Central German

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Central German dialects

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.

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.

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.

[edit] Classification

• West Central German (Westmitteldeutsch)
  • Central Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
    • Ripuarian (Ripuarisch)
    • Moselle Franconian (Moselfränkisch)
      • Luxembourgish (Letzebuergesch)
  • Rhine Franconian (Rheinfränkisch)
    • Lorraine Franconian (Lothringisch)
    • Palatinate German (Pfälzisch)
    • Hessian (Hessisch)
• East Central German (Ostmitteldeutsch)
  • Berlin-Brandenburgish
  • Thuringian (Thüringisch)
  • Upper Saxon (Obersächsisch)
  • Silesian (Schlesisch)
  • High Prussian (Hochpreußisch)