Languages of Belgium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kingdom of Belgium has three official languages, which are, in order from the greatest speaker population to the smallest, Dutch, French, and German. A number of non-official, minority languages are spoken as well.

Belgium's main languages are those of its larger, historically more powerfull neighbors, France, the Netherlands, and Germany.

[edit] Official languages

[edit] Dutch

Dutch is the dominant language of most Belgian people, and the sole official language of the Flemish Community (which is a political entity, not a group of people). Roughly 60% percent of the country population is Neerlandophone. The main Dutch dialects spoken in Belgium are the Flemish dialects, particularly the West Flemish dialect. The Dutch spoken in Brussels is heavily influenced by French, which is the main language there, though it is surrounded by primarily Dutch-speaking countryside.

[edit] French

A linguistic map of Belgium: mainly Dutch-speaking areas are maked in yellow; the areas of Belgium which are primarily Francophone are marked in red, with hatching in the Brussels region, which is bilingual with a French majority, and the almost uniformly German-speaking East Cantons in blue.

The Belgian dialect of French is the second-most spoken language in Belgium, the official language of the French Community (which, like the Flemish community, is a political entity) and the Walloon Region, and the dominant language in the Brussels-Capital region (an estimated 85-90% of the inhabitants of Brussles speak French natively). The language is spoken by around 40% of the population. Belgian French is in most respects identical to standard, Parisian French, but differs in some points of vocabulary, pronunciation, and semantics. Ma vie en rose and Man Bites Dog are important Belgian films in the French language.

[edit] German

German is the smallest official language in Belgium, spoken by less than 1% of the population, though the 71,000 person population of the German Community is almost 100% German-speaking. This area of Belgium was taken as part of the Treaty of Versailles with Imperial Germany following World War One, and Nazi Germany re-anexed them during their invasion of Belgium.

[edit] Non-Official Languages

Historically, several other languages have dominated parts of Belgium, particularly Wallonia, which have in recent years given way to French.

A historical linguistic map of Wallonia, before French became the dominant language

[edit] Walloon

Waloon is the historical language of southern Belgium, and most of the areas where French is now spoken were Walloon-speaking until relatively recently. It is also the traditional national language of the Waloons. Though it has been recognized, like other "Indigenous languages" in Belgium, since 1990, it is mainly spoken by older people, though younger Waloons may claim some knowledge. It is mainly found in rural regions, and is used in theaters and literature, though not in schools.

[edit] Picard

Another historical language, Picard is mostly used in France, and was recognized by the Belgian government in 1990.

[edit] Champenois

Champenois was recognized in 1990, and is mainly spoken in Champagne, France, as well as Wallonia.

[edit] Lorrain

Like the other indigenous languages, Lorrain was recognized in 1990. It is mainly spoken in Gaume.

[edit] Yiddish

Yiddish is spoken by the 20,000 Orthodox Jews living in Antwerp. The community there is among the strongest in Europe, and one of the few places where Yiddish is still the dominant language in a Jewish community (others include Kiryas Joel, New York, and similar Orthodox neighborhoods in the United States, London, Paris, and Israel).

[edit] Migrant Languages

Other languages spoken by foregin-born persons living in Belgium include: Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.

[edit] References

• This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
• http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=wln
• http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=BE