The notion Flemish has a double meaning : a linguistic one (the language of the Flemings), and a social/political one (everything that refers to Flanders or to one or more individual Flemish people or organisations).

It is being used often, but because of the different definitions it often creates ambiguity. It should be noted that Flemish (Vlaams, Flamand or Flämisch) is not an official designation of a language in Flanders or Belgium. These are French, German and Dutch. Since the notion "Flemish" is a container for a number of very different dialects of Dutch, it has little sense linguistically to treat it as one entity. "The" Flemish language doesn't exist, although the notion is used as such in every day language.

Language

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Described as a linguistic variety, the noun "Flemish" can have four different meanings :

1. the Dutch spoken in Flanders, including both standard Dutch and the non standardised dialects. This meaning should not be used in a scientific context.
2. the non standardised dialects of present day Flanders.
3. the non standardised dialects of the former county Flanders, i.e. the present day Belgian provinces of West and East Flanders, the Dutch region Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and French Flanders.
4. the non-standardised dialects of the Belgian province West Flanders, Dutch Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and French Flanders.

Social and political meanings

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The adjective "Flemish" refers to everything and everybody that has a relation to Flanders, in every geographical definition. It is also used for everything originating from Flanders, cultural, political, economical, etc.

See also

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• Flemish dialects
• Flanders, a geographical region in Belgium
• Flemish movement, a political movement for autonomy
• Flanders (county), the historical county of the Low Countries
• Flemish Community, a community in Belgium
• Flemish Region, a region in Belgium

References

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Part of this article was translated from the Vlaams on the same subject.

Flamand | Vlaams | Flaami