Flemish ( Vlaams [vlaːms] ) is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language . It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch ( Vlaams-Nederlands ), Belgian Dutch ( Belgisch-Nederlands [ˈbɛlɣis ˈneːdərlɑnts] ), or Southern Dutch ( Zuid-Nederlands ). Flemish is native to the region known as Flanders in northern Belgium ; it is spoken by Flemings , the dominant ethnic group of the region. Outside of Belgium Flanders, it is also spoken to some extent in French Flanders and the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders .
15-572: The Berwinne ( French: [bɛʁwin] ; Flemish : Berwijn [bɛrˈʋɛin] ) is a small river in the north-eastern part of Belgium . It is a right-bank tributary to the Meuse river and flows over a distance of 31.9 kilometres (19.8 miles) through the provinces of Liège and Limburg . Its source is located in the eastern part of the municipality of Aubel , near the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial . From there
30-710: A continuum with both Brabantic and West Flemish. Standard Dutch is primarily based on the Hollandic dialect (spoken in the Western provinces of the Netherlands) and to a lesser extent on Brabantian , which is the dominant dialect in Flanders , as well as in the south of the Netherlands. The supra-regional, semi-standardized colloquial form ( mesolect ) of Dutch spoken in Belgium uses
45-460: A loanword from French), and duimspijker (a compound of Dutch duim "thumb" and spijker "nail") meaning "thumbtack" (common standard Dutch: punaise , a loanword from French). Among the belgicisms, there are also many words that are considered obsolete, formal, or purist in standard Dutch. Moreover, many belgicisms have their origin in the Belgian official nomenclature . For example, misdaad "felony"
60-506: Is derived from Ingvaeonic *flâm- , from Germanic * flauma- , meaning 'flooded'. The name Vlaanderen was formed from a stem *flâm- , with a suffix -đr/dr- attached. Belgicism (French) A belgicism ( French : belgicisme ) is a word, expression, or turn of phrase that is unique to or associated with Belgian French . Even though the French spoken in Belgium is closer to
75-540: Is not a legal term in the Netherlands, but it is in Belgium. The English adjective Flemish (first attested as flemmysshe , c. 1325 ; compare Flæming , c. 1150 ), meaning "from Flanders ", was probably borrowed from Old Frisian . The Old Dutch form is flāmisk , which becomes vlamesc , vlaemsch in Middle Dutch and Vlaams in Modern Dutch . The word Vlaams itself
90-467: Is the majority language in northern Belgium, being used in written language by three-fifths of the population of Belgium. It is one of the three national and state languages of Belgium, together with French and German , and is the only official language of the Flemish Region . The various Dutch dialects spoken in Belgium contain a number of lexical and grammatical features that distinguish them from
105-547: Is used a lot in television dramas and comedies. Often, middle-class characters in a television series will be speaking tussentaal , lower-class characters use the dialect of the location where the show is set (such as Western Flanders), and upper-class characters will speak Standard Dutch. That has given tussentaal the status of normalcy in Flanders. It is slowly being accepted by the general population, but it has met with objections from writers and academics who argue that it dilutes
120-451: The standard language . It incorporates phonetic, lexical and grammatical elements not part of the standard language but 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 or that it is evolving into a koiné variety . Tussentaal is slowly gaining popularity in Flanders because it
135-598: The vigesimal soixante-dix , or 'sixty-ten', used in France.) In these cases, these words are sometimes not classified as being solely belgicisms. Belgium has three national official languages , and consequently, the French spoken in the French part of Belgium is considerably under the influence of the languages of the other Belgian regions, and is also enriched by vocabulary from the languages of neighbouring countries. In addition, there's also influence from English on Belgian-French distinct from its influence on French-French (e.g.,
150-584: The Berwinne river flows, generally spoken, in northwestern direction, through places like Val-Dieu Abbey , Dalhem and Moelingen , before joining the Meuse between Visé and the Dutch border. This article related to a river in Belgium is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Flemish language The term Flemish itself has become ambiguous. Nowadays, it is used in at least five ways, depending on
165-542: The French spoken in France than the French spoken by Québécois , there are a considerable number of words and phrases that have disappeared from common usage in other Francophone nations that remain common in everyday Belgian speech. Certain words used in Belgium that are not used in Standard French are also found in northern France and in Switzerland , for example chicon (' endive ') and septante ('seventy', unlike
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#1732902457890180-672: The context. These include: Glottolog considers Western Flemish to be a separate language, classified as a part of the Southwestern Dutch family together with the Zeelandic language. According to Glottolog, Western Flemish includes the dialects of French Flemish and West Flemish. Brabantian and East Flemish are classified as Dutch dialects, under the Central Southern Dutch dialect group. Ethnologue considers Limburgish and West Flemish to be separate (regional) languages. Dutch
195-539: The standard Dutch. Basic Dutch words can have a completely different meaning in Flemish or imply different context, comparable to the differences between the British and North American variants of English . As in the Netherlands, the pronunciation of Standard Dutch is affected by the native dialect of the speaker. All Dutch dialect groups spoken in Belgium are spoken in adjacent areas of the Netherlands as well. East Flemish forms
210-819: The usage of Standard Dutch. Tussentaal is used in entertainment television but rarely in informative programmes (like the news), which normally use Flemish accents with standard Dutch vocabulary. A belgicism is a word or expression that occurs only in the Belgian variant of Dutch. Some are rarely used, others are used daily and are considered part of the Belgian-Dutch standard language. Many belgicisms are loanwords and words or expressions literally translated from French (also called gallicisms ); others, in contrast, are actually remarkably purist , such as droogzwierder (a compound of Dutch droog "dry" and zwierder "spinner") meaning "spin dryer" (common standard Dutch: centrifuge ,
225-509: The vocabulary and the sound inventory of the Brabantic dialects. It is often called an "in-between-language" or "intermediate language", intermediate between dialects and standard Dutch. Despite its name, Brabantian is the dominant contributor to the Flemish Dutch tussentaal . It is a rather informal variety of speech , which occupies an intermediate position between vernacular dialects and
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