Flemish

Flemish (Vlaams) also called Flemish Dutch (Vlaams-Nederlands), Belgian Dutch (Belgisch-Nederlands (listen)), or Southern Dutch (Zuid-Nederlands), is a Lower Franconian / Dutch dialect. It is spoken in the whole northern region of Belgium as well as French Flanders and the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders by approximately 6.5 million people. The term is used in at least five ways. These are: Flemish (Vlaams) also called Flemish Dutch (Vlaams-Nederlands), Belgian Dutch (Belgisch-Nederlands (listen)), or Southern Dutch (Zuid-Nederlands), is a Lower Franconian / Dutch dialect. It is spoken in the whole northern region of Belgium as well as French Flanders and the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders by approximately 6.5 million people. The term is used in at least five ways. These are: MultiTree considers Flemish to include the four principal Dutch dialects in the Flemish region (Flanders): Brabantian, East Flemish, West Flemish and Limburgish as well as three other dialects. Glottolog considers Flemish to be a separate (regional) language, which includes the dialects of Antverpian (the dialect of the city of Antwerp), French Flemish, West Flemish, East Flemish and Limburgish. Ethnologue considers Limburgish and West Flemish to be separate (regional) languages. The combined region, culture, and people of Flemish-speaking Belgium region, culture and people has come to be known as 'Flanders'. Dutch is the majority language in northern Belgium, being used in written language by three-fifths of the population of Belgium. It is one of the three national languages of Belgium, together with French and German, and is the only official language of the Flemish Region. The various Dutch dialects spoken in Belgium contain a number of lexical and a good amount of grammatical features which distinguish them from the standard Dutch. Basic Dutch words can have a completely different meaning in Flemish or imply different context. As in the Netherlands, the pronunciation of Standard Dutch is affected by the native dialect of the speaker. All Dutch dialect groups spoken in Belgium are spoken in adjacent areas of the Netherlands as well. East Flemish forms a continuum with both Brabantic and West Flemish. Standard Dutch is primarily based on the Hollandic dialect  (spoken in the Western provinces of the Netherlands) and to a lesser extent on Brabantian, which is the dominant dialect in Flanders, as well as in the south of the Netherlands. The supra-regional, semi-standardized colloquial form (mesolect) of Dutch spoken in Belgium uses the vocabulary and the sound inventory of the Brabantic dialects. It is often called Tussentaal ('in-between-language' or 'intermediate language', intermediate between dialects and standard Dutch). Despite its name, Brabantian is the dominant contributor to the Flemish Dutch tussentaal.