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→The Town of Lembeek
The town of Lembeek is situated less than 14 miles away from the center of Brussels in Flemish Brabant. Though the town’s name bears an uncanny orthographic resemblance to the Dutch word ''lambiek'' it is still only speculation that the name for the famous beer derived from this city’s name. Once part of the larger French kingdom and situated on one of the unofficial language borders within Belgium, the original French name for the small commune of Lembeek, Lembecq, is also reminiscent of ''lambic'' and has a similar appellative pattern as other towns in northeastern France/western Belgium coming down from the Picard dialect.
The suffix ''-bec[q]'', from an appellative standpoint derives from Old English and Old Norse and can either signify ‘''stream''’ or ‘''brook''’ or, with the addition of the [q], ''‘slope’'', ''‘incline’'', or ''‘hill’''. Either is appropriately fitting for the town of Lembecq as it is situated on the Senne River as well as part of the surrounding valley. The town itself is rarely referred to today as Lembecq, as it was absorbed by the city of Hal (Dutch: Halle) over the years. The Dutch name, Lembeek, shows the similar suffix ''–beek'' meaning ''‘creek’'' or ''‘stream’'' and can bee seen in a number of towns in the area (see chart above). The prefix for the town ''lem-'' can also be found in the Dutch word ''‘leemstreek’'' which is a large area of land over which loam soil (heavy in silt and sand) has been deposited. Dialect changes likely led to the shortening of ''leem–'' to ''lem–'' helping to name the town of Lembeek. Additionally, the older French spellings of this town include ''Linbecq'' and ''Lambecq'' and could have come from an older French language description of the town as the ''village d'alambic'' or ''town of alambic'' (stills).<ref name=GeuzeKriek>Jef Van den Steen, [[Books#Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer|Geuze & Kriek: The Secret of Lambic Beer]], 2012</ref>
Formerly home to many small pubs and breweries, especially during the industrial revolution, the town of Lembeek/Lembecq is now home to one of the most prolific lambic breweries and blenders, [[Brouwerij Boon|Brouwerij Boon]], which is situated a stone’s throw away from the Senne river. Lembeek is now part of the Flemish area of Wallonia and is primarily Belgo-Dutch speaking, resulting in the majority of Boon’s lambics receiving Dutch names.