ABSTRACT

The matter of the English names by which the language is referred to has long been a source of confusion. The word “Dutch” (Nederlands) is used to refer to the geography, legal system and government, education, folklore and so on in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while “Flemish” (Vlaams) customarily refers to an equivalent range of aspects of Flanders. The language-the same “Dutch” (Nederlands) in both countries-is the main exception to this. In Dutch there is an additional complexity: many people in the heavily urbanized west of the Netherlands refer to their language as Hollands, although this usage is resisted in the rest of the Dutchspeaking area.*

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although the same country is more commonly called by its international name “Holland.” The official Dutch name of the country is Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, but everyday usage prefers Nederland. For international convenience, the Dutch-particularly in those same western cities-refer to their country as Holland. Strictly speaking, however, “Holland” refers only to the two western provinces where most of the largest cities are located. The official name of Belgium is Koninkrijk België, the northern, semi-autonomous half of which is called “Flanders” (in Dutch Vlaanderen). Here there is a close parallel to the situation in the Netherlands, in that “Flanders” strictly speaking refers to only two western provinces.