Limburgish Language Services

Limburgish, also called Limburgan, Limburgian, or Limburgic is a West Germanic language spoken in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg and in the neighbouring regions of Germany.

It shares characteristics with both German and Dutch but has unique features such as tonality and a case system with seven cases. Within the modern communities of the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg, intermediate idiolects are also very common, which combine standard Dutch with the accent and some grammatical and pronunciation tendencies derived from Limburgish. This “Limburgish Dutch” is confusingly also often referred to simply as “Limburgish”, although in Belgium such intermediate languages tend to be called tussentaal (“in-between language”), no matter the exact dialect/language with which standard Dutch is combined.

Although frequently misunderstood as such, Limburgish does not refer to the regional variation of Dutch spoken in Dutch Limburg and Belgian Limburg. Since Limburgish is still the mother tongue of many inhabitants in the aforementioned region, Limburgish grammar, vocabulary and pronunciations can have a significant impact on the way locals speak Dutch in public life.

The name Limburgish (and variants of it) derives only indirectly from the now Belgian town of Limbourg (Laeboer in Limburgish, IPA: /ˈlæːbuʁ/), which was the capital of the Duchy of Limburg during the Middle Ages. More directly it is derived from the more modern name of the Province of Limburg (1815–39) in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has been split today into a Belgian Limburg and a Dutch Limburg. In the area around the old Duchy of Limburg the main language today is French, but there is also a particular Limburgish (or Limburgish like, depending on definitions) language which is sometimes referred to as “Low Dietsch dialects”.

People from Limburg usually call their language Plat, the same as Low German speakers do. This plat refers simply to the fact that the language is spoken in the low plains country, as opposed to the use of High in High German languages, which are derived from dialects spoken in the more mountainous southerly regions. The word can also be associated with platteland (Dutch: “countryside”). The general Dutch term for the language of ordinary people in former ages was Dietsch or Duutsch, as it still exists in the term Low Dietsch (Plattdütsch). This term is originally derived from Proto-Germanic “þiudiskaz”, meaning “of the people” (this word has also been preserved in the Italian word for German, which is “Tedesco”, and the English word “Dutch”).

In Dutch the word “plat” means “flat”, but also refers to the way a language is spoken: “plat” means “slang” in that case.