Flemish Alphabet

The Flemish alphabet contains 26 letters, from A to Z, the same as English. However, Flemish also uses the IJ digraph, which is sometimes treated as a single letter in alphabetization.

The IJ (or ij) is a unique feature of Flemish:

• It's often written as a ligature (ij or IJ)

• When capitalizing, both letters become capital: IJsselmeer

• It's pronounced like "ay" in English

• Found in common words like "wij" (we) and "fijn" (nice)

Yes, but mainly in loanwords and names:

• é, è, ë - as in "café" or "geëerd"

• ï - indicates separate pronunciation, like "reünie"

• The diaeresis (¨) is most common

• Used to prevent vowel combinations from becoming diphthongs

Flemish has several distinctive sounds:

• The guttural "g" - like clearing your throat

• "ui" sound - unique to Flemish, no English equivalent

• The "w" is between English "w" and "v"

• "r" can be rolled or guttural depending on region

Flemish is spoken in Flanders, Belgium:

• Flanders region - approximately 6.5 million speakers

• Official language of the Flanders region of Belgium

• Part of the Dutch language family

About 6.5 million people speak Flemish as their native language!

Flemish is a West Germanic language, closely related to both:

• More similar to English in vocabulary - many cognates

• Similar grammar to German - but simpler case system

• English speakers can recognize words like "water", "appel", "boek"

• Often called "the bridge between English and German"