Ask a Brabander if he feels Brabant and there is a good chance that the answer is ‘yes’. But what does that actually mean: being Brabant? Omroep Brabant figured it out for the Day of the Soft G. In collaboration with research agency Kieskompas, we create a questionnaire that answered more than 1500 people from all over the province.
Again it turns out how proud Brabant is about his identity. Almost three -quarters of the respondents feel ‘largely’ or even ‘absolutely’ Brabander. Only just under 10 percent say they don’t really or not at all.
It is therefore not surprising that more than two thirds of the people of Brabant say they talk daily or occasionally Brabant. It is striking that especially practically educated people remain faithful to the dialect: almost half speak it daily. With middle and theoretically educated, that percentage is significantly lower, below 25 percent.
Research
Omroep Brabant, together with research agency Kieskompas, prepared a questionnaire about the question: how Brabant are you?
1514 respondents from the province were asked, among other things, whether they are speaking dialect, which traditions they participate and what song they should be the Brabant national anthem.
About two thirds of the participants indicated that they were actually born and raised in Brabant.
Brabants is mainly spoken in a domestic circle. No less than 58 percent talk dialect with family and 49 percent do that with friends. Young people (18 to 34 years old) in particular contribute to this: they make no less than 70 percent of this group. In the workplace, in the neighborhood or opposite strangers, Brabant sounds significantly less often – the percentage remains below 35 percent.
We also asked them which Brabant traditions or parties they participate.
- At Brabantse Feesten, most people immediately think of carnival. More than half of the people of Brabant celebrate with enthusiasm every year. Not very surprising: the younger, the bigger the enthusiasm. Almost 70 percent among young people participate, while at the age of people over 65 that percentage drops to around 35 percent.
- The undisputed snack from Brabant is the sausage roll. More than 83 percent of the respondents say they regularly enjoy it. The Bossche Bol is also doing well: almost 70 percent say they eat one.
- Burgundian life is still alive and kicking in Brabant. More than half of the people of Brabant enjoy extensive dining, cozy village or neighborhood parties and a good party or drink in time.
- Only 6.5 percent indicate that they visit a flower parade. Especially among young people, interest is low: only one in twenty says they sometimes go there.
Everyone welcome everyone
For many people from Brabant, the province feels like a warm and familiar at home. More than two thirds of the respondents therefore have no plans to leave Brabant. “Everyone is hospitable here: come by and when I get home, you are very welcome. An appointment is not always necessary,” one of them writes. It is therefore not strange that almost 50 percent indicate that they leave their back door open for visitors.
The musical king
According to more than a thousand people from Brabant, there is only one king of Brabant music: Guus Meeuwis. In fact, 72 percent think his number Brabant should become the national anthem of the province, which leads to the competition.
‘Life is good’ of Oh Sixteen Oh Seventeen, with 10 percent of the votes. Also 40 percent of the respondents see Guus himself as the model of a real Brabander.
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Connect
The soft G and Brabant belong together as a hand and glove. No less than 56 percent feel at home with someone with this tongue. Men in particular feel strongly connected to it: they form 57 percent of this group.
More than a third of the respondents, moreover, believe that more attention should be paid to the soft G. “It is something that Brabant children get raised with. It is a dialect with a rich history that can be learned a lot about. It connects young people and makes them proud of their origins,” writes one of the people who participated in the research.