Why are there different French dialects in Belgium?

bloomsby

Perhaps a Belgian will be able to provide an answer. I'm very puzzled by the question, as it seems to be based on the assumption that a language should not have different varieties, at least outside its 'core' area(s). Do you think there should only be one dialect of French in Belgium and, if so, why? Nov 05 05, 10:52 AM

JoshCaleb12

The French dialect spoken in Belgium is called Walloon... My grandmother spoke that dialect. She tells me that she had an easier time understanding someone speaking French Canadian than she did someone speaking French French... pardon my "French"... *grin* Dialects develop when the branch group of speakers are isolated from the parent group and/or influenced by another language group... I'd say in Walloonia's case, the influencing group is the northern Flemish speaking Belgians. Belgium has always been a "divided" country, with the Flemish speaking folks in the northern part, and the Walloon speaking people of the southern part... My memory is a bit vague, but I seem to recall that there is a THIRD language group involved here. King Albert made some good political points when, at his asscension to the throne, he gave his speech in each of the major languages of Belgium. Nov 05 05, 11:20 AM

bloomsby

Fairly recently, German became the third official language as Belgium has a very small German-speaking minority in the Eupen area. However, I'm not sure exactly what its status is outside that area. Nov 05 05, 2:41 PM

Flem-ish

http://www.wallonie.com/wallang might be helpful here. As bloomsby has mentioned, a language always has different dialects. The standard language does not come first. It's a kind of "upgrading" of a particular dialect into the language for administration, school, mass-media, etc. A dialect with an army behind it, kind of. Usually written forms of the language such as Bible translations, administrative language, etc. put a strong stamp on such a "dialect-with-an-education". For interregional communication many Walloons speak a Belgian variant of standard French (based on the dialect of the Ile-de-France, the area around Paris.) Typical vocabulary of that Belgian type of French: quatre-vingt dix becomes nonante. But locally, at home, most Walloons keep speaking their regional dialects. In a way the question should not be why are there different dialects, but how come there develops a more or less unified standard language? How does a particular dialect get an up-grade to a super-regional status? Nov 05 05, 5:40 PM

lanfranco

I was waiting for you to chime in, Flem-ish. In Italy, filled with many dialects, the Tuscan dialect developed into Standard Italian primarily by an accident of literary history: Tuscan-born Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" was largely (though not entirely) was written in it, and this poem was probably the first widely-read work of literature in the Italian vernacular. In the same century, Geoffrey Chaucer help begin the process of turning the London-area dialect of Middle English into Standard English through his writings. But today, in both Italy and England, dialects persist. Not a few serious writers are publishing in them. Nov 05 05, 6:00 PM

sarek363

Walloon is in fact not a French dialect. It is a different language altogether. That said, it is extremely close to French. Walloon is still used today, but mostly by older people; young people whose grandparents speak it can usually understand, but do not necessarily speak it. As for the question of German's status, it has official recognition, but the area in eastern Belgium where it is spoken is considered part of the French speaking region. This is probably because there are only about 75,000 German speakers. The area is also relatively new. I believe it was given to Belgium after World War I as part of its compensation. Feb 20 06, 2:43 PM

lorge

I was born in Belgium, my whole family is still in Belgium. I was born and raised in Brussels. I spoke French / Flemish. Don't confuse yourself with the Wallone language, it is a language of its own. I could never understand it. My grandmother and her kids (my mother) all spoke Flemish. I could understand them but I did not speak it, and vise versa. We could speak to each other and we had a conversation. Flemish is a Dutch dialect- not German as a lot of people think. French is one of the most romantic language there is. I wish I could find people here to speak French. Apr 08 09, 4:46 AM