Flemish

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The word Flemish has two meanings: a linguistic one, and a social/political one.

1 "Flemish language"
2 Social and political meanings
3 See also
4 References

[edit] "Flemish language"

Though the term 'Flemish' is used often, its different definitions regularly cause ambiguity. It should be noted that Flemish (Vlaams) is not an official designation of a language in the federative regions of Flanders or the bilingual Brussels-Capital in Belgium; and that the traditional Flemish dialectal area extended out of these now mainly or partially Dutch-speaking regions, in bordering areas of France and the Netherlands, and included the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant that had been part of Belgium's former province of Brabant and is now part of the francophone federative region.

Also the historic West/Central/East separation of Flemish in Flanders, is completely different from the today's North/Middle/South separation by country borders and administrative regions. In the related countries, the official designated languages are:

Dutch, which includes:
- Standard Dutch, used legally in the Netherlands and in the Belgian regions of Flanders and – besides French – of Brussels-Capital.
- West Flemish, used in the western province of the region of Flanders in Belgium, and in small parts of the south-western province Zeeland in the Netherlands that form what is called Zeeuws Flanders – this dialect is called Zeelandic (Zeeuws), and considered to be a trasitional dialect between West Flemish and Hollandic.
  - The French Flemish minor variant, used in north-eastern parts of the région Nord-Pas de Calais in France that form what is called French Flanders (this minor language variant is considered a part of West Flemish, but it is nearly extinct, rapidly replaced by standard French).
- East Flemish, used in the province of East-Flanders of the federative region of Flanders, and in the South-East of the Netherlands. The terms Flemish are sometimes used for the West Flemish and East Flemish dialects.
- Brabantic, corresponds to the historic Duchy of Brabant which is now split into the Dutch-speaking provinces of North Brabant in the Netherlands, of Antwerp and of Flemish Brabant both in the Belgian Dutch-speaking region of Flanders, and into the Brussels-Capital region, and into the now francophone province of Walloon Brabant in the Belgian French-speaking region Wallonia. The term Central Flemish is sometimes used for the easternmost East Flemish and the Brabantian dialects, though only in Belgium.
- Limburgish is the dialect spoken over three different countries with distinct official languages, and thus includes three subgroups, each one now largely influenced by its current administrative status:
  - the Dutch Limburgish subgroup, which has a single variant, and is used in the Dutch South-Eastern province of Limburg.
  - the Belgian Limburgish subgroup, which has three variants, and is used in the Belgian North-Eastern province of Limburg in the federative region of Flanders (where it is largely influenced by East Flemish) in the Eastern part of the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant in the federative region of Flanders (where it is now influenced by standard Dutch and with some standard French), in the North-East part of the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant (where it is now influenced by standard French, this last one is now too far from East Flemish, and some don't call it now Flemish, as it is considered extinct, mostly replaced by Belgian French, now official in Wallonia) ;
  - the German Limburgish subgroup, which has two minor variants, and is used in the Western part of bordering Länders of Germany, where it has two dialects: Bergish (near the international borders of the Netherlands and Belgium, to the North of Aachen, and that are still influenced by both standard French and standard German; its classification as a Flemish language is disputed, as some linguists consider it as a German language), or Ripoarish. (East of the River Rhine up to Cologne, where it is now largely influenced by standard German)
French, which includes:
- Standard French, used legally throughout France as the primary language (including in the geographic area of French Flanders which is part of the historic Dutch-speaking area), and in Belgium in most of the federative region of Wallonia and – besides Dutch – the federative region of Brussels-Capital.
  - The Belgian French minor variant (that linguists consider being the same language as standard French, not very different from regional variants of standard French in France), but it is used very often instead of standard French in the federative region of Wallonia in Belgium (and legally accepted like standard French, in an ongoing process of unification with mutual influences between international or regional minor variants of standard French).
- Walloon, a traditional regional variant, used as a secondary minority language in Belgium in most of the federative region of Wallonia (but also in a few bordering municipalities of the federative region of Flanders and also in the federative region of Brussels-Capital), with lots of differences with standard French and often considered as a distinct language by linguists. This language is part of the group of oil languages. It tends to be replaced rapidly by Belgian French (the most common language in Wallonia) or increasingly by standard French.
- Traditional regional variants of Old French, used sometimes in specific regions of France, with many local specificities, but also in the Belgian federative region Wallonia in its West (the Champenois dialect) and South (the Lorrain dialect); they are often considered as languages distinct from standard French by linguists, but still part of the group of oil languages (the Romance dialects in the North of current France and the South of Belgium) from which Old French was originated. These regional variants tend to disappear rapidly, replaced by Belgian French or increasingly by standard French.
German, which includes:
- Standard German, used throughout Germany and in the area of the institutionally German-speaking Community of the Belgian federative region of Wallonia in the East of its province of Liège.

It should be noted that the administrative regions of Flanders in Belgium do not match exactly with the traditional Flemish geographic region (notably, it excludes the region of Bruxelles-Capitale, and it follows the administrative borders of communes, which are sometime multilingual, and this mixity is even more important today with people moving around, where the traditional borders are much less effective). This not only has an impact in the unification of Flemish languages and variants, but it also tends to unify them with standard Dutch, as used in the Netherlands (where the Zealandic dialect in the Dutch Flanders are also being unified with standard Dutch). The French Flemish variant is disappearing rapidly in favor of standard French.

Since the notion "Flemish" is a container for a number of quite different dialects of Dutch, it has little sense linguistically to treat it as one entity. "The Flemish language" does not exist, although the notion is used as such in every day language. Some prefer to call it "Dutch" and may consider "Flemish" as belittling if used by an outsider. It is more exact to say that the Flemish language designates the East Flemish language as spoken in Belgium (in central Flanders and in Bruxelles).

However, the Flemish family of languages and dialects still remains attached to a common cultural background throughout the international traditional geographic region of Flanders, independantly of the language actually spoken in that area (even in the French- and German-speaking areas, i.e. in France and Germany).

See also: Flemish (linguistics)

See also: Dutch language

[edit] Social and political meanings

The adjective "Flemish" refers to everything and everybody that has a relation to Flanders, in every geographical definition. It is also used for everything originating from Flanders, cultural, political, economical, etc.