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West Flemish (West-Vlams or West-Vloams or Vlaemsch (in French Flanders), Dutch: West-Vlaams, French: flamand occidental) is a collection of Low Franconian varieties spoken in western Belgium and the neighbouring areas of France and the Netherlands.
| West Flemish | |
|---|---|
| West-Vlaams | |
| Native to | Belgium, Netherlands, France |
| Region | West Flanders |
Native speakers | (1.4 million cited 1998) |
Indo-European
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:vls – (West) Vlaamszea – Zeelandic (Zeeuws) |
| Glottolog | sout3292 Southwestern Dutchvlaa1240 Western Flemish |
| Linguasphere | 52-ACB-ag |
 West Flemish is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
West Flemish is spoken by about a million people in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and a further 50,000 in the neighbouring Dutch coastal district of Zeelandic Flanders (200,000 if including the closely related dialects of Zeelandic) and 10-20,000 in the northern part of the French department of Nord. Some of the main cities where West Flemish is widely spoken are Bruges, Dunkirk, Kortrijk, Ostend, Roeselare and Ypres.
West Flemish is listed as a "vulnerable" language in UNESCO's online Red Book of Endangered Languages.
Phonology
West Flemish has a phonology that differs significantly from that of Standard Dutch, being similar to Afrikaans in the case of long E, O and A. Also where Standard Dutch has sch, in some parts of West Flanders, West-Flemish, like Afrikaans, has sk. However, the best known traits are the replacement of Standard Dutch (pre-)velar fricatives g and ch in Dutch (/x, ɣ/) with glottal h [h, ɦ],. The following differences are listed by their Dutch spelling, as some different letters have merged their sounds in Standard Dutch but remained separate sounds in West Flemish. Pronunciations can also differ slightly from region to region.
- sch - /sx/ is realised as [ʃh], [sh] or [skʰ] (sh or sk).
- ei - /ɛi/ is realised as [ɛː] or [jɛ] (è or jè).
- ij - /ɛi/ is realised as [i] (short ie, also written as y) and in some words as [y].
- ui - /œy/ is realised as [y] (short u) and in some words as [i].
- au - /ʌu/ is realised as [ɔu] (ow)
- ou - /ʌu/ is realised as [ʊ] (short oe), it is very similar to the long "oe" that is also used in Standard Dutch ([u]), which can cause confusion
- e - /ɛ/ is realised as [æ] or [a].
- i - /ɪ/ is realised as [ɛ].
- ie - /i/ is longer [iː]
- aa - /aː/ is realised as [ɒː].
The absence of /x/ and /ɣ/ in West Flemish makes pronouncing them very difficult for native speakers. That often causes hypercorrection of the /h/ sounds to a /x/ or /ɣ/.
Standard Dutch also has many words with an -en (/ən/) suffix (mostly plural forms of verbs and nouns). While Standard Dutch and most dialects do not pronounce the final n, West Flemish typically drops the e and pronounces the n inside the base word. For base words already ending with n, the final n sound is often lengthened to clarify the suffix. That makes many words become similar to those of English: beaten, listen etc.
The short o ([ɔ]) can also be pronounced as a short u ([ɐ]), a phenomenon also occurring in Russian and some other Slavic languages, called akanye. That happens spontaneously to some words, but other words keep their original short o sounds. Similarly, the short a ([ɑ]) can turn into a short o ([ɔ]) in some words spontaneously.
The diphthong ui (/œy/) does not exist in West Flemish and is replaced by a long u ([y]) or a long ie ([i]). Like for the ui, the long o ([o]) can be replaced by an [ø] (eu) for some words but a [uo] for others. That often causes similarities to ranchers English. [clarification needed]
Here are some examples showing the sound shifts that are part of the vocabulary:
| Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|
| vol (short o) | vul [vɐl] | full |
| zon (short o) | zunne [ˈzɐnːə] | sun |
| boter (long o) | beuter [ˈbøtər] | butter |
| boot (long o) | boot [buot] | boat |
| kuiken | kiek'n [ˈkiːʔŋ̍] | chick |
| bruin | brun [bryn] | brown |
Grammar
Plural form
Plural forms in Standard Dutch most often add -en, but West Flemish usually uses -s, like the Low Saxon dialects and even more prominently in English in which -en has become very rare. Under the influence of Standard Dutch, -s is being used by fewer people, and younger speakers tend to use -en.
Verb conjugation
The verbs zijn ("to be") and hebben ("to have") are also conjugated differently.
| Dutch | West Flemish | English | Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zijn | zyn | to be | hebben | èn | to have |
| ik ben | 'k zyn | I am | ik heb | 'k è | I have |
| jij bent | gy zyt | you are | jij hebt | gy èt | you have |
| hij is | ie is | he is | hij heeft | ie èt | he has |
| wij zijn | wydder zyn | we are | wij hebben | wydder èn | we have |
| jullie zijn | gydder zyt | you are | jullie hebben | gydder èt | you have |
| zij zijn | zydder zyn | they are | zij hebben | zydder èn | they have |
Double subject
West Flemish often has a double subject.
| Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Jij hebt dat gedaan. | G' èt gy da gedoan. | You have done that. |
| Ik heb dat niet gedaan. | 'K èn ekik da nie gedoan. | I didn't do that. |
Articles
Standard Dutch has an indefinite article that does not depend on gender, unlike in West Flemish. However, a gender-independent article is increasingly used. Like in English, n is pronounced only if the next word begins with a vowel sound.
| Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|
| een stier (m) | ne stier | a bull |
| een koe (f) | e koeje | a cow |
| een kalf (o) | e kolf | a calf |
| een aap (m) | nen oap | an ape |
| een huis (o) | en 'us | a house |
Conjugation of yes and no
Another feature of West Flemish is the conjugation of ja and nee ("yes" and "no") to the subject of the sentence. That is somewhat related to the double subject, but even when the rest of the sentence is not pronounced, ja and nee are generally used with the first part of the double subject.
This conjugation can be negated with the extra word, toet ([tut]), or strenght strengthened by adding mo- or ba- (or both).
| Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Heb jij dat gedaan? - Ja / Nee | Èj gy da gedoan? - Joak / Nink | Did you do that? - Yes / No [I (did/didn't)] |
| Je hebt dat niet gedaan, hé? - Maar jawel | G'èt da nie gedoan, é? - Bajoak (ja'k en doe 't) | You didn't do that, eh? - On the contrary (But yes I did). |
| Heeft hij dat gedaan? - Ja / Nee | Èt ie (ne) da gedoan? - Joaj/Nij (Joan / Nin) | Did he do that? - Yes / No [he (did/didn't)] |
| Gaan we verder? - Ja / Nee | Zyn me? - Joam / Nim | Can we go? - Yes / No [we (can/cannot)] |
See also
- Flemish dialects
- Dutch dialects
- Flemish people (Flemings or Vlamingen)
- French Flemish
- Hebban olla vogala
- Westhoek
References
- (West) Vlaams at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Zeelandic (Zeeuws) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - "UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger". United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Archived from the original on 30 October 2010. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
Further reading
- Debrabandere, Frans (1999), "Kortrijk" (PDF), in Kruijsen, Joep; van der Sijs, Nicoline (eds.), Honderd Jaar Stadstaal, Uitgeverij Contact, pp. 289–299
External links
- Euromosaic report on West Flemish (thus Dutch) in France
This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia s layout guidelines Please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure August 2017 Learn how and when to remove this message You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch November 2012 Click show for important translation instructions Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Dutch Wikipedia article at nl West Vlaams see its history for attribution You may also add the template Translated nl West Vlaams to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation West Flemish West Vlams or West Vloams or Vlaemsch in French Flanders Dutch West Vlaams French flamand occidental is a collection of Low Franconian varieties spoken in western Belgium and the neighbouring areas of France and the Netherlands West FlemishWest VlaamsNative toBelgium Netherlands FranceRegionWest FlandersNative speakers 1 4 million cited 1998 Language familyIndo European GermanicWest GermanicWeser Rhine GermanicLow FranconianDutchWest FlemishDialectsZeelandic French FlemishLanguage codesISO 639 3Either a href https iso639 3 sil org code vls class extiw title iso639 3 vls vls a West Vlaams a href https iso639 3 sil org code zea class extiw title iso639 3 zea zea a Zeelandic Zeeuws Glottologsout3292 Southwestern Dutch vlaa1240 Western FlemishLinguasphere52 ACB agWest Flemish is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World s Languages in Danger West Flemish is spoken by about a million people in the Belgian province of West Flanders and a further 50 000 in the neighbouring Dutch coastal district of Zeelandic Flanders 200 000 if including the closely related dialects of Zeelandic and 10 20 000 in the northern part of the French department of Nord Some of the main cities where West Flemish is widely spoken are Bruges Dunkirk Kortrijk Ostend Roeselare and Ypres West Flemish is listed as a vulnerable language in UNESCO s online Red Book of Endangered Languages Position of West Flemish colour light blue among the other minority languages regional languages and dialects in Belgium the Netherlands and French department NordFlemish green and French red brown as spoken in the arrondissement of Dunkirk in France in 1874 and 1972 nl vls scenic road sign PhonologyWest Flemish has a phonology that differs significantly from that of Standard Dutch being similar to Afrikaans in the case of long E O and A Also where Standard Dutch has sch in some parts of West Flanders West Flemish like Afrikaans has sk However the best known traits are the replacement of Standard Dutch pre velar fricatives g and ch in Dutch x ɣ with glottal h h ɦ The following differences are listed by their Dutch spelling as some different letters have merged their sounds in Standard Dutch but remained separate sounds in West Flemish Pronunciations can also differ slightly from region to region sch sx is realised as ʃh sh or skʰ sh or sk ei ɛi is realised as ɛː or jɛ e or je ij ɛi is realised as i short ie also written as y and in some words as y ui œy is realised as y short u and in some words as i au ʌu is realised as ɔu ow ou ʌu is realised as ʊ short oe it is very similar to the long oe that is also used in Standard Dutch u which can cause confusion e ɛ is realised as ae or a i ɪ is realised as ɛ ie i is longer iː aa aː is realised as ɒː The absence of x and ɣ in West Flemish makes pronouncing them very difficult for native speakers That often causes hypercorrection of the h sounds to a x or ɣ Standard Dutch also has many words with an en en suffix mostly plural forms of verbs and nouns While Standard Dutch and most dialects do not pronounce the final n West Flemish typically drops the e and pronounces the n inside the base word For base words already ending with n the final n sound is often lengthened to clarify the suffix That makes many words become similar to those of English beaten listen etc The short o ɔ can also be pronounced as a short u ɐ a phenomenon also occurring in Russian and some other Slavic languages called akanye That happens spontaneously to some words but other words keep their original short o sounds Similarly the short a ɑ can turn into a short o ɔ in some words spontaneously The diphthong ui œy does not exist in West Flemish and is replaced by a long u y or a long ie i Like for the ui the long o o can be replaced by an o eu for some words but a uo for others That often causes similarities to ranchers English clarification needed Here are some examples showing the sound shifts that are part of the vocabulary Dutch West Flemish Englishvol short o vul vɐl fullzon short o zunne ˈzɐnːe sunboter long o beuter ˈboter butterboot long o boot buot boatkuiken kiek n ˈkiːʔŋ chickbruin brun bryn brownGrammarPlural form Plural forms in Standard Dutch most often add en but West Flemish usually uses s like the Low Saxon dialects and even more prominently in English in which en has become very rare Under the influence of Standard Dutch s is being used by fewer people and younger speakers tend to use en Verb conjugation The verbs zijn to be and hebben to have are also conjugated differently Dutch West Flemish English Dutch West Flemish Englishzijn zyn to be hebben en to haveik ben k zyn I am ik heb k e I havejij bent gy zyt you are jij hebt gy et you havehij is ie is he is hij heeft ie et he haswij zijn wydder zyn we are wij hebben wydder en we havejullie zijn gydder zyt you are jullie hebben gydder et you havezij zijn zydder zyn they are zij hebben zydder en they haveDouble subject West Flemish often has a double subject Dutch West Flemish EnglishJij hebt dat gedaan G et gy da gedoan You have done that Ik heb dat niet gedaan K en ekik da nie gedoan I didn t do that Articles Standard Dutch has an indefinite article that does not depend on gender unlike in West Flemish However a gender independent article is increasingly used Like in English n is pronounced only if the next word begins with a vowel sound Dutch West Flemish Englisheen stier m ne stier a bulleen koe f e koeje a coween kalf o e kolf a calfeen aap m nen oap an apeeen huis o en us a houseConjugation of yes and no Another feature of West Flemish is the conjugation of ja and nee yes and no to the subject of the sentence That is somewhat related to the double subject but even when the rest of the sentence is not pronounced ja and nee are generally used with the first part of the double subject This conjugation can be negated with the extra word toet tut or strenght strengthened by adding mo or ba or both Dutch West Flemish EnglishHeb jij dat gedaan Ja Nee Ej gy da gedoan Joak Nink Did you do that Yes No I did didn t Je hebt dat niet gedaan he Maar jawel G et da nie gedoan e Bajoak ja k en doe t You didn t do that eh On the contrary But yes I did Heeft hij dat gedaan Ja Nee Et ie ne da gedoan Joaj Nij Joan Nin Did he do that Yes No he did didn t Gaan we verder Ja Nee Zyn me Joam Nim Can we go Yes No we can cannot See alsoFlemish dialects Dutch dialects Flemish people Flemings or Vlamingen French Flemish Hebban olla vogala WesthoekReferences West Vlaams at Ethnologue 18th ed 2015 subscription required Zeelandic Zeeuws at Ethnologue 18th ed 2015 subscription required UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World s Languages in Danger United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Archived from the original on 30 October 2010 Retrieved 2023 02 07 Further readingDebrabandere Frans 1999 Kortrijk PDF in Kruijsen Joep van der Sijs Nicoline eds Honderd Jaar Stadstaal Uitgeverij Contact pp 289 299External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to West Flemish language Euromosaic report on West Flemish thus Dutch in FranceWest Flemish edition of Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
