What is the difference between Bruges and Brugge?

20 comments

1. #makebruggebruggeagain

2. French was the “official” language in history because most of the powerful people spoke it , only later was Dutch also a accepted official language

3. Living in Brugge I can confirm all natives pronounce it as Bruhhe.

4. The true West-Flemish/Bruggeling pronunciation is: Bruhhe (brú ‘swallows hh’ e).

   So I’d say living here: we generally don’t give a shit considering according to us al Dutch speakers pronounce it wrong as well. However hearing non Dutch speakers attempt Brugge is like hearing someone have a stroke so Bruges is perfectly fine.

   Also West Vlaanderen, Best Vlaanderen.

5. Big Flemish cities have French names and vice-versa, which is common as most large cities in Europe have a slightly different name in all major languages. As someone mentioned the reason for the name of Bruges in English is probably because all the administration used to be in French, but Antwerp and Ghent are closer to their Flemish versions so the ease of pronunciation is also probably a big reason.

6. The earliest occurence of the city neame seems to be in the following phrase “crux illa aurea, que Bruggis fuit ad servandum missa nec postea reversa”

   [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugge#:~:text=Waar%20de%20naam%20Brugge%20vandaan,wat%20%22Heilig%20Water%22%20betekent](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugge#:~:text=Waar%20de%20naam%20Brugge%20vandaan,wat%20%22Heilig%20Water%22%20betekent).

   ​

   Languages are a living thing.

   Cities where conquered, bought, exchanged etc. At different moments Bruges had Bourgondy, French, Spanish (pre castellano), German, rulers

   Latin was for a long time the “lingua franca” in Europe, French and in a lesses extend German followed it. Remember that also at the English court French was the usual language for a long time.

7. It’s Bruhhe

8. Lots of places have different names in Belgium. There are a couple that really sound alike, are written similar, or are completely different.

   For example: Brussel – Bruxelles, Dinant – Dinant (different pronunciation), Doornik – Tournai, Aalst – Alost, Oostkerk – Oisquercq, etc…
   The preferred way you call it, is usually determined by the language you speak. If you’re talking Dutch, you’ll probably say Brugge, if you speak French, you’ll say Bruges, if you speak West-Flemish, you’ll say Bruhhe, and if you’re from Anderlecht you’ll say boerderij…

9. There’s a big difference in pronunciation between the French and English word though.

10. This is what you’d call an exonym. It’s a name for a place that comes from outside the place and its native language.

    Exonyms are very common in names of countries (think Germany which is Allemagne in French and Duitsland in Dutch, none of which are its native name Deutschland) because countries tend to become well-known by their neighbours. Said neighbours may have made up their own name for the area before learning its native name, and then just stuck with it, or they may find the native name difficult or impossible to pronounce in their own language, or simply adapt their attempts to do so to the rules of their own language.

    Exonyms are less common in names of cities or smaller regions, presumably because you’d have less reason to speak about that particular city if you weren’t in it. Belgium is a place where speakers of quite different languages meet, so distinct names for a lot of its cities could develop – like Liège and Luik, or Anvers and Antwerp, or Bruges and Brugge. Once there’s a name in your own langauge, you’re more likely to keep using that name because it’s what you’re used to and it’s natural for you to pronounce. So they both stick around.

    The French name is the “dominant version” because we’re speaking English. Englsh has tended to borrow a lot of words from French, you could even say that Norman French was an ancestor of Middle and Modern English. More recently France was a powerful cultural centre of Europe, especially around the Napoleonic times when it conquered what would become Belgium, and it had an interest in promoting French names for its cities. (Another example might be Cologne in Germany, whose English name is borrowed from the French.) That same interest would be true of the French-speaking elite who dominated early Belgium. That being said, the Dutch name won out in the Anglosphere cultural consciousness for plenty of other cities like Antwerp. Or Ghent – its name clearly comes from Dutch Gent, but it also supplanted the medieval English name Gaunt, so Wikipedia tells me.

    I would guess in Bruges’ case there was just more French-speaking reference to the city in the Anglosphere, or they came from the same root and Dutch is the one that diverged. Someone with history of the city would need to tell you but there are some potential reasons 🙂

11. No matter how you pronounce it: I love Brugge, and I have acquaintances in Romania that feel the same. Some or all might have to do with the movie ‘In Bruges’. Even stayed at the Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce hotel, the one used in the movie, to have the real experience. Hotel owner balked however at the idea of me jumping into the canals of Bruges from my room. What a spoilsport 😉

12. ALLEMOALE NA BRUUUUUUUUJHHHHHEEEE

    BRUUUUUUUUUUHHHEEEE

13. Ehh, it’s just the english name. As someone born there I never thought ‘Bruges’ (english pronounciation) had anything to do with the french name Bruges. We also called Paris – Parijs or Cologne – Keulen and so forth. I suppose it was easier for English people when they traded with people from Bruges to pronounce the French version, who in their turn also couldn’t pronounce Brugge, nothing more. The Russians and Germans call it Brugge, the Spanish Brujas. Pronounce it as you will but if you’re speaking Dutch you should call it in its Dutch name Brugge.

    Most cities in Europe have different names in different languages. Antwerpen becomes Antwerp in English and Anvers in French.

14. Tis Bruhhe joengne.

15. Because until a couple of decades ago, french was spoken by anyone but the peasants

16. The historical reasons are that French was the lingua franca of the nobility in all of Europe for some centuries.

    But anyway:

    1) You seem to think that’s unique to Bruges. **All** sizeable Belgian towns have different names in several languages.

    2) Whether the English version matches the Dutch version or French version or neither is different on case by case basis, I think at least partially based on how easy it is to adapt for English pronounciation or make intuitive. Nothing to do with French being “dominant”.

    For instance:

    Anvers (fr) – Antwerpen (nl) – Antwerp (en).

    Liège (fr) – Luik (nl) – Liege (en) – Luttich (de).

    Bruxelles (fr) – Brussel (nl) – Brussels (en) – Brüssel (de). See, this is a majority French-speaking city with the English name based on the Dutch (or German) one.

    Mons (fr) – Bergen (nl) – Mons (en).

    And finally, the really weird one:
    Hasselt (fr) – Hasselt (nl) – Hasselt (en) – Hasselt (de).

17. Fun fact: some towns have a name in Spanish too! Amberes for example.

18. Many of these explanations ignore one important fact: languages are not static, they change.

    For instance, the French word “Paris” used to be pronounced with an s. The Dutch word Parijs used to be pronounced with ij as an ee sound. In other words: the pronunciation used to be more or less the same in French and Dutch, but Dutch changed the vowel sound and French dropped a consonant sound.

    In other words, every language changes and this includes names of cities.

    Secondly, French orthography is often more conservative. For instance, the words Brussel, Brussels and Bruxelles all come from Broekzele. The k sound is now dropped, but the French spelling still reflects that now gone k sound (x = ks).

    Similarly, written Dutch used to have a lot of “ae” and French kept the original Dutch spelling sometimes (Schaerbeek, modern Dutch spelling: Schaarbeek).

    Lastly, some names are simply translations (Mons vs. Bergen).

19. Probably just because there are way more french and english speaking people? Dont a lot of cities have different language versions of their names?

20. You could ask this question about a lot of the larger Dutch and Flemish towns. Why is Vlissingen called “Flushing” by some people in English? Why is Den Haag called “The Hague”. The English name is not the Dutch name, but a completely different name. Why are there different English names for some of them? This is a question for historical linguists.

    Many Flemish and Dutch towns don’t have a special English name. The Dutch name is used, but pronounced in an English way.

    In the case of Bruges, the English adopted the French name for a Dutch-speaking town. This seems to have happened with a number of Flemish towns. We call the Dutch-speaking town of “Ieper” “Ypres”. It probably relates to the ability of the English upper classes to speak French in centuries past.

    Many English-speaking soldiers were situated in Flanders during the First World War. The French names of these towns were commonly used.

    It didn’t happen with all of the towns. The English name for “Ghent” is the Dutch name, but pronounced in an English way. The French name is not used. Similarly, Antwerp and Brussels are closer to the Dutch “Antwerpen” and “Brussel” than the French “Anvers” and “Bruxelles”.

    I think there’s probably no logic behind it.