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.
| Flemish | |
|---|---|
| Vlaams | |
| Vlaams | |
| Native to | Belgium, Netherlands, France |
| Region | Belgian Flanders, Zeelandic Flanders, French Flanders |
| Ethnicity | Flemings |
Native speakers | 6.5 million (2016) |
Indo-European
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | nl for Dutch |
| ISO 639-2 | dut (B) for Dutchnld (T) |
| ISO 639-3 | nld – inclusive code for DutchIndividual codes: vls – West Flemishzea – Zeelandiclim – Limburgish |
| Glottolog | dutc1256 Dutch |
| IETF | nl-BE |
| Person | Fleming (Vlaming) |
|---|---|
| People | Flemings (Vlamingen) |
| Language | Flemish (Vlaams), VGT (Vlaamse Gebarentaal) |
| Country | Flanders (Vlaanderen) |
Terminology
The term Flemish itself has become ambiguous. Nowadays, it is used in at least five ways, depending on the context. These include:
- An indication of Dutch written and spoken in Flanders including the Dutch standard language as well as the non-standardized dialects, including intermediate forms between vernacular dialects and the standard. Some linguists avoid the term Flemish in this context and prefer the designation Belgian-Dutch or South-Dutch
- A synonym for the so-called intermediate language in Flanders region, the Tussentaal
- An indication of the non-standardized dialects and regiolects of Flanders region
- An indication of the non-standardized dialects of only the former County of Flanders, i.e. the current provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders, Zeelandic Flanders and French Flanders
- An indication of the non-standardized West Flemish dialects of the province of West Flanders, the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders and French Frans-Vlaanderen
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.
Characteristics
Dutch 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 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 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.
Tussentaal
The supra-regional, semi-standardized colloquial form (mesolect) of Dutch spoken in Belgium uses 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 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.[when?] 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[when?] because it 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 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.
Belgicisms
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, 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" is not a legal term in the Netherlands, but it is in Belgium.
Etymology
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 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.
See also
- Belgian French
- Dutch in Belgium
- French Flemish, the West Flemish dialect as spoken in France
- East Flemish
- Languages of Belgium
- Zeelandic, a transitional dialect between West Flemish and Hollandic
References
- Depending on the definition of "Flemish" in context. Brabantian is classified as a dialect of Dutch. It is spoken in the historical Duchy of Brabant, spanning the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant and Brussels that are part of the modern region of Flanders.
- Depending on the definition of "Flemish" in context. Limburgish is either classified as a dialect of Dutch or as a separate language altogether. It is spoken in the historical Duchy of Limburg and County of Loon, spanning the Belgian province of Limburg that is part of the modern region of Flanders.
- "ATLAS – Dutch: Who speaks it?". University College London. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- "Flemish, Vlaams". BBC. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- De Cock, Barbara (2006), Flemish language policy in an era of globalisation (PDF), Gencat.cat, retrieved 3 May 2017
- "Flemish language, alphabet and pronunciation". Omniglot. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- Lichfield, John (18 December 2007). "Belgium: A nation divided". The Independent. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
- Leidraad van de Taaltelefoon Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine. Dienst Taaladvies van de Vlaamse Overheid (Department for Language advice of the Flemish government).
- Harbert, Wayne (2007). The Germanic Languages. Cambridge University Press.
- Kooij, Jan (2009). "Dutch". In Comrie, Bernard (ed.). The World's Major Languages (2nd ed.). Routledge.
- Casert, Raf (20 February 2005). "Belgium Bickering Over French and Dutch, Its Dual Languages". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- "About Belgium – Language Matters". Beer Tourism. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
- Konig, Ekkehard; van der Auwera, Johan, eds. (1994). The Germanic Languages. London & New York: Routledge.
- "Vlaams". Glottolog. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
- "Linguistic map of Benelux". Ethnologue. 1999-02-19. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
- Their ISO 639-3 codes are vls and lim, respectively.
- Janssens, Guy; Marynissen, Ann (2005). Het Nederlands vroeger en nu. Leuven & Voorburg: Acco., 155 ff.
- "De gesproken standaardtaal: het Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands" [The standard spoken language: General Civilized Dutch]. Structuur en geschiedenis van het Nederlands Een inleiding tot de taalkunde van het Nederlands (in Dutch). Niederländische Philologie, Freie Universität Berlin. 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
- Geeraerts, Dirk (2001), "Een zondagspak? Het Nederlands in Vlaanderen: gedrag, beleid, attitudes" (PDF), Ons Erfdeel (in Dutch), vol. 44, pp. 337–344, retrieved 2012-01-19
- Janssens, Guy; Marynissen, Ann (2005). Het Nederlands vroeger en nu. Leuven & Voorburg: Acco., 196.
- "Algemeen Vlaams". VlaamseTaal.be. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- Rys, K. & J. Taeldeman (2007). Fonologische ingrediënten van Vlaamse tussentaal. In: D. Sandra, R. Rymenans, P. Cuvelier et al. (red.), Tussen taal, spelling en onderwijs Archived 2022-12-26 at the Wayback Machine. Essays bij het emeritaat van Frans Daems. Gent: Academia Press, 1–9, p.2.
- Standaardtaal of tussentaal op televisie (PDF) (in Dutch), Universiteit Gent, retrieved 2014-08-28
- Vervaeke, Leen (8 February 2014). "Actie tegen onverstaanbare Vlaamse 'tussentaal' op televisie". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2014-08-28.
- Jo Verhoeven, Illustrations of the IPA: Belgian Standard Dutch (PDF)
- "Flēmish", Middle English Dictionary (MED)
- "Flēming", Middle English Dictionary (MED), retrieved 2013-10-17
- "Flemish". Online Etymological Dictionary. Etymonline.com. which cites Flemische as an Old Frisian form; but compare "flāmisk", Oudnederlands Woordenboek (ONW), which gives flēmisk, flāmisk
- "flāmisk", Oudnederlands Woordenboek (ONW)
- Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal: De Geïntegreerde Taal-Bank:
Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (WNT), entry VlamingI;
cp.: Oudnederlands Woordenboek (ONW), entry flāmink: "Morfologie: afleiding, basiswoord (substantief): flāma ‘overstroomd gebied’; suffix: ink ‘vormt afstammingsnamen’"; Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek (VMNW), entry Vlaendren: "Etymologie: Dat.pl. van flandr- 'overstroomd gebied' met het suffix -dr-.".
Cognate to Middle English flēm 'current of a stream': Middle English Compendium → Middle English Dictionary (MED): flēm n.(2)
External links
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 ˈneːderlɑnts 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 FlemishVlaamsVlaamsNative toBelgium Netherlands FranceRegionBelgian Flanders Zeelandic Flanders French FlandersEthnicityFlemingsNative speakers6 5 million 2016 Language familyIndo European GermanicWest GermanicIstvaeonicLow FranconianDutchFlemishDialectsWest Flemish East Flemish Brabantian LimburgishLanguage codesISO 639 1 span class plainlinks nl span for DutchISO 639 2 span class plainlinks dut span a href wiki ISO 639 2 B class mw redirect title ISO 639 2 B B a for Dutch span class plainlinks nld span a href wiki ISO 639 2 T class mw redirect title ISO 639 2 T T a ISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code nld class extiw title iso639 3 nld nld a inclusive code for Dutch Individual codes a href https iso639 3 sil org code vls class extiw title iso639 3 vls vls a West Flemish a href https iso639 3 sil org code zea class extiw title iso639 3 zea zea a Zeelandic a href https iso639 3 sil org code lim class extiw title iso639 3 lim lim a LimburgishGlottologdutc1256 DutchIETFnl BEPersonFleming Vlaming PeopleFlemings Vlamingen LanguageFlemish Vlaams VGT Vlaamse Gebarentaal CountryFlanders Vlaanderen State official languages of Belgium Dutch French and German Brussels is a bilingual area where both Dutch and French have an official status TerminologyThe term Flemish itself has become ambiguous Nowadays it is used in at least five ways depending on the context These include An indication of Dutch written and spoken in Flanders including the Dutch standard language as well as the non standardized dialects including intermediate forms between vernacular dialects and the standard Some linguists avoid the term Flemish in this context and prefer the designation Belgian Dutch or South Dutch A synonym for the so called intermediate language in Flanders region the Tussentaal An indication of the non standardized dialects and regiolects of Flanders region An indication of the non standardized dialects of only the former County of Flanders i e the current provinces of West Flanders and East Flanders Zeelandic Flanders and French Flanders An indication of the non standardized West Flemish dialects of the province of West Flanders the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders and French Frans Vlaanderen 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 CharacteristicsDutch 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 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 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 Tussentaal The supra regional semi standardized colloquial form mesolect of Dutch spoken in Belgium uses 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 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 when Some linguists note that it seems to be undergoing a process of limited standardisation or that it is evolving into a koine variety Tussentaal is slowly gaining popularity in Flanders when because it 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 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 Belgicisms 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 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 is not a legal term in the Netherlands but it is in Belgium EtymologyThe English adjective Flemish first attested as flemmysshe c 1325 compare Flaeming c 1150 meaning from Flanders was probably borrowed from Old Frisian The Old Dutch form is flamisk which becomes vlamesc vlaemsch in Middle Dutch and Vlaams in Modern Dutch The word Vlaams itself is derived from Ingvaeonic flam from Germanic flauma meaning flooded The name Vlaanderen was formed from a stem flam with a suffix đr dr attached See alsoBelgium portalLanguage portalBelgian French Dutch in Belgium French Flemish the West Flemish dialect as spoken in France East Flemish Languages of Belgium Zeelandic a transitional dialect between West Flemish and HollandicReferencesDepending on the definition of Flemish in context Brabantian is classified as a dialect of Dutch It is spoken in the historical Duchy of Brabant spanning the Belgian provinces of Antwerp Flemish Brabant and Brussels that are part of the modern region of Flanders Depending on the definition of Flemish in context Limburgish is either classified as a dialect of Dutch or as a separate language altogether It is spoken in the historical Duchy of Limburg and County of Loon spanning the Belgian province of Limburg that is part of the modern region of Flanders ATLAS Dutch Who speaks it University College London Retrieved 26 November 2016 Flemish Vlaams BBC 14 October 2014 Retrieved 26 November 2016 De Cock Barbara 2006 Flemish language policy in an era of globalisation PDF Gencat cat retrieved 3 May 2017 Flemish language alphabet and pronunciation Omniglot Retrieved 26 November 2016 Lichfield John 18 December 2007 Belgium A nation divided The Independent Retrieved 3 May 2017 Leidraad van de Taaltelefoon Archived 2013 10 21 at the Wayback Machine Dienst Taaladvies van de Vlaamse Overheid Department for Language advice of the Flemish government Harbert Wayne 2007 The Germanic Languages Cambridge University Press Kooij Jan 2009 Dutch In Comrie Bernard ed The World s Major Languages 2nd ed Routledge Casert Raf 20 February 2005 Belgium Bickering Over French and Dutch Its Dual Languages Los Angeles Times Retrieved 26 November 2016 About Belgium Language Matters Beer Tourism Retrieved 26 November 2016 Konig Ekkehard van der Auwera Johan eds 1994 The Germanic Languages London amp New York Routledge Vlaams Glottolog Retrieved 2020 07 20 Linguistic map of Benelux Ethnologue 1999 02 19 Retrieved 2013 10 17 Their ISO 639 3 codes are vls and lim respectively Janssens Guy Marynissen Ann 2005 Het Nederlands vroeger en nu Leuven amp Voorburg Acco 155 ff De gesproken standaardtaal het Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands The standard spoken language General Civilized Dutch Structuur en geschiedenis van het Nederlands Een inleiding tot de taalkunde van het Nederlands in Dutch Niederlandische Philologie Freie Universitat Berlin 2014 06 10 Retrieved 2015 08 10 Geeraerts Dirk 2001 Een zondagspak Het Nederlands in Vlaanderen gedrag beleid attitudes PDF Ons Erfdeel in Dutch vol 44 pp 337 344 retrieved 2012 01 19 Janssens Guy Marynissen Ann 2005 Het Nederlands vroeger en nu Leuven amp Voorburg Acco 196 Algemeen Vlaams VlaamseTaal be Retrieved 2013 04 14 Rys K amp J Taeldeman 2007 Fonologische ingredienten van Vlaamse tussentaal In D Sandra R Rymenans P Cuvelier et al red Tussen taal spelling en onderwijs Archived 2022 12 26 at the Wayback Machine Essays bij het emeritaat van Frans Daems Gent Academia Press 1 9 p 2 Standaardtaal of tussentaal op televisie PDF in Dutch Universiteit Gent retrieved 2014 08 28 Vervaeke Leen 8 February 2014 Actie tegen onverstaanbare Vlaamse tussentaal op televisie De Volkskrant in Dutch Retrieved 2014 08 28 Jo Verhoeven Illustrations of the IPA Belgian Standard Dutch PDF Flemish Middle English Dictionary MED Fleming Middle English Dictionary MED retrieved 2013 10 17 Flemish Online Etymological Dictionary Etymonline com which cites Flemische as an Old Frisian form but compare flamisk Oudnederlands Woordenboek ONW which gives flemisk flamisk flamisk Oudnederlands Woordenboek ONW Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal De Geintegreerde Taal Bank Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal WNT entry VlamingI cp Oudnederlands Woordenboek ONW entry flamink Morfologie afleiding basiswoord substantief flama overstroomd gebied suffix ink vormt afstammingsnamen Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek VMNW entry Vlaendren Etymologie Dat pl van flandr overstroomd gebied met het suffix dr Cognate to Middle English flem current of a stream Middle English Compendium Middle English Dictionary MED flem n 2 External links
