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French is an administrative language and is commonly but unofficially used in the Maghreb states, Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.As of 2023, an estimated 350 million African people spread across 34 African countries can speak French either as a first or second language, mostly as a secondary language, making Africa the continent with the most French speakers in the world. [2]
The langues d'oïl (/ d ɔɪ (l)/ doy(l), [3] US also / d ɔː ˈ iː l / daw-EEL, [4] [5] [Note 1] French: [lɑ̃ɡ dɔjl] [6]) are a dialect continuum that includes standard French and its closest autochthonous relatives historically spoken in the northern half of France, southern Belgium, and the Channel Islands.
Belgian French (French: français de Belgique) is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside related Oïl languages of the region such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois, and Lorrain (Gaumais). The French language spoken in Belgium differs very little from that of France or Switzerland.
Dutch is the most spoken primary language of Belgium and the official language of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region (merged to Flanders). Along with French, it is an official language of the Brussels-Capital Region. The main Dutch dialects spoken in Belgium are Brabantian, West Flemish, East Flemish, and Limburgish.
In the Low Countries, South Low Franconian varieties are predominantly spoken in Belgian Limburg and Dutch Limburg provinces. However, not all regional dialects of Limburg belong to the South Low Franconian group (especially in the northern part of Dutch Limburg north of Horst where Kleverlandish dialects are spoken, and also in Meijel with its local dialect that can be classified as ...
European French (French: français d'Europe, français européen) is the variety of French spoken in Europe in French speaking countries or areas.. In Europe, French is spoken by 71 million native speakers, making French the second most spoken native language in Europe after German and 210 million Europeans can speak French, making French the second most spoken language in Europe after English.
The various Dutch dialects spoken in Belgium contain a number of lexical and grammatical features that distinguish them from the standard Dutch. Standard Dutch words can have a completely different meaning in Flemish or imply different context, [ 15 ] comparable to the differences between the British and North American variants of English .
The local dialect in Brussels, Brussels Vloms, is a Brabantic dialect, reflecting the Dutch heritage of the city. Walloons are historically credited with pioneering the Industrial Revolution in Continental Europe in the early 19th century. [22] In modern history, Brussels has been the major town or the capital of the region.