West Flemish language
| West Flemish | |
|---|---|
| West-Vlaams | |
| West-Vlams, West-Vloams | |
| Native to | Belgium, Netherlands, France |
| Region | West Flanders |
|
Native speakers
|
1.4 million (1998) |
|
Indo-European
|
|
| Dialects | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: vls – (West) Vlaams zea – Zealandic (Zeeuws) |
| Glottolog |
vlaa1240 (Vlaams / West Vlaams)zeeu1238 (Zeeuws)
|
| Linguasphere | 52-ACB-ag |
West Flemish (Dutch: West-Vlaams, French: flamand occidental) is a dialect of the Dutch language spoken in western Belgium and adjoining parts of the Netherlands and France.
West Flemish is spoken by about a million people in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and a further 120,000 in the neighbouring Dutch coastal district of Zeelandic Flanders (and another 220,000 if Zealandic is included), and 10,000 in the northern part of the French département of Nord. Some of the main cities where West Flemish is widely spoken are Bruges, Kortrijk, Ostend, Roeselare, and Ypres. The dialects of the rest of the Dutch province of Zeeland, Zeelandic, are often included in West Flemish; these are part of a dialect continuum which proceeds further north into Hollandic.
West Flemish is listed as a "vulnerable" language in UNESCO's online Red Book of Endangered Languages.
West Flemish phonology differs a lot from the standard Dutch phonology. The best known are the (pre-)velar fricatives g and ch in Dutch (/x, ɣ/), being realised as glottal h - [h, ɦ], and the overall lack of diphthongs compared to Dutch. The following differences are listed by their Dutch spelling, as some different letters have evolved to the same sound in Dutch, but stayed separate sounds in West Flemish. Pronunciations can also differ a bit from region to region.
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Wikipedia