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Almost all of the inhabitants of the Capital region speak French as either their primary language (50%) or as a lingua franca (45%). [4] [5] Many Flemish people also speak French as a second language. Belgian French is in most respects identical to the French of France, but differs in some points of vocabulary, pronunciation, and semantics.
Its official languages are both Dutch and French. In the region ~75% speak French at home and ~25% speak Dutch, although a significant number of people combine these two languages. [11] The Brussels Capital Region contains only one administrative arrondissement, the Arrondissement of Brussels-Capital.
Today, the Brussels-Capital Region is legally bilingual, with both French and Dutch having official status, [5] as is the administration of the 19 municipalities. [6]Owing to migration and to its international role, Brussels is home to a large number of native speakers of languages other than French or Dutch.
Bilingual French and Dutch street signs in Brussels Area where the Brabantian dialect is spoken. The Francization of Brussels refers to the evolution, over the past two centuries, [1] [2] of this historically Dutch-speaking city [1] [3] [4] into one where French has become the majority language and lingua franca. [5]
The exact number of French-speakers in Brussels is hard to determine, but it is estimated that 85% of the people living in Brussels use French and 10% use Dutch in their households, as the sole language or secondary language, while Arabic is also largely spoken. See the Brussels article for more details. [27]
The Dutch language used in Belgium can also be referred to as Flemish Dutch or Belgian Dutch (Dutch: Vlaams Nederlands, Belgisch Nederlands).Dutch is the mother tongue of about 60% of the population in Belgium, spoken by approximately 6.5 million out of a population of 11 million people.
It is often called an "in-between-language" or "intermediate language", intermediate between dialects and standard Dutch. [17] Despite its name, Brabantian is the dominant contributor to the Flemish Dutch tussentaal. It is a rather informal variety of speech, which occupies an intermediate position between vernacular dialects and the standard ...
Historically Dutch-speaking, Brussels saw a language shift to French from the late 19th century. [39] Since its creation in 1989, the Brussels-Capital Region has been officially bilingual in French and Dutch, [40] [41] although French is the majority language and lingua franca. [42] Brussels is also increasingly becoming multilingual.