Dutch language
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Dutch (Nederlands) is a West Germanic language. It is the main language of the Netherlands and Suriname, and one of the official languages of Belgium. The Dutch language in the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname is regulated by the Nederlandse Taalunie.
Use of apostrophe
Apostrophe + lower case s ('s) can often be found at the beginning of a sentence, e.g.
- 's Avonds/'s Ochtends/'s Namiddags …
This derives from the old Dutch Des avonds in which des is an inflected article meaning "in the evening/morning/afternoon" [1]
Status in Belgium
Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. Only in the five northern provinces, collectively known as the "Flemish Region" (Vlaams Gewest), does Dutch have official language recognition.
