process of standardization became much stronger in the 16th century, mainly based on the urban Brabantic dialect of Antwerp. In 1585 Antwerp fell to the Spanish army: many fled to Holland, influencing the urban dialects of that province. Brabantian, as compared to other main Dutch dialects, had a big influence on the development of Standard Dutch. This was because Brabant was the dominant region in the Netherlands when standardization of the Dutch language started in the 16th century. The first major formation of standard Dutch also took place in Antwerp, where a Brabantian dialect is spoken. The default language being developed around this time had therefore mainly Brabantian influences. The 16th-century Brabantian dialect is rather close to colloquial Dutch. The standard Dutch language has mainly developed from Brabantian and later some Hollandish dialects from post 16th century. The Standard Dutch language has evolved little since the 16th century. In 1637 a further important step was made towards a unified language, when the first major Dutch Bible translation, the Statenvertaling, was published that people from all over the United Provinces could understand. It used elements from various dialects, but the spoken form was mostly based on the urban dialects from the Province of Holland. A linguistic saying therefore is that "The Dutch language was born in Flanders, grew up in Brabant and reached maturity in Holland." At the same time a process of standardisation took place in the areas in which High German was spoken. Ultimately, all regions east of the political border of the Netherlands would adopt a single German Hochsprache, breaking the dialect continuum around the 19th century and onward. Development of Germanic sounds Linguistically speaking, Dutch has evolved little since the late 16th century; differences in speech are considered to be negligible, especially when comparing the older form with modern regional accents. Grammar has been somewhat simplified, but a great deal of the grammar lost in contemporary Dutch is preserved in many much-used expressions dating back to or before that time. Vowels Specific sound changes Consonants Specific sound changes References