Central German Information
Central German (in German: Mitteldeutsch, or rarely Zentraldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spread from the Rhineland to Thuringia, south of Low German and Low Franconian and north of Upper German. In older books, Central German is sometimes called Middle German.
High German subdivides into Upper German (green) and Central German (blue), and is distinguished from Low German (yellow). The main isoglosses, the Benrath and Speyer lines are marked in black.It is spoken between the two isoglosses of the Benrath line in the north and the Speyer line in the south. Central German divides into two subgroups, West Central German (Franconian) and East Central German. Central German is distinguished by having experienced only the first and fourth phases of the High German consonant shift.
Classification
- West Central German (Westmitteldeutsch), part of the Franconian language group
- Central Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
- Ripuarian (Ripuarisch)
- Moselle Franconian (Moselfränkisch)
- Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesch), also considered a Moselle Franconian variant
- Lorraine Franconian (Lothringisch), also considered a Moselle Franconian variant or general term for all Franconian dialects spoken in French Lorraine (francique lorrain)
- Rhine Franconian (Rheinfränkisch)
- Palatinate German (Pfälzisch))
- North Hessian (Nordhessisch)
- East Hessian (Osthessisch)
- Central Hessian (Mittelhessisch)
- Central Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
- East Central German (Ostmitteldeutsch)
- Berlin-Brandenburgish
- Thuringian (Thüringisch)
- Upper Saxon (Obersächsisch)
- North Upper Saxon (Nordobersächsisch)
- Lausitzisch-Neumärkisch[1], also Sorbian language area
- East Central German dialects spoken in the former eastern territories:
- Silesian (Schlesisch), nearly extinct
- High Prussian (Hochpreußisch), nearly extinct
Notes
- ^ Ludwig Erich Schmitt (Hrsg.): Germanische Dialektologie. Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden 1968,p. 143
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Categories: Central German languages | German dialects |
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