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| West Flemish | |
|---|---|
| West-Vlaams | |
| Native to | Belgium, Netherlands, France |
| Region | West Flanders,French Flanders,Zeelandic Flanders |
Native speakers | (1.4 million cited 1998)[1] |
| Dialects | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:vls – (West) Vlaamszea – Zeelandic (Zeeuws) |
| Glottolog | sout3292 Southwestern Dutchvlaa1240 Western Flemish |
| Linguasphere | 52-ACB-ag |
 West Flemish is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
West Flemish (West-Vlams orWest-Vloams orVlaemsch (inFrench Flanders),Dutch:West-Vlaams, French:flamand occidental) is a collection ofLow Franconian varieties spoken in western Belgium and the neighbouring areas of France and the Netherlands.
West Flemish is spoken by about a million people in the Belgian province ofWest Flanders, and a further 50,000 in the neighbouring Dutch coastal district ofZeelandic Flanders (200,000 if including the closely related dialects ofZeelandic) and 10–20,000 in the northern part of the French department ofNord.[1] Some of the main cities where West Flemish is widely spoken areBruges,Kortrijk,Ostend,Roeselare andYpres in Belgium andHazebrouck,Cassel,Halluin, andBailleul in France.
West Flemish is listed as a "vulnerable" language inUNESCO's onlineRed Book of Endangered Languages.[2]
| This article is a part of a series on |
| Dutch |
|---|
| Low Saxon dialects |
| West Low Franconian dialects |
| East Low Franconian dialects |
West Flemish has a phonology that differs significantly from that of Standard Dutch, being similar toAfrikaans in the case of long E, O and A. Also where Standard Dutch hassch, in some parts of West Flanders, West-Flemish, like Afrikaans, hassk. However, the best known traits are the replacement of Standard Dutch (pre-)velar fricativesg andch in Dutch (/x,ɣ/) with glottalh[h,ɦ],. The following differences are listed by their Dutch spelling, as some different letters have merged their sounds in Standard Dutch but remained separate sounds in West Flemish. Pronunciations can also differ slightly from region to region.
The absence of/x/ and/ɣ/ in West Flemish makes pronouncing them very difficult for native speakers. That often causeshypercorrection of the/h/ sounds to a/x/ or/ɣ/.
Standard Dutch also has many words with an-en (/ən/) suffix (mostly plural forms of verbs and nouns). While Standard Dutch and most dialects do not pronounce the finaln, West Flemish typically drops thee and pronounces then inside the base word. For base words already ending withn, the finaln sound is often lengthened to clarify the suffix. That makes many words become similar to those of English:beaten,listen etc.
The shorto ([ɔ]) can also be pronounced as a shortu ([ɐ]), a phenomenon also occurring inRussian and some otherSlavic languages, calledakanye. That happens spontaneously to some words, but other words keep their original shorto sounds. Similarly, the shorta ([ɑ]) can turn into a shorto ([ɔ]) in some words spontaneously.
The diphthongui (/œy/) does not exist in West Flemish and is replaced by a longu ([y]) or a longie ([i]). Like for theui, the longo ([o]) can be replaced by an[ø] (eu) for some words but a[uo] for others. That often causes similarities to ranchers English.[clarification needed]
Here are some examples showing the sound shifts that are part of the vocabulary:
| Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|
| vol (shorto) | vul[vɐl] | full |
| zon (shorto) | zunne[ˈzɐnːə] | sun |
| boter (longo) | beuter[ˈbøtər] | butter |
| boot (longo) | boot[buot] | boat |
| kuiken | kiek'n[ˈkiːʔŋ̍] | chick |
| bruin | brun[bryn] | brown |
Plural forms in Standard Dutch most often add-en, but West Flemish usually uses-s, like the Low Saxon dialects and even more prominently in English in which-en has become very rare. Under the influence of Standard Dutch,-s is being used by fewer people, and younger speakers tend to use-en.
The verbszijn ("to be") andhebben ("to have") are also conjugated differently.
| Dutch | West Flemish | English | Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zijn | zyn | to be | hebben | èn | to have |
| ik ben | 'k zyn | I am | ik heb | 'k è | I have |
| jij bent | gy zyt | you are | jij hebt | gy èt | you have |
| hij is | ie is | he is | hij heeft | ie èt | he has |
| wij zijn | wydder zyn | we are | wij hebben | wydder èn | we have |
| jullie zijn | gydder zyt | you are | jullie hebben | gydder èt | you have |
| zij zijn | zydder zyn | they are | zij hebben | zydder èn | they have |
West Flemish often has a double subject.
| Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Jij hebt dat gedaan. | G' ètgy da gedoan. | You have done that. |
| Ik heb dat niet gedaan. | 'K ènekik da nie gedoan. | I didn't do that. |
Standard Dutch has an indefinite article that does not depend on gender, unlike in West Flemish. However, a gender-independent article is increasingly used. Like in English,n is pronounced only if the next word begins with a vowel sound.
| Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|
| een stier (m) | ne stier | a bull |
| een koe (f) | e koeje | a cow |
| een kalf (o) | e kolf | a calf |
| een aap (m) | nen oap | an ape |
| een huis (o) | en 'us | a house |
Another feature of West Flemish is the conjugation ofja andnee ("yes" and "no") to the subject of the sentence. That is somewhat related to the double subject, but even when the rest of the sentence is not pronounced,ja andnee are generally used with the first part of the double subject.
This conjugation can be negated with the extra word,toet ([tut]), or strengthened by adding mo- or ba- (or both).
| Dutch | West Flemish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Heb jij dat gedaan? - Ja / Nee | Èj gy da gedoan? - Joak / Nink | Did you do that? - Yes / No [I (did/didn't)] |
| Je hebt dat niet gedaan, hé? - Maar jawel | G'èt da nie gedoan, é? - Bajoak (ja'k en doe 't) | You didn't do that, eh? - On the contrary (But yes I did). |
| Heeft hij dat gedaan? - Ja / Nee | Èt ie (ne) da gedoan? - Joaj/Nij (Joan / Nin) | Did he do that? - Yes / No [he (did/didn't)] |
| Heeft zij dat gedaan? - Ja / Nee | È ze (zy) da gedoan? - Joas/Nins | Did she do that? - Yes / No [she (did/didn't)] |
| Gaan we verder? - Ja / Nee | Zyn me? - Joam / Nim | Can we go? - Yes / No [we (can/cannot)] |
| International | |
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| National | |
