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Continental Germanic language area

This article describes the border of the language area of continental Germanic languages, including German, Dutch and their varieties.

History

Border (20th and 21st century)

This section describes the linguistic border from west to east, and its changes due to for example language shift.

The border starts in the west in

language policy of France, the French Westhoek was frenchified and Flemish is only spoken by a minority today, mostly elderly people (see French Flemish

). While in Belgium the Germanic varieties are treated as dialects of Dutch, in the French Westhoek it is mostly seen as a Flemish language on its own. Some small efforts are underway in schools to teach Flemish, rather than Dutch.

The border between the

almost completely frenchified

during the 19th and late 20th century. Nowadays the bordering municipalities are also under pressure of frenchification, causing political problems in the country.

Close to the

Platdiets

area is located.

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