 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2025) |
| West Central German | |
|---|---|
| Westmitteldeutsch | |
| Geographic distribution | Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, German-speaking Community of Belgium, Lorraine, Deitscherei |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | high1287 |
 West Central German–language area | |
West Central German (German: Westmitteldeutsch)[1][2] belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. It includes the following sub-families:
- Central Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
- Ripuarian (Ripuarisch), spoken in North Rhine-Westphalia (including Kölsch) and German-speaking Belgium and a small edge of the south of the Dutch province of Limbourg.
- Moselle Franconian (Moselfränkisch; French: francique luxembourgeois) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and France
- Luxembourgish (Luxemburgisch; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch; francique luxembourgeois or luxembourgeois) in Luxembourg, Belgium and France
- Hunsrik (Riograndenser Hunsrückisch), spoken in Brazil and derived from the Hunsrückisch dialect of Moselle Franconian
- Rhine Franconian (Rheinfränkisch; francique rhénan)
- Palatinate Franconian (Pfälzisch; francique palatin), spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate
- Lorraine Franconian (Lothringisch; francique lorrain) in the French region of Lorraine
- Bukovina German (Bukowinadeutsch) in Bukovina (extinct) [citation needed]
- Pennsylvania German (Pennsylvaniadeutsch) in historical communities in North America, especially Pennsylvania
- Hessian (Hessisch) in Hesse and the Rhenish Hesse region of Rhineland-Palatinate
- North Hessian (Nordhessisch)
- Central Hessian (Mittelhessisch)
- East Hessian (Osthessisch)
- South Hessian (Südhessisch)
- Palatinate Franconian (Pfälzisch; francique palatin), spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate
On the southern and southeastern edges, West Central German varieties border on an area often considered a transitional area between Central German and Upper German, comprising the dialect groups South Franconian German and East Franconian German (popularly called Franconian because dialects of this sub-family are spoken all over Franconia).
West Central German was spoken in several settlements throughout America, for example in the Amana Colonies.
See also
References
- ↑ Dubenion-Smith, Shannon A. (June 2010). "Verbal Complex Phenomena in West Central German: Empirical Domain and Multi-Causal Account". Journal of Germanic Linguistics. 22 (2): 99–191. doi:10.1017/S1470542709990249. ISSN 1475-3014. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
- ↑ Dubenion-Smith, Shannon A. (1 April 2013). "A questionnaire study of two-verb clusters in West Central German". Folia Linguistica. 47 (1): 1–34. doi:10.1515/flin.2013.002. ISSN 1614-7308. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
