under construction

Continental Germanic language area

This article describes the border of the language area of continental Germanic languages, including German, Dutch and their varieties.

History

Border (20th and 21st century)

This section describes the linguistic border from west to east, and its changes due to for example language shift.

The border starts in the west in French Flanders of which the Westhoek region is Flemish-speaking (Germanic). This area was part of Flanders but became French. Due to the language policy of France, the French Westhoek was frenchified and Flemish is only spoken by a minority today, mostly elderly people (see French Flemish). While in Belgium the Germanic varieties are treated as dialects of Dutch, in the French Westhoek it is mostly seen as a Flemish language on its own. Some small efforts are underway in schools to teach Flemish, rather than Dutch.

The border between the Flemish Region and Walloon Region within Belgium is based on language, so this political border mostly coincides with the actual language border. However, the capital of Brussels, originally Brabantian/Dutch-speaking, was almost completely frenchified during the 19th and late 20th century. Nowadays the bordering municipalities are also under pressure of frenchification, causing political problems in the country.

Close to the Drielandenpunt between Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, the Platdiets area is located.

...