| Zeelandic | |
|---|---|
| Zeêuws | |
| Native to | Zeeland (Netherlands) |
Native speakers | (undated figure of 220,000)[1] |
Early forms | |
| Zeelandic alphabet (Latin) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | zea |
| Glottolog | zeeu1238 |
| Linguasphere | 52-ACB-af |
 Distribution of Zeelandic (blue) within the Dutch language area (grey) | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
| This article is a part of a series on |
| Dutch |
|---|
| Low Saxon dialects |
| West Low Franconian dialects |
| East Low Franconian dialects |
Zeelandic (Zeeuws:Zeêuws;Dutch:Zeeuws[zeːu̯s]ⓘ;West Flemish:Zêeuws) is a group of language varieties spoken in the southwestern parts of the Netherlands. It is currently considered aLow Franconian dialect ofDutch, but there have been movements to promote the status of Zeelandic from a dialect of Dutch to a separate regional language, which have been denied by theDutch Ministry of Internal Affairs.[2] More specifically, it is spoken in the southernmost part ofSouth Holland (Goeree-Overflakkee) and large parts of the province ofZeeland, with the notable exception of easternZeelandic Flanders.[3]
It has notable differences fromStandard Dutch mainly in pronunciation but also ingrammar andvocabulary, which separates it clearly from Standard Dutch. This makesmutual intelligibility with speakers of Standard Dutch difficult.
In theMiddle Ages and theearly modern period, Zeeland was claimed by the Count ofHolland as well as the Count ofFlanders, and the area was exposed to influence from both directions. The dialects clearly show a gradual increase of Hollandic elements as one goes northwards. However, Zeelandic is fairly coherent with clear borders, as the broad sea arms form strongisoglosses.
The nameZeeuws is an old Zeelandic word that has been attested since theMiddle Ages. An early citation byJacob van Maerlant in his description of Sint-Francis goes as follows:
The name Zeeuws has been in use for the language spoken in Zeeland ever since, but in addition to this there are various other names. Speakers often refer to their dialect with the name of their own area, such asWalchers forWalcheren orPlat Axels forZeelandic-Flanders (named after the town ofAxel, but also used in other towns in this region to distinguish it from the West-Zeelandic-Flemish dialects spoken in the region surroundingBreskens), or sometimes with the name of their own village, such asWasschappels forWestkapelle. This practice stems from the idea that each village has their own dialect, which is markedly different even from the dialect in the adjacent village, and that there is no such thing as one homogenous Zeelandic dialect or language. There is a large amount of resistance specifically inGoeree-Overflakkee against calling the local dialect Zeelandic, due to historical animosity between this region which belongs toSouth Holland, and Zeeland proper. In the past, Zeelandic was also calledboers (farmer-like), in contrast to Standard Dutch which was known asop z'n burgers (like civilians, like the bourgeoisie), but this nomenclature has fallen out of fashion in recent times. The wordplat, which is also used in other dialects to refer to any non-Standard-Dutch dialect, is also frequently used in Zeeland.
Zeelandic is spoken in most areas in Zeeland province, excluding East-Zeelandic-Flanders where, traditionally, moreEast-Flemish dialects are spoken. North of Zeeland, Zeelandic is still spoken on the island ofGoeree-Overflakkee. Traditionally, the Zeelandic language area also extended further north to the islandVoorne-Putten, but the dialect has mostly disappeared from that area due to migration from urban areas such asRotterdam.
In urban areas in Zeeland, the dialect is in decline due to migration from other areas in the Netherlands. InVlissingen,Goes,Middelburg and, to a lesser extent,Terneuzen, Zeelandic dialect is being mostly replaced by Standard Dutch, although elderly people and people from surrounding rural areas can often still speak Zeelandic.
There are clear differences between Zeelandic andHollandic, Brabantine andEast-Flemish dialects, but there is more of a dialect continuum withWest-Flemish language varieties. The dialects spoken more towards the western coastal region of Zeelandic-Flanders, locally referred to asBressiaans, resemble the West-Flemish dialects spoken across the border more than the dialects spoken aroundTerneuzen and Axel, which preserve more Zeelandic features while also exhibiting West-Flemish features. Although these similarities are greater than those between Zeelandic andHollandic dialects, there are some minor dialectal influences in the dialects spoken inVoorne-Putten,Hoeksche Waard andRotterdam. There is hardly any dialectal influence from Zeelandic in the neighbouring Brabantine dialects, however, with the exception of the neighbouring villages ofOud-Vossemeer inTholen andNieuw-Vossemeer inNorth-Brabant.
Zeelandic still has three grammatical genders and the finalschwa of feminine words. It has kept the monophthongs[i] and[y] forij andui, rather than breaking them into[ɛi] and[œy]. It usually umlauts[aː] into[ɛː] and renders the old Germanic[ai] and[au] as falling diphthongs ([ɪə~ɪɐ~iɐ] and[ʊə~ʊɐ~uɐ], respectively, with the exact realisation depending on the dialect. Standard Dutch has merged them with etymological[eː] and[oː]. Finally, Zeelandic drops[h].
This table illustrates the differences (the orthography is Dutch):
| Zeelandic | Dutch | English |
| d'n boer | de boer | the (male) farmer |
| de boerinne | de boerin | the (female) farmer |
| uus | huis | house |
| kieke(n) | kijken | to look |
| tweê | twee | two |
| oôd | hoofd | head |
| luust'ren | luisteren | to listen |
| jie | jij | you |
| piele | eend | duck |
The province of Zeeland consists of several former islands that were difficult to reach until well into the 20th century. As a result, there is roughly one dialect per island. The respective dialects differ clearly but only slightly. The Goeree-Overflakkee dialect, for example, does not drop theh, and theWalcheren andZuid-Beveland dialects haveumlauted words, unlike the northern dialects (for example:beuter[bøtər] as opposed toboter[botər]. Within the island dialects themselves, dialectal differences also exist, and native speakers can frequently tell the village (at least on their own island) a person is from by the specific dialect that is spoken, even if the differences are inaudible to outsiders. For example, within theTholen dialect, speakers fromPoortvliet, a village roughly on the middle of the island, can use widely different words for something than speakers fromSint-Maartensdijk do, which lies only 5 km to the west ofPoortvliet.
Zeelandic is strongly associated with the rural population, as it is spoken mainly in the countryside. The town dialects ofMiddelburg andVlissingen are both much closer to Hollandic than the rural variants and are almost extinct. Surveys held in the 1990s found that at least 60% of Zeeland's population still use Zeelandic as their everyday language. An estimated 250,000 people speak Zeelandic as a mother tongue (West Zeelandic Flemish is included in that count), and although it is in decline, just as other regional languages, it is in no direct danger of extinction since in some villages with strong isolated communities, more than 90% of the youngsters still speak Zeelandic. On the other hand, in several villages with much immigration, the local dialect is spoken only by adults, as children are no longer taught it. A lobby for recognising the Zeelandic regional language under the European Charter for Minority Languages was, as of 2005, unable to achieve that status.
Together with West-Flemish and the Flemish spoken in northern France, Zeeuws is part of a cluster of remarkably homogenic dialectsDutch versions:Zeeuws or aspdf
Media related toZeelandic language at Wikimedia Commons