Which country is Flemish?
Belgium
Fleming and Walloon, members of the two predominant cultural and linguistic groups of modern Belgium. The Flemings, who constitute more than half of the Belgian population, speak Dutch (sometimes called Netherlandic), or Belgian Dutch (also called Flemish by English-speakers), and live mainly in the north and west.
What language is Flemish similar to?
Dutch
After all, Flemish is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as the “Dutch language spoken in Northern Belgium”. So, the terms ‘Flemish’ and ‘Belgian Dutch’ actually refer to the same language. Whatever you do with this new-found knowledge, please do not head to Flanders to tell the locals they speak a dialect of Dutch.
Why is it called Flemish?
Flemish as a name for the language was first used by the French (Flameng) around 1500, when the Flemish people called their language Diets. In Italian and Spanish, Flemish was referred to as Flamenco, which also referred to the Dutch language in the Netherlands.
Is Flemish European?
Flemish is a West Germanic language most closely related to Dutch and generally regarded as the Belgian variant of Dutch. Flemish is spoken by approximately 5.5 million people in Belgium and by a few thousand people in France. Flemish is spoken by about 55% of the population of Belgium.
What Belgian means?
Definition of Belgian 1 : a native or inhabitant of Belgium. 2 : any of a breed of heavy muscular usually roan or chestnut draft horses developed in Belgium.
When did the Walloons come to England?
1567
The first wave of many thousands of French-speaking Protestants were Walloon refugees who arrived in England from the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium and the Netherlands) in 1567, having been forced to flee the suppression of Protestantism by King Philip of Spain’s forces lead by the Duke of Alva.
Is Flemish like English?
Even to the untrained ear, the two dialects sound very different. While Flemish tends towards French pronunciations, Dutch in the Netherlands has more of an English feel.
Is Flemish still spoken?
Official languages of Belgium: Dutch, French, and German. Brussels is a bilingual area where both Dutch and French have an official status….
| Flemish | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Belgium, Netherlands, France |
| Region | Flanders, Zeelandic Flanders, French Flanders |
| Ethnicity | Flemings |
| Native speakers | 6.5 million (2016) |