West Flemish

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West Flemish (in West Flemish, Vlaemsch) is a group of dialects, spoken in parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

There is a dialect continuum between West Flemish and some neighbouring Dutch (Flemish) dialects, being called East Flemish, and many linguists still consider West Flemish a Dutch dialect. The main reason to set it apart is that West Flemish almost totally remained outside the main stream of Dutch regional languages and did not join the central Brabantic innovations at all. This gives West Flemish a somewhat strange character.

West Flemish is spoken by around 1.05 million people in West Flanders (in Belgium), 90,000 in the neighbouring Dutch coastal district of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, and 20,000 in the northern part of the French département of Nord where it is classified as one of the Languages of France.

The dialects of the Dutch province of Zeeland, Zealandic, are sometimes also classified under West Flemish, but are so much more like Hollandic Dutch that this is disputed. The dialects of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen however do count as West Flemish variants, as is stated above. In fact, both regional languages are linked by a dialect continuum, which proceeds further north into Hollandic.

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