In 1997, the Dutch government officially recognized Limburgish as an official regional language. On Wednesday 6 November 2019, Minister Knops, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, signed the ‘Limburgs Convenant’, which is aimed at better protecting the Limburgian language culture.
Prof. Leonie Cornips reflects upon the importance of the signing of the covenant in an interview with Radio 1.
In the interview, Prof. Cornips explains that three-quarters of inhabitants of the province of Limburg speak Limburgish. The youth often uses it on social media, but she sees a problematic trend when it comes to toddlers, as many of them do not speak the dialect anymore which might lead to its extinction.
The covenant confirms the importance of the dialect and will hopefully lead to the start of new developments in the dialect, such as the introduction of a Limburgish language policy in kindergartens.
