Dutch dialects and varieties

They are remarkably diverse and are found within Europe mainly in the Netherlands and northern Belgium.

It evolved from the same West Germanic branch as Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon and is less akin to Dutch.

Recent research by Geert Driessen shows that the use of dialects and regional languages among both Dutch adults and youth is in heavy decline.

[4] In Belgium, however, dialects are very much alive; many senior citizens there are unable to speak standard Dutch.

An example is fourchette in various forms (originally a French word meaning fork), instead of vork.

The Brabantian dialect group, for instance, also extends to much of the south of the Netherlands, and so does Limburgish.

West Flemish is also spoken in Zeelandic Flanders (part of the Dutch province of Zeeland), and by older people in French Flanders (a small area that borders Belgium).

The region consists of the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), three overseas special municipalities inside the country of the Netherlands, plus three constituent countries inside the Kingdom, namely Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten.