I'm learning Dutch.

Bebelina

Bebelina

kospla.com
Valued Senior Member
I'm learning Flemish.

Or whatever they call it. Belgian.

Moordenaar.
Kinderdagverblijf.
Verhoor.
Politie.
Gevangenis.

Ik ben het...etc.

Goede avond.

Anyone else?

(I tried to change the headline to Flemish.)
 
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Bebelina said:
Or Flemish, or whatever they call it. Belgian.
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Dutch is the English name for the language of the country we call Holland or the Netherlands. "Dutch" is actually the same word as deutsch, the German word for "German." It's from the proto-Germanic word (3000 years ago) thiudisk, "of the people," from thiuda, "people."

Many Stone Age tribes called themselves "the people" and that name in their language was used by speakers of other languages to refer to them. Aleman, allemand, etc., the name for Germans in various Romance languages, is from alle mann, literally "all people" in the language of one of the many German tribes. Tedesco, the Italian name for them, is from thiudisk. "German" is from a Latin word meaning "blood relative" and we're not quite sure why the Romans called the Germans that.

The people of Flanders, one of the two major regions in Belgium, call themselves and their language Flemish. However, it is just a dialect of Dutch. Two people from Flanders and Holland understand each other about as easily as two people from Birmingham England and Birmingham Alabama.

The other half of Belgium is Wallonia, the people are called Walloons, and they speak French. The Walloons dominate Belgium politically, culturally and economically, resulting in a backlash of moderate proportions from the Flemish population who feel marginalized. They insist on not calling their language Dutch because they feel that to have their own separate language enhances their claim for independence from Belgium, or at least for more power within a united Belgium.

The Dutch call their country Nederland and their language Hollands. The Dutch word duits means "German."

The unification of a people of French origin and a people of Germanic origin in a single nation, Belgium, is just an accident of history. As European history goes it's not even the biggest accident.:) "Belgian" refers to the country's cooking, currency, etc. But not to its language because there are two of them.

The Flemish people would very much resent you calling their language "Belgian" so be careful not to do that! They don't even want you to call it "Dutch." To them it's "Flemish."
 
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Fraggle Rocker;2241743) said:
The Walloons dominate Belgium politically, culturally and economically, resulting in a backlash of moderate proportions from the Flemish population who feel marginalized. They insist on not calling their language Dutch because they feel that to have their own separate language enhances their claim for independence from Belgium, or at least for more power within a united Belgium.
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The Walloons were traditionally or rather historically the political and economic dominant group but that has changed dramatically. The Walloons in the South are have lost economic power where it has flourished in the North, in Flanders. This is why they have political groups like Fams Block arguing that Walloon territory is an economic drain that they have to support, and since the Walloons represent a different culture they would presume to have a partition where Brussels remains a neutral zone of dual-language speakers, the Walloon South would be on its own and Flanders North would enjoy its economic strength.
 
temur said:
The language is Nederlands.
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What do the people call themselves? Nederlander or Hollander, the name they're called in German?

I know the Dutch name for Flanders is Vlaanderen or Vlanderland. The English name for the Flemish people is "Flemings," although you don't hear it too much these days, at least not in America.
 
Bebelina said:
Or whatever they call it. Belgian.

Moordenaar.
Kinderdagverblijf.
Verhoor.
Politie.
Gevangenis.

Ik ben het...etc.

Goede avond.

Anyone else?

(I tried to change the headline to Flemish.)
Click to expand...

Blasphemy ! Belgian doesn't exist, they speak Dutch in Belgium ;)

Nice selection of words by the way lol

Need some practice ? Just say so :)
 
Fraggle Rocker said:
What do the people call themselves? Nederlander or Hollander, the name they're called in German?
Click to expand...
Ik ben een Nederlander :p

Fraggle Rocker said:
I know the Dutch name for Flanders is Vlaanderen or Vlanderland. The English name for the Flemish people is "Flemings," although you don't hear it too much these days, at least not in America.
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No one ever uses 'Vlanderland'. We say 'Vlaanderen' and 'Wallonië', but most of the time we just say 'België'.
 
You despicable anti-Belgianist you...
Oh, I just remembered what I said the last time I spoke to some Belgians.
Carry on Enmos. :)
 
Oli said:
You despicable anti-Belgianist you...
Oh, I just remembered what I said the last time I spoke to some Belgians.
Carry on Enmos. :)
Click to expand...

It's not that far from the truth though, what I said about Belgium ;)
It wasn't that long ago that the Flemings wanted to be a part of the Netherlands again. The Wallonians would of course be totally screwed if that is ever going to happen :D
 
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