THE FORMATION OF LITERARY DUTCH ON THE TERRITORY OF MODERN BELGIUM

Abstract

The Kingdom of Belgium is a small European country with three official languages, among them Dutch. It was not until the 20th century that Dutch became firmly established as the official state language in this country. In addition, the language which is spoken by the Flemish people has some peculiarities which make it different from the Dutch language which is used in the Netherlands. In order to understand the reasons for these differences, it is necessary to look at the history of the country. This article traces the history of the formation of literary Dutch in the territory of modern Belgium and shows the different stages from the 13th century to the present, which led to the formation of a complex continuum of languages in this region. The author also answers the question of the place of the southern version of the Dutch language in the Dutch-speaking region.