries were built on mushroom -shaped stumps called staddle stones . They were built of timber-frame construction and often had slate roofs. Larger ones were similar to linhays , but with the upper floor enclosed. Access to the first floor was usually via stone staircase on the outside wall. Towards

4343-523: The United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. It was made the capital of the newly formed Province of Limburg (1815–1839) . When the southern provinces of the newly formed kingdom seceded in 1830 , the Dutch garrison in Maastricht remained loyal to the Dutch king, William I , even when most of the inhabitants of the town and the surrounding area sided with the Belgian revolutionaries. In 1831, arbitration by

4444-689: The comte d'Artagnan , was killed by a musket shot outside the Tongerse Poort. This event was embellished in Alexandre Dumas' novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne , part of the D'Artagnan Romances . French troops occupied Maastricht from 1673 to 1678. In 1748 the French again conquered the city at what is known as the Second French Siege of Maastricht , during the War of Austrian Succession . After each siege

4545-714: The francophile tastes of the 19th century Victorian era Britain (for example they preferred programme for program , manoeuvre for maneuver , cheque for check , etc.). AmE almost always uses -ize in words like realize . BrE prefers -ise , but also uses -ize on occasion (see: Oxford spelling ). There are a few differences in punctuation rules. British English is more tolerant of run-on sentences , called " comma splices " in American English, and American English prefers that periods and commas be placed inside closing quotation marks even in cases in which British rules would place them outside. American English also favors

4646-759: The 18th century; apartment , shanty in the 19th century; project, condominium , townhouse , mobile home in the 20th century; and parts thereof ( driveway , breezeway, backyard ) . Industry and material innovations from the 19th century onwards provide distinctive new words, phrases, and idioms through railroading (see further at rail terminology ) and transportation terminology, ranging from types of roads ( dirt roads , freeways ) to infrastructure ( parking lot , overpass , rest area ), to automotive terminology often now standard in English internationally. Already existing English words—such as store , shop , lumber —underwent shifts in meaning; others remained in

4747-534: The 20th century. The use of English in the United States is a result of British colonization of the Americas . The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America during the early 17th century, followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 17th and 18th centuries, dialects from many different regions of England and the British Isles existed in every American colony, allowing

4848-622: The British form is a back-formation , such as AmE burglarize and BrE burgle (from burglar ). However, while individuals usually use one or the other, both forms will be widely understood and mostly used alongside each other within the two systems. While written American English is largely standardized across the country and spoken American English dialects are highly mutually intelligible, there are still several recognizable regional and ethnic accents and lexical distinctions. The regional sounds of present-day American English are reportedly engaged in

4949-413: The East Coast (perhaps in imitation of 19th-century London speech), even the East Coast has gradually begun to restore rhoticity, due to it becoming nationally prestigious in the 20th century. The pronunciation of ⟨r⟩ is a postalveolar approximant [ ɹ̠ ] or retroflex approximant [ ɻ ] , but a unique "bunched tongue" variant of the approximant r sound

5050-565: The Inland North. Rather than one particular accent, General American is best defined as an umbrella covering an American accent that does not incorporate features associated with some particular region, ethnicity, or socioeconomic group. Typical General American features include rhoticity , the father–bother merger , Mary–marry–merry merger , pre-nasal "short a " tensing , and other particular vowel sounds . General American features are embraced most by Americans who are highly educated or in

5151-467: The Netherlands did not come about easily. Maastricht retained a distinctly non-Dutch appearance during much of the 19th century and it was not until the First World War that the city was forced to look northwards. Like the rest of the Netherlands, Maastricht remained neutral during World War I. However, being wedged between Germany and Belgium, it received large numbers of refugees, putting a strain on

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5252-587: The Roman road, the bridge, a religious shrine, a Roman bath , a granary , some houses and the 4th-century castrum walls and gates, have been excavated. Fragments of provincial Roman sculptures, as well as coins, jewelry, glass, pottery and other objects from Roman Maastricht are on display in the exhibition space of the city's public library ( Centre Céramique ). According to legend, the Armenian -born Saint Servatius , Bishop of Tongeren , died in Maastricht in 384 where he

5353-560: The South), sneakers for athletic shoes (but often tennis shoes outside the Northeast), and shopping cart for a cart used for carrying supermarket goods. American English and British English (BrE) often differ at the levels of phonology, phonetics, vocabulary, and, to a much lesser extent, grammar and orthography. The first large American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language , known as Webster's Dictionary ,

5454-528: The U.S. Several verbs ending in -ize are of U.S. origin; for example, fetishize, prioritize, burglarize, accessorize, weatherize , etc.; and so are some back-formations (locate, fine-tune, curate, donate, emote, upholster and enthuse). Among syntactic constructions that arose are outside of, headed for, meet up with, back of, etc. Americanisms formed by alteration of some existing words include notably pesky, phony, rambunctious, buddy, sundae , skeeter, sashay and kitty-corner. Adjectives that arose in

5555-563: The U.S. are for instance foothill , landslide (in all senses), backdrop , teenager , brainstorm , bandwagon , hitchhike , smalltime, and a huge number of others. Other compound words have been founded based on industrialization and the wave of the automobile: five-passenger car, four-door sedan, two-door sedan, and station-wagon (called an estate car in British English). Some are euphemistic ( human resources , affirmative action , correctional facility ). Many compound nouns have

5656-662: The U.S. are, for example, lengthy, bossy, cute and cutesy, punk (in all senses), sticky (of the weather), through (as in "finished"), and many colloquial forms such as peppy or wacky . A number of words and meanings that originated in Middle English or Early Modern English and that have been in everyday use in the United States have since disappeared in most varieties of British English; some of these have cognates in Lowland Scots . Terms such as fall ("autumn"), faucet ("tap"), diaper ("nappy"; itself unused in

5757-530: The U.S. while changing in Britain. Science, urbanization, and democracy have been important factors in bringing about changes in the written and spoken language of the United States. From the world of business and finance came new terms ( merger , downsize , bottom line ), from sports and gambling terminology came, specific jargon aside, common everyday American idioms, including many idioms related to baseball . The names of some American inventions remained largely confined to North America ( elevator [except in

5858-427: The U.S.), candy ("sweets"), skillet , eyeglasses , and obligate are often regarded as Americanisms. Fall for example came to denote the season in 16th century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year." Gotten ( past participle of get ) is often considered to be largely an Americanism. Other words and meanings were brought back to Britain from

5959-592: The U.S., especially in the second half of the 20th century; these include hire ("to employ"), I guess (famously criticized by H. W. Fowler ), baggage , hit (a place), and the adverbs overly and presently ("currently"). Some of these, for example, monkey wrench and wastebasket , originated in 19th century Britain. The adjectives mad meaning "angry", smart meaning "intelligent", and sick meaning "ill" are also more frequent in American (and Irish) English than British English. Linguist Bert Vaux created

6060-531: The United States and the United Kingdom suggest that, while spoken American English deviated away from period British English in many ways, it is conservative in a few other ways, preserving certain features 21st-century British English has since lost. Full rhoticity (or "R-fulness") is typical of American accents, pronouncing the phoneme /r/ (corresponding to the letter ⟨r⟩ ) in all environments, including in syllable-final position or before

6161-596: The West and Midwest, and New York Latino English , spoken in the New York metropolitan area . Additionally, ethnic varieties such as Yeshiva English and " Yinglish " are spoken by some American Orthodox Jews , Cajun Vernacular English by some Cajuns in southern Louisiana , and Pennsylvania Dutch English by some Pennsylvania Dutch people. American Indian Englishes have been documented among diverse Indian tribes. The island state of Hawaii , though primarily English-speaking,

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6262-547: The accents spoken in the " Midland ": a vast band of the country that constitutes an intermediate dialect region between the traditional North and South. Western U.S. accents mostly fall under the General American spectrum. Below, ten major American English accents are defined by their particular combinations of certain vowel sounds: In 2010, William Labov noted that Great Lakes, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and West Coast accents have undergone "vigorous new sound changes" since

6363-505: The aeronautical sense ], gasoline ) as did certain automotive terms ( truck , trunk ). New foreign loanwords came with 19th and early 20th century European immigration to the U.S.; notably, from Yiddish ( chutzpah , schmooze, bupkis, glitch ) and German ( hamburger , wiener ). A large number of English colloquialisms from various periods are American in origin; some have lost their American flavor (from OK and cool to nerd and 24/7 ), while others have not ( have

6464-615: The archaeological vernacular of Northeast Asia, these features are lumped with those that may have also functioned as residences and together are called 'raised floor buildings'. China built an elaborate system designed to minimize famine deaths. The system was destroyed in the Taiping Rebellion of the 1850s. In vernacular architecture of Indonesian archipelago granaries are made of wood and bamboo materials and most of them are built raised up on four or more posts to avoid rodents and insects. Examples of Indonesian granary styles are

6565-516: The birthplace of the euro . Maastricht has 1,677 national heritage buildings ( rijksmonumenten ), the second highest number in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam . The city is visited by tourists for shopping and recreation, and has a large international student population. Maastricht is mentioned in ancient documents as [Ad] Treiectinsem [urbem] ab. 575, Treiectensis in 634, Triecto , Triectu in 7th century, Triiect in 768–781, Traiecto in 945, Masetrieth in 1051. The place name Maastricht

6666-468: The chapter of Saint Servatius held important positions in the Holy Roman Empire . The two collegiate churches were largely rebuilt and redecorated during this era. Maastricht Romanesque stone sculpture and silversmithing are regarded as highlights of Mosan art . Maastricht painters were praised by Wolfram von Eschenbach in his Parzival . Around the same time, the poet Henric van Veldeke wrote

6767-440: The city because French supply lines were being threatened. During this siege, Vauban , the famous French military engineer, developed a new tactic in order to break down the strong fortifications surrounding Maastricht. His systematic approach remained the standard method of attacking fortresses until the 20th century. On 25 June 1673, while preparing to storm the city, captain-lieutenant Charles de Batz de Castelmore , also known as

6868-604: The city of Maastricht in the course of the 20th century. The outlying areas of the following municipalities are bordering the municipality of Maastricht directly. Clockwise from north-east to north-west: (B = Situated in Belgium) Maastricht's city limits has an international border with Belgium. Most of it borders Belgium's Flemish region, but a small part to the south also has a border with Wallonia . Both countries are part of Europe's Schengen Area and, thus, are open without border controls. Maastricht features

6969-619: The city's fortifications were restored and expanded. The French revolutionary army failed to take the city in 1793 but a year later they succeeded. The condominium was dissolved and Maastricht was annexed to the French First Republic , later the First French Empire . For almost twenty years (1795–1814/15) Maastricht was the capital of the French département of Meuse-Inférieure . After the Napoleonic era , Maastricht became part of

7070-716: The city's resources. Early in World War II , the city was taken by the Germans by surprise during the Battle of Maastricht of May 1940. On 13 and 14 September 1944 it was the first Dutch city to be liberated by Allied forces of the US Old Hickory Division . The three Meuse bridges were destroyed or severely damaged during the war. As elsewhere in the Netherlands, the majority of Maastricht Jews died in Nazi concentration camps . During

7171-710: The close of the 19th century, warehouses specially intended for holding grain began to multiply in Great Britain. There are climatic difficulties in the way of storing grain in Great Britain on a large scale, but these difficulties have been largely overcome. Modern grain farming operations often use manufactured steel granaries to store grain on-site until it can be trucked to major storage facilities in anticipation of shipping. The large mechanized facilities, particularly seen in Russia and North America are known as grain elevators . Grain must be kept away from moisture for as long as possible to preserve it in good condition and prevent mold growth . Newly harvested grain brought into

7272-635: The coffeeshops to the outskirts of the city was opposed by neighbouring municipalities (some in Belgium) and by the Dutch and Belgian parliaments. In December 2010, a Maastricht law to restrict entry to coffeeshops to local residents was upheld by the Court of Justice of the European Union , with the Dutch government introducing a similar national law in 2012. The new system led to a reduction in drug tourism in Maastricht's cannabis shops, but an increase in drug dealing on

7373-406: The country), though the vowel-consonant cluster found in "bird", "work", "hurt", "learn", etc. usually retains its r pronunciation, even in these non-rhotic American accents. Non-rhoticity among such speakers is presumed to have arisen from their upper classes' close historical contact with England, imitating London's r -dropping, a feature that has continued to gain prestige throughout England from

7474-595: The creation of the European Union and the euro . Since 1988, The European Fine Art Fair , regarded as the world's leading art fair, annually draws in some of the wealthiest art collectors. Since the 1990s, large parts of the city have been refurbished, including the areas around the main railway station and the Maasboulevard promenade along the Meuse, the Entre Deux and Mosae Forum shopping centres, as well as some of

7575-614: The diverse regional dialects of British English) became common after the mid-18th century, while at the same time speakers' identification with this new variety increased. Since the 18th century, American English has developed into some new varieties, including regional dialects that retain minor influences from waves of immigrant speakers of diverse languages, primarily European languages. Some racial and regional variation in American English reflects these groups' geographic settlement, their de jure or de facto segregation, and patterns in their resettlement. This can be seen, for example, in

7676-742: The double quotation mark ("like this") over the single ('as here'). Vocabulary differences vary by region. For example, autumn is used more commonly in the United Kingdom, whereas fall is more common in American English. Some other differences include: aerial (United Kingdom) vs. antenna, biscuit (United Kingdom) vs. cookie/cracker, car park (United Kingdom) vs. parking lot, caravan (United Kingdom) vs. trailer, city centre (United Kingdom) vs. downtown, flat (United Kingdom) vs. apartment, fringe (United Kingdom) vs. bangs, and holiday (United Kingdom) vs. vacation. AmE sometimes favors words that are morphologically more complex, whereas BrE uses clipped forms, such as AmE transportation and BrE transport or where

7777-558: The early 2000s, Maastricht launched several campaigns against drug-dealing in an attempt to stop foreign buyers taking advantage of the liberal Dutch legislation and causing trouble in the downtown area. Maastricht consists of seven areas ( wijken ) and 44 neighbourhoods ( buurten ). Each area and neighbourhood has a number which corresponds to its CBS code. Itteren, Borgharen, Limmel, Amby, Heer, Heugem, Scharn, Oud-Caberg, Sint Pieter and Wolder are neighbourhoods that used to be separate municipalities or villages until they were annexed by

7878-510: The following two centuries) when this ethnic group eventually made up one-seventh of the colonial population. Scotch-Irish settlers spread from Delaware and Pennsylvania throughout the larger Mid-Atlantic region, the inland regions of both the South and North, and throughout the West: American dialect areas that were all uninfluenced by upper-class non-rhoticity and that consequently have remained consistently rhotic. While non-rhoticity spread on

7979-939: The hospital , BrE to hospital ; contrast, however, AmE actress Elizabeth Taylor , BrE the actress Elizabeth Taylor ). Often, these differences are a matter of relative preferences rather than absolute rules; and most are not stable since the two varieties are constantly influencing each other, and American English is not a standardized set of dialects. Differences in orthography are also minor. The main differences are that American English usually uses spellings such as flavor for British flavour , fiber for fibre , defense for defence , analyze for analyse , license for licence , catalog for catalogue and traveling for travelling . Noah Webster popularized such spellings in America, but he did not invent most of them. Rather, "he chose already existing options on such grounds as simplicity, analogy or etymology." Other differences are due to

8080-656: The influence of 18th-century Protestant Ulster Scots immigrants (known in the U.S. as the Scotch-Irish ) in Appalachia developing Appalachian English and the 20th-century Great Migration bringing African-American Vernacular English to the Great Lakes urban centers. Any phonologically unmarked North American accent falls under an umbrella known as General American. This section mostly refers to such General American features. Studies on historical usage of English in both

8181-539: The joint sovereignty over Maastricht. In 1632 the city was conquered by Prince Frederick Henry of Orange and the Dutch States General replaced the Spanish crown in the joint government of Maastricht. There was an attempt in 1634 of Spanish forces to recapture the city , but to no avail. Another Siege of Maastricht (1673) took place during the Franco-Dutch War . In June 1673, Louis XIV laid siege to

8282-676: The large numbers of visitors. Parking fees are deliberately high to encourage visitors to use public transport or park and ride facilities away from the centre. Maastricht is served by three rail operators, all of which call at the main Maastricht railway station near the centre and two of which call at the smaller Maastricht Randwyck , near the business and university district. Only Arriva also calls at Maastricht Noord , which opened in 2013. Intercity trains northwards to Amsterdam , Eindhoven , Den Bosch and Utrecht are operated by Dutch Railways . The line to Heerlen , Valkenburg and Kerkrade

8383-438: The late 18th century onwards, but which has conversely lost prestige in the U.S. since at least the early 20th century. Non-rhoticity makes a word like car sound like cah or source like sauce . New York City and Southern accents are the most prominent regional accents of the country, as well as the most stigmatized and socially disfavored. Southern speech, strongest in southern Appalachia and certain areas of Texas,

8484-473: The latter half of the century, traditional industries (such as Maastricht's potteries ) declined and the city's economy shifted to a service economy . Maastricht University was founded in 1976. Several European institutions found their base in Maastricht. In 1981 and 1991 European Councils were held in Maastricht, the latter one resulting a year later in the signing of the Maastricht Treaty , leading to

8585-566: The main shopping streets. A prestigious quarter designed by international architects and including the new Bonnefanten Museum , a public library, and a theatre was built on the grounds of the former Société Céramique factory near the town centre. Further large-scale projects, such as the redevelopment of the area around the A2 motorway , the Sphinx Quarter and the Belvédère area are under construction. In

8686-427: The mid-nineteenth century onwards, so they "are now more different from each other than they were 50 or 100 years ago", while other accents, like of New York City and Boston, have remained stable in that same time-frame. However, a General American sound system also has some debated degree of influence nationwide, for example, gradually beginning to oust the regional accent in urban areas of the South and at least some in

8787-617: The most formal contexts, and regional accents with the most General American native features include North Midland, Western New England, and Western accents. Although no longer region-specific, African-American Vernacular English , which remains the native variety of most working- and middle-class African Americans , has a close relationship to Southern dialects and has greatly influenced everyday speech of many Americans, including hip hop culture . Hispanic and Latino Americans have also developed native-speaker varieties of English. The best-studied Latino Englishes are Chicano English , spoken in

8888-408: The nearby German and Belgian cities of Aachen , Liège , and Hasselt . Maastricht developed from a Roman settlement ( Trajectum ad Mosam ) to a medieval river trade and religious centre. In the 16th century it became a garrison town and in the 19th century an early industrial centre. Today, the city is a thriving cultural and regional hub. It became well known through the Maastricht Treaty and as

8989-554: The outside and had suspended floors that protected the grain from rodents and insects and provided air circulation. These granaries are followed by those in Mehrgarh in the Indus Valley from 6000 BC. The ancient Egyptians made a practice of preserving grain in years of plenty against years of scarcity. The climate of Egypt being very dry, grain could be stored in pits for a long time without discernible loss of quality. Historically,

9090-402: The past forms of a few verbs (for example, AmE/BrE: learned / learnt , burned / burnt , snuck/sneaked , dove/dived ) although the purportedly "British" forms can occasionally be seen in American English writing as well; different prepositions and adverbs in certain contexts (for example, AmE in school, BrE at school ); and whether or not a definite article is used, in very few cases (AmE to

9191-542: The province of Limburg . Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse ( Dutch : Maas ), at the point where the river is joined by the Jeker . Mount Saint Peter ( Sint-Pietersberg ) is largely situated within the city's municipal borders. Maastricht is adjacent to the border with Belgium and is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion , an international metropolis with a population of about 3.9 million, which includes

9292-463: The same climate as most of the Netherlands ( Cfb , Oceanic climate ), however, due to its more inland location in between hills, summers tend to be warmer (especially in the Meuse valley, which lies 70 m [230 ft] lower than the meteorological station) and winters a bit colder, although the difference is only noticeable on just a few days a year. The highest temperature recorded was on 25 July 2019 at 39.6 °C (103.3 °F). Maastricht

9393-407: The streets. A 2018 Maastricht University study showed a substantial decline in drug nuisance since 2012, although criminal drug networks had grown due to police budget cuts. Maastricht is served by the A2 and A79 motorways. The city can be reached from Brussels and Cologne in approximately one hour and from Amsterdam in about two and a half hours. The A2 motorway runs through Maastricht in

9494-570: The traditional standard accent of (southern) England, Received Pronunciation (RP), has evolved a trap–bath split . Moreover, American accents preserve /h/ at the start of syllables, while perhaps a majority of the regional dialects of England participate in /h/ dropping , particularly in informal contexts. However, General American is also innovative in a number of its own ways: The process of coining new lexical items started as soon as English-speaking British-American colonists began borrowing names for unfamiliar flora, fauna, and topography from

9595-417: The verb-and-preposition combination: stopover, lineup, tryout, spin-off, shootout , holdup, hideout, comeback, makeover , and many more. Some prepositional and phrasal verbs are in fact of American origin ( win out, hold up, back up/off/down/out, face up to and many others). Noun endings such as -ee (retiree), -ery (bakery), -ster (gangster) and -cian (beautician) are also particularly productive in

9696-727: The word corn , used in England to refer to wheat (or any cereal), came to denote the maize plant, the most important crop in the U.S. Most Mexican Spanish contributions came after the War of 1812 , with the opening of the West, like ranch (now a common house style ). Due to Mexican culinary influence, many Spanish words are incorporated in general use when talking about certain popular dishes: cilantro (instead of coriander), queso, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, fajitas, burritos, and guacamole. These words usually lack an English equivalent and are found in popular restaurants. New forms of dwelling created new terms ( lot , waterfront) and types of homes like log cabin , adobe in

9797-609: The world. Any American or Canadian accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, ethnic, or cultural markers is known in linguistics as General American ; it covers a fairly uniform accent continuum native to certain regions of the U.S. but especially associated with broadcast mass media and highly educated speech. However, historical and present linguistic evidence does not support the notion of there being one single mainstream American accent . The sound of American English continues to evolve, with some local accents disappearing, but several larger regional accents having emerged in

9898-497: Was an independent serving no political party, although her husband was a former chairman of the Maastricht Seniorenpartij. She had served in the Dutch judicial system for many years, and during her tenure as mayor she still served as attorney general. In July 2023 Wim Hillenaar (CDA) took over as mayor. One controversial issue which dominated Maastricht politics for many years was the city's approach to soft drugs. Under

9999-405: Was formalised in a treaty, with the prince-bishop of Liège and the duke of Brabant holding joint sovereignty over the city. Soon afterwards the first ring of medieval walls were built. In 1275, the old Roman bridge collapsed under the weight of a procession, allegedly killing 400 people. A replacement bridge, funded by church indulgences , was built slightly to the north and survives until today,

10100-462: Was interred along the Roman road, outside the castrum. According to Gregory of Tours it was bishop Monulph who around 570 built the first stone church on the grave of Servatius, a precursor of the present-day Basilica of Saint Servatius . The city remained an early Christian diocese until it lost the distinction to nearby Liège in the 8th or 9th century. In the early Middle Ages Maastricht, along with Aachen and Liège , formed part of what

10201-469: Was written by Noah Webster in 1828, codifying several of these spellings. Differences in grammar are relatively minor, and do not normally affect mutual intelligibility; these include: typically a lack of differentiation between adjectives and adverbs, employing the equivalent adjectives as adverbs he ran quick / he ran quickly ; different use of some auxiliary verbs ; formal (rather than notional) agreement with collective nouns ; different preferences for

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