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Franconian languages

Frankischetalen.png.}}]] Franconian is a linguistic marker for a number of West Germanic languages and dialects spoken in the former core of the Frankish Empire: the Low Countries (The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) and western Germany (around Aachen, Cologne and Trier) . Within this groups there are a number of well known languages and dialects, such as Dutch and Afrikaans but also the Pennsylvania German language spoken in North America.

Controversy

Linguists doubt whether there really is a Franconian linguistic family as no proof exists that the present Franconian languages and dialects historically developed from a common ancestor language.

Low Frankish dialects and languages (via Old Dutch), for instance, are commonly accepted to be a descendant of Old Frankish, the proposed common ancestor and language of the Franks, together with West Central German that might have been partially influenced by High German dialects.

Three groups

Low Frankish

Low Frankish, also called Low Franconian, consists of Dutch, Afrikaans and their dialects. They are spoken in the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Namibia, the western tip of Germany, Suriname, the Caribbean as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

With a total of over 40 million speakers this is the most numerous of the 3 groups, as well as most spread globally and the only group that has members which are official, national and standard languages.

Sometimes, Low Franconian is grouped together with Low German. However, since this grouping is not based on common linguistic innovations, but rather on the absence of the High German consonant shift and Anglo-Frisian features, there are linguistic reference books that do not group them together. A transitional zone between Low Frankish and Middle Franconian is formed by the Meuse-Rhenish Franconian varieties, which are to be found in Belgium, the Netherlands, and in German Lower Rhineland.

Dutch

Brabantian
Zuid-Gelders (part of Meuse-Rhenish Franconian, variants also spoken in Germany)

Pella Dutch

West Flemish
East Flemish
Zealandic
Hollandic
Limburgish (part of Meuse-Rhenish Franconian, variants also spoken in Germany)
Low Dietsch (in the northeast of the Belgian province of Liege)

Afrikaans

West Central German dialects

The West Central German dialects (also known as "Middle Franconian dialects") are spoken in the German states of South-Western North Rhine-Westphalia, Western Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, in the bordering French département Moselle, in Luxembourg, by the Transylvanian Saxons in Romania, and by the Amish in North America. It is estimated that these dialects have about 1,700,000 native speakers

Moselle Franconian

Luxembourgish

Transylvanian Saxon
Rhine Franconian

Limburgish (part of Meuse-Rhenish Franconian, variants also spoken in the Belgian and Dutch provinces of Limburg and in the Belgian province of Liege)
Palatinate German

Ripuarian Franconian

Kölsch

Pennsylvania German (locally known as Pennsylfaanisch (Deitsch) and more commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch)

Moselle Franconian, Luxembourgish, Transylvanian Saxon, Ripuarian Franconian are also known as "Middle Franconian dialects" - Palatinate German, Pennsylvania German, Hessian, and the Rhinehessian dialect (in Rhenish Hesse around Mainz, Bingen, Bad Kreuznach and in Hessen in the Rheingau area and in Wiesbaden) are also known as "Rhine Franconian dialects".

Transitional High German dialects

High German dialects are spoken in the transition area between Central and Upper German dialects. An estimated 700,000 people speak these dialects, most of them are located in Eastern France (in northern Alsace, in the region of Strasbourg) and South-West Germany.

East Franconian German

Main-Franconian

South Franconian German

References

Bibliography

Feulner, Hans-Jürgen et al. (1997). Wie såchd denn Ihr dezu?: Ein fränkisches Mundart-Wörterbuch für den Landkreis Kronach. Schirmer Druck, Mitwitz. ISBN 3-9803467-3-0.
Munske, Horst Haider and Hinderling, Robert (1996). Bavarian Linguistic Atlas (Linguistic Atlas of Bavaria-Swabia, Linguistic Atlas of Middle Franconia, Linguistic Atlas of Lower Franconia, Linguistic Atlas of North East Bavaria, Linguistic Atlas of Lower and Upper Bavaria). University Press, Heidelberg. ISBN 3-8260-1865-6.
Munske, Horst Haider and Klepsch, Alfred (2003, updated in 2004). Linguistic Atlas of Middle Franconia. University Press, Heidelberg.
van der Horst, J. M. (2002). Introduction to Old Dutch. University Press, Leuven.
Wells, Chris (1985). German. A Linguistic History to 1945. Clarendon Press, Oxford.