THE PECULIARITIES OF THE FRENCH SPOKEN IN BRUSSELS

Abstract

The article discusses the main stages in the development of the language situation in the Brussels — Capital Region in the context of historical and socio-cultural phenomena. The purpose of the study is to illustrate the influence of the Dutch language on the Belgian varieties of French. The tasks to be solved are the substantiation of the legitimacy of the division of the Belgian variants of the French language into Brussels and Walloon variants, as well as the clarification of the issue of recognizing the Marolian as a mixed Franco-Dutch language. As a result of the study, it was revealed that the division of the Belgian version of the French language into Brussels and Walloon is, to a greater extent, of a historical nature and is currently difficult. Modern Dutch, along with English and Arabic, influences Belgian French throughout the country, however, given Brussels’ metropolitan status, as well as being surrounded by Flemish territory, it can be assumed that this influence is especially noticeable in the Brussels-Capital Region. Elements of the Marolian language are used mainly as original linguocultural inclusions in the Dutch and French languages of the capital. The result of this study of the features of the french spoken in Brussels is the conclusion that this variant retains features that are very different from Walloon French. On the one hand, the transition to a common French norm blurs the lines between these two options, on the other hand, the Flemish prehistory of the Brussels-Capital Region introduces many Dutch elements into the French language of this enclave. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time it takes into account the influence of the Marolian language on the formation of the Brussels version of French, and also reveals the specifics of the functioning of this version in the conditions of multilingualism, characteristic of modern Brussels.