Belgium is a trilingual country and language politics is an
extremely controversial issue locally. This can lead to some difficulties for
neutral parties: road signs generally only use the local language
of the location of the sign , not that of the destination (e.g.
directions on the Brussels Ring orbital motorway are given
exclusively in Dutch), while translators (particularly into
English, which is itself used quite a lot as a neutral language)
have to be careful not to offend local sensibilities. Some of the
different language versions of place names are less than
transparent, being translations rather than orthographic variations
(e.g. Rijsel = ter ijsel for Lille, l'Île). So,
to sum up, officially:
- Brussels is bilingual French/Dutch
- Flanders is monolingual Dutch ("Flemish" is a misnomer for
the language; many dialects of Dutch are spoken in Flanders).
- Wallonia is mainly monolingual French with a small
German-speaking enclave in the East.
In general, when speaking or writing in English it is most
advisable to use the local name if there is no appropriate English
name. Historically, particularly in the 19th and early 20th century when French was the language of government and civic life throughout Belgium, English speakers and writers tended to use the French names, so watch out if you are referring to old material (and, of course, use a form appropriate for your particular context; a few cases in hand are mentioned below). In the following lists, the bold forms are those which should
be used in English. Places where the name is the same in French and
Dutch are not listed.
Local English-speakers tend to use the French names for the local
place and street names - more anglo residents will be able to find
the Chaussée de Mons than the Bergensesteenweg. However, the
choice is pretty open; depends on your audience and need for
political correctness.
Streets have two names; the French and Dutch versions can often be
run together or else both should be given either side of the street number in an address in an English text:
Boulevard Adolph Maxlaan 123 (for FR "Boulevard Adolph Max", NL
"Adolph Maxlaan"), or Rue de la Loi 200
Wetstraat. The canonical forms are FR "rue (de) X" => NL
"Xstraat", "Avenue (de) X" or "Boulevard (de) X" => "Xlaan",
"Place X" => "Xplein", "Chaussée de X" => "X*steenweg"
or "Steenweg op X", all with X translated where appropriate (* with
the adjectival form); there are of course a few weird and less than
transparent cases such as "Place du Jeu de Balle" =>
"Vossenplein" (good flea market) and "Rue du Montagne du Parc"
=> "Warandeberg".
(FR/NL/EN)
Bruxelles/Brussel/Brussels
(Region de) Bruxelles-Capital/Hoofstad Brussel (hoofstedelijk
gewest)/Brussels Capital Region
Ixelles - Elsene
Auderghem - Ouderghem
Saint-Josse - Sint-Joost-ten-Noode
Saint-Gilles - Sint Gillis
Schaerbeek - Schaarbeek (Dutch has undergone a spelling reform or
two, so the French version is the outdated Dutch name)
Forest - Vorst
Uccle - Ukkel
Berchem Ste-Agathe - Sint Agatha Berchem
Woluwe-St-Pierre - Sint-Peters-Woluwe
Woluwe-St-Lambert - Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe
The area strictly within the borders of Brussels Capital Region is often referred to as the "19 communes/gemeenten/municipalities", by contrast with the suburbs in Flemish Brabant (a site of linguistic conflict due to their large and growing francophone population) and to a lesser extent Walloon Brabant. The unbroken ring of Flemish municipalities around Brussels - dear to the hearts of Flemish nationalists - is sometimes referred to as the Gordel (belt).
provinces of East and West Flanders, Flemish Brabant, Antwerp and Limburg
(NL/FR)
Vlaanderen - Flandre (les Flandres) - Flanders
Gent - Gand - Ghent
Antwerpen - Anvers - Antwerp (city and province)
Brugge - Bruges - Bruges This is somewhat contentious;
it can be argued that Bruges is the English name which happens to
have the same form as the French, although use of Brugge in English
is gaining ground; if dealing with the locals, there will be far
less friction if you stick with the Dutch form. Certainly refer to
the Bruges Group in UK politics.
Zeebrugge - Zéebruges
Oostend - Ostende - Ostend
Kortrijk - Courtrai
Leuven - Louvain (note that Louvain-la-Neuve in
Wallonia is a different place, founded after the university of
Leuven was split up on language lines)
Mechelen - Malines
Ieper - Ypres*
Passendale - Passchendaele*
Mesen - Messines*
Menen - Menin*
*For clarity and consistency with tradition, use Ypres,
Passchendaele, Menin Road, Messines Ridge for historical references
to the First World War battles, and Menin Gate for the
monument.
Roeselare - Roulers
De Haan - Le Coq (a bizarre sex change in that one)
De Panne - La Panne
Tienen - Tirlemont
Tongeren - Tongres
Sint Truiden - Saint-Trond
Geraardsbergen - Grammont
Ronse - Renaix
Oudenaarde - Audenarde "Audernarde" is sometimes used
for the Marlburian battle
Sint-Genesius-Rode - Rhode-Ste-Genèse (generally,
saints' names change ends at the language frontier).
Jesus-Eik - Notre-Dame-du-Bois
provinces of Hainaut, Namur, Liege, Luxembourg and Walloon Brabant
(FR/NL)
Wallonie - Wallonië - Wallonia
"Wallonia" appears to be the preferred form in English of the
regional government and the like.
Namur - Namen (city and province)
Liège - Luik - Liege - also German
Lüttich) (city and province)
Mons - Bergen
Tournai - Doornik
Mouscron - Moeskroen
Huy - Hoei
Bastogne - Bastenaken (The trend in certain quarters to
use "Luik-Bastenaken-Luik" in English for the
Liege-Bastogne-Liege cycle race is a solecism)
Arlon - Aarlen
Soignies - Zinnik
Lessines - Lesen
La Hulpe - Terhulpen
Nivelles - Nijvel
Halle - Hal
Waremme - Borgworm
Fourons/Voeren
A small area between Liege and Maastricht which is mixed
French/Dutch and inclined to move from side to side of the
taalgrens from election to election; it is the site of much
bitter linguistic conflict. For safety's sake, just avoid
mentioning it.
Ostkantonen
Local placenames in the German-speaking areas (Eupen,
Malmèdy, Sankt Vith) are used as is in the other languages
apart from:
DE Waimes - FR Weismes
DE Büllingen - FR Bullange
On road signs, note that Lüttich is Liege.
Abroad
These are just over the border and may be seen on road signs:
Lille (France): NL Rijsel. Confusingly, there is also a small
town in Flanders called Lille (pronounced as a disyllable).
Dunkerque (France, English Dunkirk): NL Duinkerken
Aachen (Germany): NL Aken, FR Aix-la-Chapelle
Köln (Germany): FR Cologne, NL Keulen.
Trier (Germany): FR Trèves
's Hertogenbosch (Netherlands): FR Bois-le-Duc
Den Haag ('s Gravenhage, English The Hague) (Netherlands): FR La Haie
For additional international roadsign confusion, note that
references to "Essen" are probably to the small town north of
Antwerp rather than the German city of the same name.
Work in progress: /msg me with errors, omissions,
suggestions, or just because you feel like it.