Dutch Guiana

7.6

Former name for the country now called Suriname in northeastern South America when it was controlled by the Netherlands

proper noun

Literature

: Guayana Neerlandesa

I read about Dutch Guiana in my history class.
Dutch Guiana (now Suriname)

Examples

Many immigrants came to Dutch Guiana to work on plantations during the colonial era.
In 1975, Dutch Guiana became the independent nation of Suriname.
The colony of Dutch Guiana was under Dutch control until the mid-20th century.
Did you know that Dutch Guiana is now called Suriname?
In the 1970s, many people celebrated the independence of Dutch Guiana from Dutch colonial rule.
The natural beauty of Dutch Guiana attracted numerous explorers and settlers over the centuries.
Historians often study the cultural impacts of colonization in Dutch Guiana before it became Suriname.

Synonyms

Suriname

vsDutch Guiana

5 5.3

A country in northeastern South America on the Atlantic coast that became independent from the Netherlands in 1975

is the colonial-era name used before independence rather than the modern name

Surinam

vsDutch Guiana

1 4.5

A country in northeast South America on the Atlantic coast

refers to the earlier colonial name used before independence

Netherlands Guiana

vsDutch Guiana

8.6

A former name for Suriname, a country in northeast South America

has identical meaning but uses a shorter customary adjective form

Republic of Suriname

vsDutch Guiana

5.1

A country in northeast South America on the Atlantic coast

is the older colonial name used before the modern state title

Surface Forms

Dutch Guiana main

Morphology

Dutch + Guiana

The name is transparently compositionally built from 'Dutch' (pertaining to the Netherlands) + 'Guiana' (the region in northeastern South America), so a learner can infer it refers to the part of Guiana associated with the Dutch (i.e., the former Dutch colony). Adjective + place-name constructions indicating national or colonial affiliation are common cross-linguistically, making this immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Dutch Guiana comes from when the Dutch ruled a region on the north coast of South America. Dutch shows who was in charge and Guiana was the name for the region, so the phrase meant the area ruled by the Dutch and is now called 'Suriname'.