Flemish

Flemish (Vlaams), Belgian Dutch (Belgisch-Nederlands [ˈbɛlɣis ˈneːdərlɑnts]), Southern Dutch (Zuid-Nederlands) or Flemish Dutch (Vlaams-Nederlands) refers to the dialects or varieties of the Dutch language spoken in Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, be it standard (as used in schools, government and the media) or informal (as used in daily speech, "tussentaal" [ˈtʏsə(n)ˌtaːl]).

There are four principal Dutch dialects in the Flemish region (Flanders): Brabantian, East Flemish, West Flemish and Limburgish. Despite its name, Brabantian is the dominant contributor to the Flemish Dutch tussentaal. The combined region, culture, and people of Dutch-speaking Belgium (which consists of the provinces of West Flanders, East Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Antwerp, and Limburg and, historically, of Brussels) has come to be known as Flemish.Flemish is also used to refer to one of the historical languages spoken in the former County of Flanders.

Linguistically and formally, Flemish is not and does not refer to a current language or dialect but refers to the region, culture and people of (West) Belgium or Flanders. Flemish people speak (Belgian) Dutch in Flanders, the Flemish part of Belgium. Belgian Dutch does have slight differences compared to Dutch spoken in The Netherlands, mainly in pronunciation, lexicon and expressions. However, similar dialectical differences exist in other languages, like English (Australia, Canada, UK, USA, South-Africa, etc.), French (Belgium, Canada, France, Switzerland, etc.), or Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal, etc.). Equally as for those languages, the differences are not significant enough to constitute an individual language (e.g. American, Australian, Canadian and Brazilian have not yet diverted enough from the respective European sources to be considered separate languages). Using the term Flemish for the language used by Flemings is therefore incorrect: the official language in Flanders is (standard) Dutch.