Flemish

Infobox Language
familycolor=Indo-European
name=Flemish
nativename=Vlaams
states=Belgium
region=Europe
fam2=Germanic
fam3=West Germanic
fam4=Low Franconian
fam5=Dutch
speakers=6.1 million [This number refers to the inhabitants of Flanders, so this number applies to the first meaning, Belgian Dutch. To see the number of speakers of the whole Dutch language, see the article Dutch language.]

Flemish "(Vlaams" in Dutch) is a popular informal term to refer to Belgian Dutch ("Belgisch-Nederlands" in Dutch), Dutch as spoken in Belgium. [ [http://www.vandale.nl/vandale/opzoeken/woordenboek/?zoekwoord=vlaams As according to Van Dale.] ] Among linguists, 'Flemish' refers to two specific dialects of Dutch alone, namely East and West Flemish. Occasionally 'Flemish' is used to refer to "tussentaal" a Dutch sociolect, also spoken in Belgium.

Dutch is the majority language in Belgium, being spoken natively by about 59% of the population. Its various dialects contain a number of lexical and a few grammatical features which distinguish them from the standard language. [G. Janssens and A. Marynissen, "Het Nederlands vroeger en nu" (Leuven/Voorburg 2005), 155 ff.] As in the Netherlands, the pronunciation of Standard Dutch is affected by the native dialect of the speaker.

All Dutch dialects spoken in Belgium (with the exception of East Flemish) are spoken in adjacent areas of the Netherlands as well. At the same time East Flemish forms a continuum with both Brabantic and West Flemish. Standard Dutch is primarily based on the Hollandic dialect (spoken in the Northern Netherlands) and to a lesser extent on Brabantian, which is the most dominant Dutch dialect of the Southern Netherlands and Flanders.

The main difference between Dutch spoken in Belgium and the Netherlands, is that Dutch in Belgium is uses the sound inventory of the Brabantic dialects. [ [http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/1344/Onderwijs/article/detail/159691/2008/02/05/Jongeren-spreken-geen-AN-maar-wel-Algemeen-Vlaams.dhtml Jongeren spreken geen AN, maar wel Algemeen Vlaams] ] which is often called "tussentaal" ("in-between-language", between dialects and standard Dutch). [http://wwwling.arts.kuleuven.ac.be/qlvl/PDFPublications/01Eenzondagspak.pdf Geeraerts, Dirk. 2001. "Een zondagspak ? Het Nederlands in Vlaanderen: gedrag, beleid, attitudes". OnsErfdeel 44: 337-344] ] This evolution is somewhat similar to the emergence of "Poldernederlands" in the Netherlands, a medium of everyday speech heavily influenced by Hollandic. It should be emphasized that neither "Poldernederlands" nor "Tussentaal" are dialects or different standard forms, but sociolects.

Phonological differences

Among Belgian Dutch vowels, the diphthong "ou/au" (as in "bout" bolt and "fauna") is realized as IPA| [ɔu] , whereas northern Dutch realizes it as IPA| [ʌu] . Among consonants, the northern Dutch pronunciation of "w" (as in "wang" cheek) is IPA| [ʋ] or IPA| [v] , in some southern Dutch dialects it is IPA| [β] . Probably the most obvious difference between northern and southern Dutch is the northern voiceless velar fricative IPA| [x] , which is equivalent in southern Dutch to either a voiced velar fricative IPA| [ɣ] , most often when spelt "g", or a voiceless palatal fricative IPA|/ç/, most often when spelt "ch".

Lexical differences

Belgian Dutch encompasses more French loanwords in everyday vocubulary than Dutch spoken in the Netherlands. [G. Janssens and A. Marynissen, "Het Nederlands vroeger en nu" (Leuven/Voorburg 2005), 156] At the same time Brabantian, traditionally the most spoken Dutch dialect in Belgium, has had a larger influence on the vocabulary used in Belgium. Examples include "beenhouwer" (Brabantian) and "slager" (Hollandic), both meaning butcher; and "schoon" (Brabantian) vs. "mooi" (Hollandic) "beautiful". The changes (isoglosses) from northern to southern Dutch dialects are gradual, both vocabulary-wise and phonetically, and the boundaries do not coincide with territorial borders.

Tussentaal

The "tussentaal" ("in-between-language") is a primarily informal variety of speech which occupies an intermediate position between regional dialects and the standard language. This "tussentaal" incorporates phonetic, lexical and grammatical elements that are not part of the standard language but are drawn from local dialects.It is a relatively new phenomenon that has been gaining popularity during the past decades. Some linguists note that it seems to be undergoing a process of (limited) standardisation. [G. Janssens and A. Marynissen, "Het Nederlands vroeger en nu" (Leuven/Voorburg 2005), 196.]

Dutch dialects in Belgium

ee also

* Dutch language.
* French Flemish, the West Flemish dialect as spoken in France.
* Zeelandic, a transitional dialect between West Flemish and Hollandic.

References