another old building in the village, dating back from the 16th or 17th century. Other houses or buildings in the village also date back 300 years or more. Another famous building in the village is the 'Stone Mill'. In 1940, the retreating Belgian army put the mill on fire to prevent it from being used as a watchtower by the German occupiers, because geographically, the 'Stone Mill' was the highest architectural point in a circle of about 10 kilometers. The mill was never rebuilt and is still an impressive ruin, with only the bricks left (hence its current name). Although successive generations since World War II have claimed it could collapse at any time, it still hasn't happened. It is currently a big nesting place for birds. In 1977, Melsen merged with Schelderode, Bottelare, Lemberge, Munte and Merelbeke to form the municipality of greater Merelbeke, although most original plans had provided for Melsen to become the centerpiece of this new town. Its old town hall is currently a bank office. In the mid and late nineties the village saw an explosive growth due to the influx of newcomers, making its population nowadays almost 2000 people. Language and dialect The local dialect belongs to the group of central East-Flemish dialects but, like almost all dialects in this area, is strongly recessive because of its low prestige, greater mobility of people and the pervasive influence of both surrounding dialects, Standard Dutch and the so-called 'Verkavelingsvlaams', a mixture of Standard Dutch and Flemish sounds and words. The future of the dialect is uncertain. The current form of the dialect contains over 16 vowels and 5 diphthongs and differs especially in this respect from Standard Dutch. Its consonant system is more like Standard Dutch, although some phonemes are missing entirely. Its vocabulary and grammar seem to be both a simplified and archaic version of many typical Dutch and Germanic root-words, with many French words intermixed. To German ears, it has been described as sounding a bit like Swedish, while speakers of English have sometimes interpreted it as a very deviant form of Scots. The dialect will usually be understood by most Flemings, except those in Limburg. Gallery References Populated places in East Flanders Merelbeke