Editing Brussels (section)

===Languages===
{{See also|Francization of Brussels}}
[[File:Languages spoken at home in the Brussels Capital Region (2013).PNG|thumb|right|Languages spoken at home in the Brussels-Capital Region (2013)<ref name="brio2013">{{Cite book|last=Janssens|first=Rudi|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/onderzoeksprojecten/brio_taalbarometer_3_brussel_2013.pdf|title=BRIO-taalbarometer 3: diversiteit als norm|publisher=Brussels Informatie-, Documentatie- en Onderzoekscentrum|year=2013|language=nl|trans-title=BRIO language barometer 3: diversity as standard|access-date=26 May 2015|archive-date=15 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015061651/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/onderzoeksprojecten/brio_taalbarometer_3_brussel_2013.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />{{legend|#9999FF|French}}{{legend|#CCCCFF|French and Dutch}}{{legend|#CCFFFF|Dutch}}{{legend|#99CCFF|French and other language}}{{legend|#FFFFCC|Neither French nor Dutch}}]]

Brussels was historically [[Dutch-speaking]], using the [[Brabantian dialect]],<ref name="tokyo">{{Cite book|last=Backhaus|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nl0mPajCyxsC|title=Linguistic Landscapes: A Comparative Study of Urban Multilingualism in Tokyo|publisher=Multilingual Matters Ltd|year=2007|isbn=9781853599460|page=158|access-date=2013-03-26|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415012552/https://books.google.com/books?id=Nl0mPajCyxsC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 13--><ref name="jaumain">{{Cite book|last=Jaumain|first=Serge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHsk_ht_UqEC|title=Vivre en Ville: Bruxelles et Montréal aux XIXe et XXe siècles|publisher=Peter Lang|year=2006|isbn=9789052013343|edition=Études Canadiennes Series nº9|page=375|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128005647/https://books.google.com/books?id=KHsk_ht_UqEC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 47--><ref name="roegiest">{{Cite book|last=Roegiest|first=Eugeen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7FeNc7B3EYC|title=Vers les sources des langues romanes. Un itinéraire linguistique à travers la Romania|publisher=ACCO|year=2009|isbn=9789033473807|page=272|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128005705/https://books.google.com/books?id=K7FeNc7B3EYC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 184--> but since the 19th century<ref name="tokyo" /><!--see page 13--><ref name="marynissen">{{Cite book|last=Janssens|first=Guy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JOo9oNIUcFUC|title=Het Nederlands vroeger en nu|publisher=ACCO|year=2005|isbn=9033457822|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414232050/https://books.google.com/books?id=JOo9oNIUcFUC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 227--> [[Belgian French|French]] has become the predominant language of the city.<ref name="rudi3">{{Cite book|last=Janssens|first=Rudi|url=http://www.brusselsstudies.be/medias/publications/NL_51_BruS13NL.pdf|title=Taalgebruik in Brussel en de plaats van het Nederlands — Enkele recente bevindingen|year=2008|edition=Brussels Studies, nº13|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=15 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315062310/http://brusselsstudies.be/medias/publications/NL_51_BruS13NL.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The main cause of this transition was the rapid [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]] of the local [[Flemish people|Flemish population]],<ref name="kramer">{{Cite book|last=Kramer|first=Johannes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHZtibOQnnQC|title=Zweisprachigkeit in den Benelux-ländern|publisher=Buske Verlag|year=1984|isbn=3871185973|access-date=2013-04-26}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><!--see page 99-100--><ref name="tokyo" /><!--see page 13--><ref name="baetens">{{Cite book|last=Baetens Beardsmore|first=Hugo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DX1JcMNgz7AC|title=Bilingualism: Basic Principles (2nd Ed.)|publisher=Multilingual Matters Ltd|year=1986|isbn=9780905028637|edition=Multiligual Matters Series|page=205|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128043131/https://books.google.com/books?id=DX1JcMNgz7AC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 103--><ref name="ernst">{{Cite book|last=Ernst|first=Gerhard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=07wyfaQQ_akC|title=Histoire des langues romanes|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2006|isbn=9783110171501|edition=Manuel international sur l'histoire et l'étude linguistique des langues romanes|page=1166|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128005638/https://books.google.com/books?id=07wyfaQQ_akC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 1686--><ref name="roegiest" /><!--see page 184--> amplified by immigration from [[France]] and [[Wallonia]].<ref name="tokyo" /><ref name="vermeersch">{{Cite book|last=Vermeersch|first=Arthur J.|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/Taal_sociale_integr_4.pdf|title=De taalsituatie tijdens het Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (1814–1830)|publisher=[[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]] (VUB)|year=1981|edition=Taal en Sociale Integratie, IV|pages=389–404|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=11 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411072853/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/Taal_sociale_integr_4.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><!--see page 390--> The [[Francization|rise of French]] in public life gradually began by the end of the 18th century,<ref name="poirier">{{Cite book|last=Poirier|first=Johanne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8skGPQAACAAJ|title=Choix, statut et mission d'une capitale fédérale: Bruxelles au regard du droit comparé|publisher=De Boeck & Larcier|year=1999|isbn=2-8044-0525-7|edition=Het statuut van Brussel / Bruxelles et son statut [61-97]|location=Brussel|page=817|language=French|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414225513/https://books.google.com/books?id=8skGPQAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 71--><ref name="rousseaux">{{Cite book|last=Rousseaux|first=Xavier|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WW_8JY3TTg0C|title=Le pénal dans tous ses états: justice, États et sociétés en Europe|publisher=Publications des Fac. St Louis|year=1997|isbn=9782802801153|edition=Volume 74|page=462|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128024057/https://books.google.com/books?id=WW_8JY3TTg0C|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 226--> quickly accelerating after [[Belgian independence]].<ref name="degroof">{{Cite book|last=De Groof|first=Roel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ReVcRnqeon0C|title=De kwestie Groot-Brussel en de politieke metropolisering van de hoofdstad (1830–1940). Een analyse van de besluitvorming en de politiek-institutionele aspecten van de voorstellen tot hereniging, annexatie, fusie, federatie en districtvorming van Brussel en zijn voorsteden.|publisher=De Boeck & Larcier|year=2003|isbn=2-8044-1216-4|edition=De Brusselse negentien gemeenten en het Brussels model / Les dix-neuf communes bruxelloises et le modèle bruxellois [3-56]|location=Brussel, Gent|page=754|language=Dutch|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=15 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615032353/https://books.google.com/books?id=ReVcRnqeon0C|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 54--><ref name="gubin">{{Cite book|last=Gubin|first=Eliane|author-link1=Éliane Gubin|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/Taal_sociale_integr_1.pdf|title=La situation des langues à Bruxelles au 19ième siècle à la lumière d'un examen critique des statistiques|publisher=[[Université Libre de Bruxelles]]|year=1978|edition=Taal en Sociale Integratie, I|pages=33–80|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=11 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411072846/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/Taal_sociale_integr_1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><!--see page 51--> Dutch — of which [[Standard language|standardisation]] in Belgium was still very weak<ref name="balans">{{Cite book|last=Witte|first=Els|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/taal%20&%20politiek_nl.pdf|title=Taal en politiek: De Belgische casus in een historisch perspectief|publisher=VUBPress ([[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]])|year=1998|isbn=9789054871774|edition=Balansreeks|location=Brussel|page=180|language=Dutch|access-date=15 June 2022|archive-date=26 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526142926/https://www.briobrussel.be/assets/taal%20%26%20politiek_nl.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 17--><ref name="busekist">{{Cite book|last=Von Busekist|first=Astrid|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUSlh1z8okQC|title=Nationalisme contre bilinguisme: le cas belge|publisher=Éditions KARTHALA|year=2002|isbn=9782845862401|edition=La Politique de Babel: du monolinguisme d'État au plurilinguisme des peuples [191-226]|page=348|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128005632/https://books.google.com/books?id=kUSlh1z8okQC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 191--><ref name="gubin" /><!--see page 47--> — could not compete with French, which was the exclusive language of the judiciary, the administration, the army, education, cultural life and the media, and thus necessary for [[social mobility]].<ref name="bitsch">{{Cite book|last=Bitsch|first=Marie-Thérèse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=keh_JJginLwC|title=Histoire de la Belgique: De l'Antiquité à nos jours|publisher=Éditions Complexe|year=2004|isbn=9782804800239|page=299|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128005624/https://books.google.com/books?id=keh_JJginLwC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 120--><ref name="tétart"/><!--see page 31--><ref name="jaumain" /><!--see page 47--><ref name="kok">{{Cite book|last=Kok Escalle|first=Marie-Christine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjhQ-LTpD_0C|title=Changements politiques et statut des langues: histoire et épistémologie 1780-1945|publisher=Rodopi|year=2001|isbn=9789042013759|edition=Faux Titre (volume 206)|page=374|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128005657/https://books.google.com/books?id=HjhQ-LTpD_0C|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 369--><ref name="marynissen" /><!--see page 143--> The value and prestige of the French language was universally acknowledged<ref name="jaumain" /><!--see page 48--><ref name="bogaert" /><!--see page 118--><ref name="kramer" /><!--see page 112--><ref name="gubin" /><!--see page 50--><ref name="hasquin2">{{Cite book|last=Hasquin|first=Hervé|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9VBMP2Qi9kgC|title=Bruxelles, ville frontière. Le point de vue d'un historien francophone|publisher=Éditions Complexe|year=1996|isbn=9782870276631|edition=Europe et ses ville-frontières [205-230]|location=Bruxelles|page=329|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128043142/https://books.google.com/books?id=9VBMP2Qi9kgC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="vrints">{{Cite book|last=Vrints|first=Antoon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AWohT1yErb0C|title=Het theater van de Straat: Publiek geweld in Antwerpen tijdens de eerste helft van de twintigste Eeuw|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-9089643407|edition=Studies Stadsgeschiedenis Series|location=Amsterdam|page=223|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414225514/https://books.google.com/books?id=AWohT1yErb0C|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 209--> to such an extent that after 1880,<ref name="veron"/><!--see pages 77 en 257--><ref name="velthoven">{{Cite book|last=van Velthoven|first=Harry|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/Taal_sociale_integr_4.pdf|title=Taal- en onderwijspolitiek te Brussel (1878-1914)|publisher=[[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]] (VUB)|year=1981|edition=Taal en Sociale Integratie, IV|pages=261–387|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=11 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411072853/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/Taal_sociale_integr_4.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><!--see page 283--><ref name="balans" /><!--see page 84--> and more particularly after the turn of the 20th century,<ref name="gubin" /><!--see page 70--> proficiency in French among Dutch-speakers in Brussels increased spectacularly.<ref name="blampain" /><!--see page 247-->

Although a majority of the population remained bilingual until the second half of the 20th century,<ref name="blampain" /><!--see page 248--><ref name="kramer" /><!--see page 103--> family transmission of the historic Brabantian dialect<ref name="witte">{{Cite book|last=Witte|first=Els|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8skGPQAACAAJ|title=Analyse du statut de Bruxelles (1989-1999)|publisher=De Boeck & Larcier|year=1999|isbn=2-8044-0525-7|edition=Het statuut van Brussel / Bruxelles et son statut [19-33]|location=Brussel|page=817|language=French|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414225513/https://books.google.com/books?id=8skGPQAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 19--> declined,{{sfn|Treffers-Daller|1994}} leading to an increase of monolingual French-speakers from 1910 onwards.<ref name="bogaert">{{Cite book|last=Bogaert-Damin|first=Anne Marie|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfcGiuMtz7UC|title=Bruxelles: développement de l'ensemble urbain 1846–1961|publisher=Presses universitaires de Namur|year=1978|isbn=9782870370896|page=337|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414232945/https://books.google.com/books?id=lfcGiuMtz7UC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 117--><ref name="metsenaere-thuis">{{Cite book|last=de Metsenaere|first=Machteld|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/btng-rbhc,%2021,%201990,%203-4,%20pp%20383-412.pdf|title=Thuis in gescheiden werelden — De migratoire en sociale aspecten van verfransing te Brussel in het midden van de 19e eeuw|publisher=[[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]] (VUB)|year=1990|edition=BTNG-RBHC, XXI, 1990, nº 3–4 [383–412]|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015023229/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/btng-rbhc,%2021,%201990,%203-4,%20pp%20383-412.pdf|archive-date=15 October 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><!--see page 392--> From the mid-20th century, the number of monolingual French-speakers surpassed the number of mostly bilingual Flemish inhabitants.<ref name="brio4">{{Cite journal|last=Machteld de Metsenaere|year=1990|title=Thuis in gescheiden werelden – De migratoire en sociale aspecten van verfransing te Brussel in het midden van de 19e eeuw|trans-title=Home in separate worlds – The migratory and social aspects of Francization in Brussels in the middle of the 19th century|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/btng-rbhc,%2021,%201990,%203-4,%20pp%20383-412.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=[[BTNG-RBHC]]|language=nl|volume=XXI|issue=3–4|pages=383–412|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015023229/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/btng-rbhc,%2021,%201990,%203-4,%20pp%20383-412.pdf|archive-date=15 October 2018|access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref> This process of assimilation weakened after the 1960s,<ref name="blampain">{{Cite book|last=Blampain|first=Daniel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fl1trFhoYFwC|title=Le français en Belgique: Une communauté, une langue|publisher=De Boeck Université|year=1997|isbn=2801111260|language=French|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=11 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511212204/http://books.google.fr/books?id=fl1trFhoYFwC&dq|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="mares">{{Cite book|last=Mares|first=Ann|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/brusselse_thema%27s_7.pdf|title=Begin van het einde van de nationale partijen. Onderzoek naar de Vlaamse Beweging(en) en de Vlaamse politieke partijen in Brussel: de Rode Leeuwen|publisher=VUBPress ([[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]])|year=2001|isbn=9054872926|edition=19 keer Brussel; Brusselse Thema's (7) [157-185]|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=15 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015023227/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/brusselse_thema%27s_7.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> as the [[language border]] was fixed, the status of Dutch as an official language of Belgium was reinforced,<ref name="depré">{{Cite book|last=Depré|first=Leen|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/brusselse_thema%27s_7.pdf|title=Tien jaar persberichtgeving over de faciliteitenproblematiek in de Brusselse Rand. Een inhoudsanalystisch onderzoek|publisher=VUBPress ([[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]])|year=2001|isbn=9054872926|edition=19 keer Brussel; Brusselse Thema's (7) [281-336]|page=281|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=15 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015023227/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/brusselse_thema%27s_7.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the economic centre of gravity shifted northward to [[Flanders]].<ref name="balans" /><!--see pages 25 and 38--><ref name="veron"/> However, with the continuing arrival of immigrants and the post-war emergence of Brussels as a [[Brussels and the European Union|centre of international politics]], the relative position of Dutch continued to decline.<ref name="brusselsstudies">{{Cite journal|last=Janssens|first=Rudi|url=https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/520|title=Language use in Brussels and the position of Dutch|journal=Brussels Studies|publisher=Brussels Studies [Online]|year=2008|doi=10.4000/brussels.520|access-date=17 July 2018|archive-date=17 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717184225/https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/520|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="marynissen" /><!--see page 230--><ref name="janssens">{{Cite book|last=Janssens|first=Rudi|url=http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/brusselse_thema%27s_7.pdf|title=Over Brusselse Vlamingen en het Nederlands in Brussel|publisher=VUBPress ([[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]])|year=2001|isbn=9054872926|edition=19 keer Brussel; Brusselse Thema's (7) [41-84]|page=60|language=Dutch|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=15 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015023227/http://www.briobrussel.be/assets/andere%20publicaties/brusselse_thema%27s_7.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="detant">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8skGPQAACAAJ|publisher=De Boeck & Larcier|edition=Het statuut van Brussel / Bruxelles et son statut [411–438]|title=Kunnen taalvrijheid en officiële tweetaligheid verzoend worden? De toepassing van de taalwetgeving in het Brussels Hoofdstedelijke Gewest en de 19 gemeenten|first=Anja|last=Detant|language=Dutch|location=Brussel|year=1999|page=817|isbn=2-8044-0525-7|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414225513/https://books.google.com/books?id=8skGPQAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 415--><ref name="blampain" /><!--see page 251-->{{sfn|Treffers-Daller|1994}} Furthermore, as Brussels' urban area expanded,<ref name="meynen">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=adTkPQAACAAJ|publisher=Standaard Uitgeverij|title=De Geschiedenis van België na 1945|first=Els|last=Witte|language=Dutch|location=Antwerpen|year=2006|page=576|isbn=9789002219634|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414225010/https://books.google.com/books?id=adTkPQAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> a further number of Dutch-speaking municipalities in the [[Brussels Periphery|Brussels periphery]] also became predominantly French-speaking.<ref name="depré" /><ref name="klinkenberg">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NpJqZxm672sC|publisher=De Boeck Supérieur|edition=Champs linguistiques|title=Des langues romanes: Introduction aux études de linguistique romane|first=Jean-Marie|last=Klinkenberg|language=French|year=1999|page=316|isbn=9782801112274|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128024046/https://books.google.com/books?id=NpJqZxm672sC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 254--> This phenomenon of expanding Francisation — dubbed "oil slick" by its opponents<ref name="kramer" /><!--see page 110--><ref name="kesteloot">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGOfCPvoyWcC|publisher=Éditions Complexe|edition=Histoires contemporaines|title=Au nom de la Wallonie et de Bruxelles français: Les origines du FDF|first=Chantal|last=Kesteloot|language=French|year=2004|page=375|isbn=9782870279878|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128005651/https://books.google.com/books?id=DGOfCPvoyWcC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 69--><ref name="blampain" /><!--see page 248--> — is, together with the future of Brussels,<ref name="frognier">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8skGPQAACAAJ|publisher=De Boeck & Larcier|edition=Het statuut van Brussel / Bruxelles et son statut [705-720]|title=Les interactions stratégiques dans la problématique communautaire et la question bruxelloise|first=André-Paul|last=Frognier|language=French|location=Brussel|year=1999|page=817|isbn=2-8044-0525-7|access-date=11 February 2021|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414225513/https://books.google.com/books?id=8skGPQAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> one of the most controversial topics in [[Belgian politics]].<ref name="veron">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nIKV9oOdpgIC|title=La dualité démographique de la Belgique : mythe ou réalité?|edition=Régimes démographiques et territoires: les frontières en question [255–278]|first=Catherine|last=Capron|language=French|year=2000|publisher=INED|isbn=2950935680|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414225008/https://books.google.com/books?id=nIKV9oOdpgIC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 258--><ref name="tétart">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WpbjQSwEhGgC|publisher=De Boeck Supérieur|title=Nationalismes régionaux: Un défi pour l'Europe|first=Frank|last=Tétart|language=French|year=2009|page=112|isbn=9782804117818|access-date=2013-04-26|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128024103/https://books.google.com/books?id=WpbjQSwEhGgC|url-status=live}}</ref><!--see page 22-->

[[File:Brussels signs.jpg|thumb|left|[[Multilingualism|Bilingual]] French and Dutch street signs in Brussels]]

Since its creation in 1989, the Brussels-Capital Region has been legally bilingual, with both French and Dutch having official status,<ref name="constitution">{{cite web|url=http://www.senate.be/doc/const_fr.html|title=La Constitution belge (Art. 4)|date=May 2007|publisher=the [[Belgian Senate]]|quote=La Belgique comprend quatre régions linguistiques : la région de langue française, la région de langue néerlandaise, la région bilingue de Bruxelles-Capitale et la région de langue allemande.|access-date=2009-01-18|language=fr|archive-date=17 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117014848/http://www.senate.be/doc/const_fr.html|url-status=live}}</ref> as is the administration of the 19 municipalities.<ref name="brusselsstudies" /> The creation of this bilingual, full-fledged region, with its own competencies and jurisdiction, had long been hampered by different visions of Belgian federalism. Nevertheless, some communitarian issues remain.<ref name="jacobs">{{cite book|publisher=De Boeck & Larcier|title=De toekomst van Brussel als meertalige en multiculturele stad. Hebt u al een partijstandpunt? ''in'' Het statuut van Brussel / Bruxelles et son statut|author=Dirk Jacobs|location=Brussels|year=1999|pages=661–703|isbn=2-8044-0525-7|language=nl}}</ref><ref name="debruycker">{{cite book|publisher=De Boeck & Larcier|title=Le défi de l'unité bruxelloise ''in'' Het statuut van Brussel / Bruxelles et son statut|author=Philippe De Bruycker|location=Brussels|year=1999|pages=465–472|isbn=2-8044-0525-7|language=fr}}</ref> Flemish political parties demanded, for decades, that the Flemish part of [[Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde]] (BHV) ''arrondissement'' be separated from the Brussels Region (which made Halle-Vilvoorde a monolingual Flemish electoral and judicial district). BHV was divided mid-2012. The French-speaking population regards the language border as artificial<ref>{{Cite news|date=28 May 2006|title=La Flandre ne prendra pas Bruxelles...|language=fr|work=La Libre Belgique|url=http://www.lalibre.be/article.phtml?id=10&subid=90&art_id=283113|access-date=3 September 2008|archive-date=15 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215002609/https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/la-flandre-ne-prendra-pas-bruxelles-51b88e6ae4b0de6db9adde77|url-status=live}}</ref> and demands the extension of the bilingual region to at least all six [[municipalities with language facilities]] in the surroundings of Brussels.{{efn|1=The six municipalities with language facilities around Brussels are [[Wemmel]], [[Kraainem]], [[Wezembeek-Oppem]], [[Sint-Genesius-Rode]], [[Linkebeek]] and [[Drogenbos]].}} Flemish politicians have strongly rejected these proposals.<ref name="question">{{Cite news|date=24 January 2005|title=Une question: partir ou rester?|language=fr|work=[[La Libre Belgique]]|url=http://www.lalibre.be/article.phtml?id=10&subid=90&art_id=202792|access-date=3 September 2008|archive-date=28 November 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051128225333/http://www.lalibre.be/article.phtml?id=10&subid=90&art_id=202792|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Position commune des partis démocratiques francophones|url=http://www.uniondesfrancophones.be/|access-date=22 July 2009|publisher=[[Union des Francophones]] (UF), Province of [[Flemish Brabant]]|language=fr|archive-date=23 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723223959/http://www.uniondesfrancophones.be/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=14 November 2007|title=Bruxelles-capitale: une forte identité|url=http://info.france2.fr/dossiers/europe/34025346-fr.php?page=7|access-date=22 July 2009|publisher=[[France 2]]|language=fr|archive-date=11 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011111301/http://info.france2.fr/dossiers/europe/34025346-fr.php?page=7|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Arrondissement Brussels-Periphery Belgium Map.PNG|thumb|right|The [[municipalities with language facilities]] (in red) near Brussels]]

Owing to migration and to its international role, Brussels is home to a large number of native speakers of languages other than French or Dutch. Currently, about half of the population speaks a home language other than these two.<ref name="standaard">{{cite news|title=Van autochtoon naar allochtoon|quote=Meer dan de helft van de Brusselse bevolking is van vreemde afkomst. In 1961 was dat slechts 7 procent. [More than half of the Brussels' population is of foreign origin. In 1961 this was only 7 percent.]|newspaper=[[De Standaard]]|language=Dutch|url=http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=641B1LAQ&word=brussel+bevolking|access-date=5 May 2007|archive-date=2 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802031545/https://www.standaard.be/cnt/641b1laq?word=brussel%20bevolking|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, academic research showed that approximately 17% of families spoke none of the official languages in the home, while in a further 23% a foreign language was used alongside French. The share of unilingual French-speaking families had fallen to 38% and that of Dutch-speaking families to 5%, while the percentage of bilingual Dutch-French families reached 17%. At the same time, French remains widely spoken: in 2013, French was spoken "well to perfectly" by 88% of the population, while for Dutch this percentage was only 23% (down from 33% in 2000);<ref name="brusselsstudies" /> the other most commonly known languages were English (30%), Arabic (18%), Spanish (9%), German (7%) and Italian and Turkish (5% each).<ref name="brio2013" /> Meanwhile, surveys from 2023 to 2024 suggest that 29% of the population speaks only languages other than French and Dutch in the home, while residents speak a total of 104 languages, up from 72 in 2001.<ref name="u275">{{cite web | last=Diehn | first=Sonya Angelica | title=Brussels is bursting out of its borders. That's helping the rise of the right. | website=POLITICO | date=2024-11-03 | url=https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-borders-french-language-flanders-wallonia-vub-culture-diversity-migration/ | access-date=2024-12-26}}</ref> Despite the rise of English as a second language in Brussels, including as an unofficial compromise language between French and Dutch, as well as the working language for some of its international businesses and institutions, French remains the ''lingua franca'' and all public services are conducted exclusively in French or Dutch.<ref name="brusselsstudies" />

The original dialect of Brussels (known as [[Brusselian dialect|Brusselian]], and also sometimes referred to as Marols or Marollien),{{sfn|Treffers-Daller|1994|p=25}} a form of [[Brabantic]] (the variant of Dutch spoken in the ancient [[Duchy of Brabant]]) with a significant number of loanwords from French, still survives among a small minority of inhabitants called ''Brusseleers''<ref name="evans">Mary Anne Evans, ''Frommer's Brussels and Bruges Day by Day. First Edition'' (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2008), 71.</ref> (or ''Brusseleirs''), many of them quite bi- and multilingual, or educated in French and not writing in Dutch.<ref name="winkler">{{cite web|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/wink007alge02_01/wink007alge02_01_0067.php|title=De stad Brussel|author=Johan Winkler|year=1874|work=Algemeen Nederduitsch en Friesch Dialecticon|pages=264–272|publisher=Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren|access-date=March 1, 2022|language=nl|archive-date=1 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301161800/https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/wink007alge02_01/wink007alge02_01_0067.php|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Treffers-Daller|1994|p=25}} The ethnic and national self-identification of Brussels' inhabitants is nonetheless sometimes quite distinct from the French and Dutch-speaking communities. For the French-speakers, it can vary from Francophone Belgian, {{lang|fr|Bruxellois}}<ref name="Lerond, 1980 pp. 477" /> (French [[demonym]] for an inhabitant of Brussels), [[Walloons|Walloon]] (for people who migrated from the Walloon Region at an adult age); for Flemings living in Brussels, it is mainly either Dutch-speaking Belgian, Flemish or {{lang|nl|Brusselaar}} (Dutch demonym for an inhabitant), and often both. For the ''Brusseleers'', many simply consider themselves as belonging to Brussels.{{sfn|Treffers-Daller|1994|p=25}}