2004
Volume 78, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0039-8691
  • E-ISSN: 2215-1214
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Abstract

Abstract

This article presents a recent, nationwide overview of home language use and multilingualism in the Netherlands. It draws on data from the Social Cohesion and Wellbeing (SSW) survey conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) in four years (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2024), with a total sample of over 22,000 respondents aged 15 and older. The article examines which languages – including dialects and regional languages – are spoken at home, by whom and where, visualizes their regional distribution through language maps, and reports levels of multilingualism across population groups. Home language use is closely related to multilingualism: speakers of Dutch at home are less often multilingual, whereas speakers of Limburgish or other language varieties are more often multilingual. Among regional languages, multilingualism ranges from 62% for Low Saxon to 73% for Frisian and 84% for Limburgish. For other languages, over 80% of speakers are multilingual. Multilingualism varies by province and degree of urbanization and is more common among higher-educated individuals, younger people, men, those without income, and first-generation migrants.

© Hans Schmeets & Leonie Cornips
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2026-04-01
2026-04-14

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/content/journals/10.5117/TET2026.1.002.SCHM
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Talige diversiteit thuis en taalprofielen in Nederland anno 2024
Taal en Tongval 78, 26 (2026); https://doi.org/10.5117/TET2026.1.002.SCHM
/content/journals/10.5117/TET2026.1.002.SCHM
/content/journals/10.5117/TET2026.1.002.SCHM
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Cultural Capital; Home languages; Language diversity; Language Maps; Language Profiles; Multilingualism; National surveys; Social Capital; Social Cohesion; the Netherlands

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