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Belgian French
Belgian French () 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. It is characterized by the use of some terms that are considered archaic in France, as well as loanwords from languages such as Walloon, Picard, and Belgian Dutch. French is one of the three official languages of Belgium, along with Dutch and German. It is spoken natively by around 40% of the population, primarily in the regions of Wallonia and Brussels. The French spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi is largely based on Belgian French, as all three countries are former colonies of Belgium. Influences While a number of Oïl languages have traditionally been spoken in different areas of Wallonia, French emerged as the regional language of liter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the south, and the North Sea to the west. Belgium covers an area of and has a population of more than 11.8 million; its population density of ranks List of countries and dependencies by population density, 22nd in the world and Area and population of European countries, sixth in Europe. The capital and Metropolitan areas in Belgium, largest metropolitan region is City of Brussels, Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven. Belgium is a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a complex Federation, federal system structured on regional and linguistic grounds. The country is divided into three highly autonomous Communities, regions and language areas o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burundi
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million people. It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border. The political capital city is Gitega and the economic capital city is Bujumbura. The Great Lakes Twa, Twa, Hutu and Tutsi peoples have lived in Burundi for at least 500 years. For more than 200 of those years, Burundi was an independent Kingdom of Burundi, kingdom. In 1885, it became part of the German colony of German East Africa. After the First World War and German Revolution of 1918–19, Germany's defeat, the League of Nations mandated the territories of Burundi and neighboring Rwanda to Belgium in a combined territory called Rwanda-Urundi. After the Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flemish Dialects
Flemish ( ) is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to the region known as Flanders in northern Belgium; it is spoken by Flemings, the dominant ethnic group of the region. Outside of Belgium Flanders, it is also spoken to some extent in French Flanders and the Dutch Zeelandic Flanders. Terminology The term ''Flemish'' itself has become ambiguous. Nowadays, it is used in at least five ways, depending on the context. These include: # An indication of Dutch written and spoken in Flanders including the Dutch standard language as well as the non-standardized dialects, including intermediate forms between vernacular dialects and the standard. Some linguists avoid the term ''Flemish'' in this context and prefer the designation ''Belgian-Dutch'' or ''South-Dutch'' # A synonym for the so-called intermediate language in Flanders region, the # An indica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Swiss Alps, Alps and the Jura Mountains, Jura; the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, whereas most of the country's Demographics of Switzerland, 9 million people are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts List of cities in Switzerland, its largest cities and economic centres, including Zurich, Geneva, and Lausanne. Switzerland is a federal republic composed of Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons, with federal authorities based in Bern. It has four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh language, Romansh. Although most Swiss are German-speaking, national identity is fairly cohesive, being rooted in a common historical background, shared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and List of islands of France, many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean, giving it Exclusive economic zone of France, one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany to the northeast; Switzerland to the east; Italy and Monaco to the southeast; Andorra and Spain to the south; and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its Regions of France, eighteen integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of and hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorrain Language
Lorrain, also known as Lorrain roman, is a ''langue d'oïl'' spoken by a minority of people in the region of Lorraine (region), Lorraine in northeastern France, as well as in some parts of Alsace and Gaume in Belgium. It is often referred to as a patois. It is a languages of France, regional language of France. In Wallonia, it is known as Gaumais and enjoys official recognition as a regional language. It has been influenced by Lorraine Franconian and Luxembourgish language, Luxembourgish, West Central German languages spoken in nearby or overlapping areas. Features Linguist Stephanie Russo noted the difference of a 'second' imperfect and pluperfect tense between Lorrain and Standard French. It is derived from Latin grammar that is no longer used in modern French. Variations The Linguasphere Observatory distinguishes seven variants : * Argonnais (Forest of Argonne, Argonne, Woëvre, eastern French Ardennes (department), Ardennes, Meuse (department), Meuse, Meurthe-et-Mosell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Champenois
Champenois (''lou champaignat'') is a Romance language among the ''langues d'oïl'' spoken by a minority of people in Champagne and Île-de-France provinces in France, as well as in a handful of towns in southern Belgium (chiefly the municipality of Vresse-sur-Semois). While it is classified as a regional language of France, it also has recognized status as a regional language in Wallonia, a region of Belgium. Champenois is considered an endangered language by the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages. Literature The language of Chrétien de Troyes is marked by Champenois traits and Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ... used Champenois in his commentaries, but the earliest literature to survive consciously written in Champenois is noted from the end of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picard Language
Picard ( , also , ) is a ''langue d'oïl'' of the Romance languages, Romance language family spoken in the northernmost of France and parts of Hainaut province, Hainaut province in Belgium. Administratively, this area is divided between the French Hauts-de-France region and the Belgian Wallonia along the border between both countries due to its traditional core being the districts of Tournai and Mons, Belgium, Mons (Wallonie Picarde, Walloon Picardy). The language or dialect is referred to by different names, as residents of Picardy call it simply , but in the more populated region of it is called or (sometimes written as ''Chti'' or ''Chtimi''). This is the area that makes up Romance Flanders, around the metropolis of Lille and Douai, and northeast Artois around Béthune and Lens, Pas-de-Calais, Lens. ''Picard'' is also named around Valenciennes, around Roubaix, or simply in general French. In 1998, Picard native speakers amounted to 700,000 individuals, the vast majori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walloon Language
Walloon (; natively ; ) is a Romance language that is spoken in much of Wallonia and, to a very small extent, in Brussels, Belgium; some villages near Givet, northern France; and a clutch of communities in northeastern Wisconsin, United States.Université du Wisconsin : collection de documents sur l'immigration wallonne au Wisconsin, enregistrements de témoignages oraux en anglais et wallon, 1976University of Wisconsin Digital Collection : Belgian-American Research Collection /ref> It belongs to the ''langues d'oïl'' dialect continuum, the most prominent member of which is French. The historical background of its formation was the territorial extension since 980 of the Principality of Liège to the south and west. Walloon is classified as "definitely endangered" by the UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger''. Despite its rich literature, beginning anonymously in the 16th century and with well-known authors since 1756, the use of Walloon has decreased markedly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Community Of Belgium
In Belgium, the French Community (, , CFB) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (, , FWB), which is controversial because its name in the Belgian Constitution has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement. The name "French Community" refers to the French language and not to France. As such, the French Community of Belgium is sometimes rendered in English as "the French-speaking Community of Belgium" for clarity, in analogy to the German-speaking Community of Belgium. The Community has its own parliament, government, and administration. It and its predecessor entity have used the flag of Wallonia since 1975. History Belgium was transformed from the unitary into a federal state. The first state reform of 1970 introduced the "cultural communities" including the French Cultural Community (''Communauté culturelle française''). This was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walloons
Walloons ( ; ; ) are a Gallo-Romance languages, Gallo-Romance ethnic group native to Wallonia and the immediate adjacent regions of Flanders, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Walloons primarily speak ''langues d'oïl'' such as Belgian French, Picard language, Picard and Walloon language, Walloon. Walloons are primarily Catholic Church, Roman Catholic, with a historical minority of Protestantism which dates back to the Reformation era. In modern Belgium, Walloons are, by law, termed a "distinctive linguistic and ethnic community" within the country, as are the neighbouring Flemish people, Flemish, a Germanic peoples, Dutch (Germanic) speaking community. When understood as a regional identification, the ethnonym is also extended to refer to the inhabitants of the Walloon region in general, regardless of ethnicity or ancestry. Etymology The term ''Walloon'' is derived from ''*walha'', a Proto-Germanic term used to refer to Celtic languages, Celtic and Latin speake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
