Editing Holland (section)

=== Languages ===
The predominant language spoken in Holland is [[Dutch language|Dutch]]. Hollanders sometimes call the Dutch language "''Hollands,''"<ref>''Dutch: An Essential Grammar'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=p9d9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT15&dq= p. 15] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520172831/https://books.google.com/books?id=p9d9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT15&dq= |date=2015-05-20 }}, William Z. Shetter, Esther Ham, Routledge, 2007</ref> instead of the standard term ''Nederlands''. Inhabitants of Belgium and other provinces of the Netherlands use "Hollands" to mean a [[Hollandic]] dialect or strong accent.

Standard Dutch was historically largely based on the dialect of the [[County of Holland]], incorporating many traits derived from the dialects of the previously more powerful [[Duchy of Brabant]] and [[County of Flanders]]. Strong dialectal variation still exists throughout the [[Low Countries]]. Today, Holland proper is the region where the original dialects are least spoken, in many areas having been completely replaced by standard Dutch, and the [[Randstad]] has the largest influence on the developments of the standard language—with the exception of the Dutch spoken in Belgium.<ref>Sijs, Nicoline van der, 2006, ''De geschiedenis van het Nederlands in een notendop'', Amsterdam, Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, pp. 127–128</ref>

Despite this correspondence between standard Dutch and the Dutch spoken in the Randstad, there are local variations within Holland itself that differ from standard Dutch. The main cities each have their own modern urban dialect, that can be considered a [[sociolect]].<ref>Sijs, Nicoline van der, 2006, ''De geschiedenis van het Nederlands in een notendop'', Amsterdam, Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, p. 123</ref> Some people, especially in the area north of Amsterdam, still speak the original dialect of the county, Hollandic. This dialect is present in the north: [[Volendam]] and [[Marken]] and the area around there, [[West Friesland (region)|West Friesland]] and the [[Zaanstreek]]; and in a southeastern fringe bordering the provinces of [[North Brabant]] and [[Utrecht]]. In the south on the island of [[Goeree-Overflakkee]], [[Zeelandic]] is spoken.<ref>E.J. van den Broecke-de Man, D.K. Soldaat-Poortvliet & F. Heerschap, 1988,  ''Dialect op Goeree-Overflakkee'', Zeeuwsche Vereeniging voor Dialectonderzoek, Ouddorp, 271 pp</ref>