1. Language changes and conflicts

2. Dutch in Brussels
    Use of Dutch in Brussels 

3. Dutch in Flanders

4. Dutch in Wallonia

5. Characteristics of Dutch Language in Belgium
    Tussentaal 

6. See also

7. References

The Dutch language used in Belgium can also be referred to as Flemish Dutch (Vlaams-Nederlands), Belgian Dutch (Belgisch-Nederlands {{IPA-nl|ˈbɛlɣis ˈneːdərlɑnts||Nl-Belgisch-Nederlands.ogg}}), or Southern Dutch (Zuid-Nederlands). Dutch is the mother tongue of about 60% of the population in Belgium, or by approximately 6.5 million people.^[1][2][3](over 11 million inhabitants). It is the only official language in the Flemish Region (Flanders) (which consists of the provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Antwerp, and Limburg) and, in addition to French, the official language in Brussels. However, in the Brussels Capital Region and in the adjacent Flemish-Brabant municipalities, Dutch was largely displaced by French as an everyday language.^[4][5]

Belgian-Dutch is the variant of the Dutch language as used in Belgium, and differs from Standard Dutch by an accent and some typical word choices. The most spoken Dutch dialects in Belgium are West Flemish, East Flemish, Brabantian and Limburgish.^[6][7] Although the Brabant dialect of the Brussels working-class neighborhoods, in particular the Marolles, with their population has virtually disappeared, linguistic variants exist in a diminishing degree in which an influence of the Brabant can be discerned.

Language changes and conflicts

The position of Dutch in Belgium has improved considerably over the past 50 years at the expense of French, which once dominated strongly in political, economic and cultural life. The main reasons for this are the strengthened economic position of Flanders and the problematic situation of heavy industry in Wallonia since the 1960s. The position of Standard Dutch as a general language has been reinforced at the expense of the previously almost exclusive use of the dialects as spoken languages. Incidentally, the status of the spoken Dutch standard is floating, which means that they are used at the socially higher level according to the rules that are also applicable in the Netherlands, but at the lower levels and especially in the local communication in many gradations to a dialect . For a long time a Flemish standard has existed as a close variant of Standard Dutch existence, the so-called Schoonvlaams. The spoken standard was also under the influence of Antwerp for a long time as a dialect with high status, which also applied outside this city.

The high quality of the Dutch-speaking schools is an explanation for the growing success of the Dutch-speaking educational network in Brussels. On the other hand, French-speaking education has lacked to status due to the massive influx of non-French-speaking children.

The knowledge of French as a second language among Dutch speakers in Flanders decreases, especially for the benefit of English. In French education, French is no longer a compulsory second language. Such a situation already existed in French-speaking Belgium with regard to Dutch. In schools in Wallonia, Dutch is often taught as an elective, and as such it must compete against English. There are also Walloon educational institutions where several subjects are taught in Dutch as a form of Language immersion.

Despite its name, Brabantian is the dominant contributor to the Flemish Dutch tussentaal. The combined region, culture, and people of Dutch-speaking Belgium has come to be known as "Flemish".^[8] Flemish is also used to refer to one of the historical languages spoken in the former County of Flanders.^[9]

Linguistically and formally, "Flemish" refers to the region, culture and people of (North) Belgium or Flanders. Flemish people speak (Belgian) Dutch in Flanders, the Flemish part of Belgium.

Dutch in Brussels

The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual French-Dutch. This means that Dutch should be on an equal footing with French, which is often not the case at local Brussels level: in many municipal and regional services, hospitals, public transport, but also in shops and offices Dutch little used.

On the other hand, Dutch in Brussels is important because the Flemish government resides there, alongside the federal government services, and especially because many Flemish people work in Brussels, but do not live there.

In the last decade Dutch seems to be used more, both in education, where this development has been going on for some time, and in economic and social life. In 2012, 35% of the higher education institutions in Brussels were Dutch-speaking. The percentage of participants in nursery and primary education who received Dutch lessons approached 25% in 2013. The percentage of participants in secondary and higher education who received Dutch lessons was also on the rise and in 2013 reached 17%. Among foreign inhabitants of Brussels, there is also a clear increase in both the number and percentage of children and adults choosing Dutch-speaking education.^[10]

The Brussels employment service ACTIRIS also invests in the knowledge of Dutch to improve the chances of jobseekers on the labor market. In addition to traditional group lessons, newly recruited employees receive 'language checks for matching' under certain conditions since September 2016. This allows them to take free individual language lessons in Dutch (or French for Dutch speakers).^[11]

Use of Dutch in Brussels

The last official census count in Brussels dates from 1947. At that time, the proportions were 24.24% Dutch-speaking and 70.61% French-speaking. Since then no official census have been carried out (these were abolished under Flemish political pressure because they were often performed unreliable and could not be an argument for further 'minorizing' Dutch). Since then, it has been necessary to rely on other sources to get an idea of the number of Dutch and French speakers in Brussels.

Based on differences sources, the number of Dutch speakers in the Brussels-Capital Region can currently be estimated at 5 to 8 percent.

• According to the BRIO language barometer survey of 2013 ^[12], the spoken home language is the following:
  • Dutch: 5.2%
  • Dutch and French: 17.0%
  • French: 38.1%
  • French and other language: 23.2%
  • Neither Dutch nor French: 16.5%

• 2010 study by the UCL gives the following figures on the inhabitants of Brussels: ^{[13] [14]}
  • 5.3% of Dutch-speaking Belgians
  • 66.5% French-speaking Belgians
  • 28.1% Foreigners

• In 2010, 6.2% of applications for the registration of a vehicle in Brussels are submitted in Dutch. [7] [8] The other 93.8% are submitted in French.

In 2011, on average 7% of the Brussels customers of the largest Brussels telecom operator Belgacom received their invoices in Dutch, 91% in French and 2% in another language.

The number of Dutch-language invoices turned out to be considerably higher in the northeast of the region than in the southwest (8 to 12% versus 3 to 5%).

• In 2010, 7.61% of applications for medical professionals (doctors, physiotherapists, dentists, nurses, etc.) were submitted in Dutch in Brussels. ^[17][18]

• At the municipal elections held on 14 October 2018, the number of registered voters with a Dutch address was 7.3% of the total number of registered voters in the Brussels-Capital Region. ^[19] However, the differences are large between the various municipalities: in the most northern municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, about 13% of the voters had a Dutch address, while in the most southern municipalities around 4%.

Dutch in Flanders

Dutch is the official language in Flanders, but there are a number of Flemish municipalities in the Brussels Periphery with a French-speaking majority, which are officially Dutch-speaking with French-language facilities. ^{[20][21][22][23]}

The number of people in Flanders who submitted their vehicle registration in French in 2010 is six times higher than the number of Dutch-language applications in Wallonia.^[24]

Dutch in Wallonia

To the east of the Flemish counties Voeren, in the Low Dietsch region in the Liège province, where a transitional dialect between Dutch and German is still being spoken. This regional language is closely related to that of Dutch South Limburgish, the dialect of Eupen and of the adjacent Aachen. These rural municipalities, which have been able to preserve their 'Platdietse' character despite two centuries of French-speaking administration, remained officially monolingual French after the establishment of the language border in 1963, although there is a legal possibility for facilities for Dutch or German. In the last three decades more and more Germans working in Aachen have settled in this region. They do not reinforce the Dutch language but a German language element.

There has also been a considerable linguistic deviation of Flemish workers with their families to the Borinage and the Liège industrial areas. This immigration took place from the 19th to the middle of the 20th century. These were mostly dialect speakers who had little or no knowledge of Standard Dutch and became French-speaking quite quickly. The conservative Belgian government and especially the Catholic clergy also saw such 'social risks' for Flanders in the rise of socialism in these industrial areas, and therefore stimulated train and tram traffic, which allowed the Flemish to continue to live in their own environment.

In the years after the Second World War, many Flemish farmers also moved to Wallonia, often because of the size of the farms and the attractive price of agricultural land.

Dutch has also become more important in tourism, especially in the Ardennes. The Flemish and Dutch are increasingly serviced at campsites, hotels and attractions in their own language by Dutch-speaking staff. There are also more Flemish families now living across the language border because it is cheaper to build, buy or rent. These developments do not yet lead to legal facilities for Dutch speakers.

Characteristics of Dutch Language in Belgium

Dutch is the majority language in northern Belgium, being spoken natively by three-fifths of the population of Belgium. It is one of the three national 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 a few grammatical features which distinguish them from the standard Dutch.^[25] 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 ^[26] (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 {{Interlanguage link multi|Tussentaal|nl}} ("in-between-language" or "intermediate language", intermediate between dialects and standard Dutch).^[27]

See also

• Flemish
• Belgian French
• French Flemish, the West Flemish dialect as spoken in France
• Languages of Belgium
• Zeelandic, a transitional dialect between West Flemish and Hollandic

References

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• Romantic realism
• Romantic relationships in Peanuts
• Romantic Revival
• Romantic Rights
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• Romantic Rights (song)
• Romantic road
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• Roman Tmetuchl International Airport
• Roman Torres
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• Roman transliteration
• Roman tribe