17 Beautiful Words to Make You Fall in Love with the Flemish Language

[Kazimiera]

17 Beautiful Words to Make You Fall in Love with the Flemish Language

Source: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/be...m_medium=share

The Flemish spoken by northern-half Belgians is a thing all of its own. While it isn't as much a language - that would still be Dutch - as a collection of colloquialisms, this technicality hasn't prevented the Flemish from cooking up a ton of delightful words used only in their region. The proof is in the pudding with these 16 gems.

Goesting

Pronounce it like this: goose – thing




Vieruurtje

Pronounce it like this: veer – her – tjeh




Kwistenbiebel

Pronounce it like this: quiz – then – bee – behl




Koffiekoek

Pronounce it like this: coffee – cook




Smossen

Pronounce it as you see it.




Stinkpatees

Pronounce it like this: stink – pah – teehs




Toespijs

Pronounce it like this: too – sphais




Marcelleke

Pronounce it like this: maher – cell – ehkeh




Valavond

Pronounce it like this: vahl – ah – vont




Welgekomen

Pronounce it like this: wehl – geh – kho – mehn




Boeleke

Pronounce it like this: boo – leh – keh




Frisco

Pronounce it as you see it.




Kieken

Pronounce it like this: key – kehn




Smos

Pronounce it as you see it.




Stoefen

Pronounce it like this: stoo – phehn




Ribbedebie

Pronounce it like this: ribb – beh – deh – bee




Dovemansgesprek

Pronounce it like this: doh – veh – mahns – guess – sprekh

[MissMischief]

Now I want Danielion to record himself while pronouncing all those words.

[Iloko]

Spelling reminds me of Dutch

[Kazimiera]

Spelling reminds me of Dutch

Yes. Flemish, Dutch and Afrikaans are mutually intelligible to a certain degree.

[Dandelion]

It's actually Dutch and not a separate language.

We do underestimate how well we understand Afrikaans and vice versa due to the geographic distance. Afrikaans is largely standardised Hollandic which underwent minor creolisation due to non-Europeans first speaking a pidgin language based on Dutch and later learning the spoken language of the European settlers near them properly, not without influencing the language of those settlers themselves (who weren't 100% Dutch themselves, some were French and German for instance). At least my theory for Afrikaans.

Interesting language. I wish to learn more about Afrikaans. I once read a book on Afrikaans and I noticed many Afrikaans proverbs that seem obscure in Dutch also exist in Afrikaans, but it was so long ago that I can't give examples.

[Dandelion]

Now I want Danielion to record himself while pronouncing all those words.

As you requested.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0zzUBsaXbc0

All of those words are part of our daily language.

Still interesting to learn 'welgekomen' and 'valavond' are Belgian Dutch. I didn't know that. We say both 'welgekomen' as 'welkom' and welgekomen just sounds more friendly, I think.

[MissMischief]

As you requested.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0zzUBsaXbc0

Haha Dan I love your voice As a native Romance language speaker, Dutch seems so difficult to pronounce to me - I could literally live in the Netherlands for 10 years and never be fluent in it

[Dandelion]

Haha Dan I love your voice As a native Romance language speaker, Dutch seems so difficult to pronounce to me - I could literally live in the Netherlands for 10 years and never be fluent in it

Well, one aspect of Dutch pronunciation is easy. The R is pronounced however you like. An American English R however would raise eyebrows, as it's a rare phoneme in most languages, but even some native Dutch speakers do speak like that too, in Leiden.
And many Flemish middle class women often speak with a guttural R the same way most French people pronounce it and as it's more common geographically sounds more 'normal' to Dutch speakers.

I myself roll my R as you noticed, but that's what most Romance speakers do themselves. And also notice how my G is soft whereas that in the Northern Netherlands that's a hard G.

[Kazimiera]

It's actually Dutch and not a separate language.

We do underestimate how well we understand Afrikaans and vice versa due to the geographic distance. Afrikaans is largely standardised Hollandic which underwent minor creolisation due to non-Europeans first speaking a pidgin language based on Dutch and later learning the spoken language of the European settlers near them properly, not without influencing the language of those settlers themselves (who weren't 100% Dutch themselves, some were French and German for instance). At least my theory for Afrikaans.

Interesting language. I wish to learn more about Afrikaans. I once read a book on Afrikaans and I noticed many Afrikaans proverbs that seem obscure in Dutch also exist in Afrikaans, but it was so long ago that I can't give examples.

You wouldn't struggle. Think of it as super-simplified Dutch.

There are some purely South African words though. Like "baie" which means "a lot". Karos, which is an animal-hide blanket. Dagga which is marijuana.

[Era]

As you requested.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0zzUBsaXbc0

All of those words are part of our daily language.

Still interesting to learn 'welgekomen' and 'valavond' are Belgian Dutch. I didn't know that. We say both 'welgekomen' as 'welkom' and welgekomen just sounds more friendly, I think.

Sounds likea Pole trying to speak german