Did you know that here in West Flanders (Belgium) we conjugate the word ‘yes’?

I myself no longer think about it, but apparently it is quite unique that we conjugate the word 'yes' in my province.

I live in West Flanders, a piece of Belgium close to the coastline. Here in Belgium we are quite known for our dialect. Thus it is one of the only dialects that is subtitled on TV.

A small history lesson:
West Flemish contains influences from the Picardian, a French dialect, because trade with Artesia flourished in the Middle Ages; Atrecht (Arras) was in the Early Middle Ages part of the county of Flanders and in the Late Middle Ages of the Netherlands. The West-Flemish dialect, especially that of the trading city of Bruges, made the first contribution to the standardization of the Dutch standard language. In addition, there are also many traces of the dialect of the Saxons, who arrived in Flanders during the Germanic migrations - in the fourth and fifth centuries.

People who speak French will probably recognize the following words:

English	West Flemish	French	Dutch
however	pertank	pourtant	nochtans
fork	forsette or ferkette	fourchette	vork
plate	assiete or talôre	assiette	bord (German: teller)
cutlery	couvers	couverts	bestek
brakes	freings	freins	remmen

But what I wanted to say in the first place, in West Flanders we also conjugate the word ‘yes’. I will make it clear on the basis of an example. First and foremost: yes = ja (pronounced as joa in West Flanders).

1st person singular
Do you like Steemit? Joak
2nd person singular
Do I like Steemit? Joag
3rd person singular (to make it a little more complicated)
Does he/she like Steemit? Joaj/joan (male), joas (female), joat (neutral)
1st person plural
Do you like Steemit? Joam/joaw
2nd person plural
Do we like Steemit? Joag
3rd person plural
Do they like Steemit? Joan/joas

So you want to make an impression during your visit to Belgium. Very easy, conjugate the word ‘yes’.

Also some facts about your local dialect? I would love to hear it!