Rhine Franconian dialects

Rhenish Franconian or Rhine Franconian (German: Rheinfränkisch [ˈʁaɪnfʁɛnkɪʃ] ) is a dialect chain of West Central German. It comprises the varieties of German spoken across the western regions of the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, northwest Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse in Germany. It is also spoken in northeast France, in the eastern part of the département of Moselle in the Lorraine region, and in the north-west part of Bas-Rhin in Alsace. To the north, it is bounded by the Sankt Goar line (or das–dat line) which separates it from Moselle Franconian; to the south, it is bounded by the Main line which is also referred to as the Speyer line which separates it from the Upper German dialects.

Rhenish Franconian
Rhenish-Franconian, Rhine Franconian, Rhine-Franconian
Geographic distribution	Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Hesse, Lorraine, Alsace
Linguistic classification	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Weser-Rhine Germanic Central German West Central German Rhenish Franconian
Language codes
Glottolog	rhin1244
Rhenish Franconian among the Franconian languages.   Hessian   Palatine German & Lorraine Franconian
East Franconian is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Area where Rhine Franconian is spoken. 1 Hessian, 2 Palatinate German 3 Lorraine Franconian

Subgroups

• Hessisch or Hessian
• Pfälzisch-Lothringisch
  • Pfälzisch or Palatine German
  • Lothringisch or Lorraine Franconian

See also

• Saarland (section Local dialect)
• Moselle Franconian (adjacent language area)

Bibliography

• Hughes, Stephanie. 2005. Bilingualism in North-East France with specific reference to Rhenish Franconian spoken by Moselle Cross-border (or frontier) workers. In Preisler, Bent, et al., eds. The Consequences of Mobility: Linguistic and Sociocultural Contact Zones. Roskilde, Denmark: Roskilde Universitetscenter: Institut for Sprog og Kultur. ISBN 87-7349-651-0.