Patterns of Variation in Two Dialect Areas in Northern Belgium

Abstract. The article focuses on dialect change in the western and eastern periphery of the southern Dutch language area, i.e. in the province of West-Flanders and the province of Limburg. Both by a general survey of the dialect situation in these regions and by the analysis of two instances of phonological change, it is demonstrated that the actual state and dynamics of these areas is essentially different in terms of dialect loss and dialect vitality. The West-Flemish data reveal an intertwining of interdialectal and standard language influence, whereas the changes registered in the Limburg data unambiguously point to standard language influence.