West Central German

West Middle German, together with the East Middle German ( Thuringian and Upper Saxon dialect group and others) which means German. Only includes Franconian dialects, is spoken mainly along the middle and upper Lower Rhine and has the second sound shift largely non mitvollzogen. Thus in all dialects of West Central German consistently called instead, apple ' and Parr (r ) instead, pastor '. Furthermore, for example, in Cologne and Trier area (Central Franconian ) similarly as in the southern areas of the Low Saxon ( Low German ) ( Westphalian and Eastphalian ) dat, et for " the" and "it" said. These dialects are, however, a total closer to the Low Franconian languages ​​in the north- west, so in the Netherlands, as related to the Lower Saxon language. South of St. Goar line or "dat- the - line ", ie the Palatine or the Hessian, it is said, however, the and it. The high- Franconian dialects south of the Speyer line or " Appel / Apfel line " ( East Frankish, Südfränkisch ) have the second sound shift, however, completely gone through ( it says here so eg apple instead of " Appel " ), which is why these dialect groups often too the Upper German dialects are counted. The formation of the features of the second sound shift is very different, which is why the West Central German language area is crossed by a number of, mostly running in the east-west direction dialect boundaries ( isoglosses or "lines" ), collectively called the " Rhenish fan".

Dialects and dialect groups of West Central German

• Central Franconian Ripuarian, also Ripuarian - Frankish - in the literature of the 18th and early 19th century often referred to solely as a means Fränkisch - this also includes Kölsch, Öcher Platt, Eischwiele Platt, Düren Platt ( in North Rhine -Westphalia and Belgium, as well as in the southern tip the Netherlands)
• Moselle Franconian ( in Rhineland-Palatinate in the Mosel area, southern Eifel, Hunsrück northern Middle Rhine and the Lahn region, in north-western Saarland and North Rhine -Westphalia in the winning country) Mittellothringisch (in France, in the department of Moselle in Niedtal )
• Luxembourgish, and Luxembourgish ( the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, in Belgium in Areler country and in France in the north- west of the Moselle department )

• Pfälzisch Westpfälzisch ( in Rhineland-Palatinate in the west and the south-eastern Palatinate Saarland)
• Vorderpfälzisch ( in Rhineland-Palatinate in the front Palatinate and in France in northern Alsace )
• Kurpfälzisch ( in Baden- Württemberg in the Palatinate and Hesse in Southern Starkenburgring )

• South Hessian dialects ( in Hesse in the strong castle and in the Rheingau, in Rhineland -Palatinate Rheinhessen and in Bavaria in the western Lower Franconia )
• Lower Hessian dialects ( in Hessen to Kassel and Bad Hersfeld, and western Thuringia)
• Upper Hessian dialects ( including in Central Hessen Taunus and Wetterau high )
• Osthessische dialects ( at Fulda and in the Hessian Rhön)

On the northern border of the West Central German language area, there are smooth transitions to the Dutch-speaking region, to German Dutch and Low German. On the southern border of the West Central German language area, there are smooth transitions to the East Frankish, southFrankish and Alemannic.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of the West Central German dialects is recorded and described in the Rhenish dictionary ( dialects of the former Prussian province of Rheinland), in Siegerländer dictionary in Palatine dictionary ( Palatinate dialects ), Luxembourgish Dictionary ( Luxembourg dialects ), in the German -Lorraine dialects dictionary ( Lorraine dialects ), in Hesse - Nassau dictionary ( dialects in Hesse- Nassau ) and in Südhessische dictionary ( Rheinhessen dialects ).