In both Belgium and the Netherlands, the native official name for Dutch is Nederlands, and its dialects have their own names, e.g. Hollands ("Hollandic ''), West - Vlaams ("West Flemish ''), Brabants ("Brabantian ''). Sometimes Vlaams ("Flemish '') is used as well to describe Standard Dutch in Flanders. Over time, the Dutch language has been known under a variety of names. In Middle Dutch Dietsc, Duutsc or Duitsc was used. It derived from the Old Germanic word theudisk, which literarily means "popular '' or "belonging to the populace ''. In Western Europe the term was used for the language of the local Germanic populace as opposed to Latin, the non-native language of writing and the Catholic Church. In the first text in which it is found, dating from 784, theodisce refers to Anglo - Saxon, the West Germanic dialects of Britain. Although in Britain the name Englisc replaced theodisce on an early age, speakers of West Germanic in other parts of Europe kept on using it as a reference to their local speech.
where are you from if you speak dutch
the Netherlands