The Flemish variant of the Dutch language: Belgian Dutch or “Tussentaal”

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of the modern language situation in Belgium, where three languages — Dutch, French and German — are recognized as the state languages (with the predominant use of Dutch and French). This situation is complicated by the fact that along with the literary norms of these languages there are numerous dialects, as well as options such as Belgian Dutch and Belgian French. Due to the linguistic neighborhood with France, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as the increasing importance of the English language in Belgium, it is difficult to talk about a common language norm that would be used by all residents of the country, in particular for their everyday communication. The Belgian Dutch is in contact not only with the Belgian French, but also with the Dutch and French literary norms, not to mention the Flemish dialects. All this leads to a very complicated language situation. Particular attention is paid to the Flemish variant of the Dutch language, which has notable differences from the Dutch norm. A comparison between the North Dutch norm (Dutch Dutch) and the South Dutch norm (Belgian Dutch) is also presented in the article. The study describes the features of the intermediate language — “tussentaal”, which is chosen by people of different levels of education in almost all situations, except perhaps the most formal ones. The article concludes that the Flemish version of the Dutch language is a striking example of the contact of Flemish dialects with the Dutch and French languages and is a “suspension” of Belgian Dutch with “tussentaal”, in conjunction with Belgian French, Dutch Dutch, French French, English and German languages.