Glottolog mose1248 | ||
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Native to Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Romania Region North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Lorraine, Liège Language family Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic
High German
West Central German
Central Franconian
Moselle Franconian | ||
Moselle Franconian (German Moselfränkisch) is a group of West Central German dialects, part of the Central Franconian language area.
They are spoken in the southern Rhineland and along the course of the Moselle River, in the Siegerland in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, throughout western Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, in the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium and in the neighbouring French département of Moselle (in Arrondissement of Boulay-Moselle). A dialect known as Transylvanian Saxon is also spoken in the Transylvania region of Romania, as a result of the emigration of numerous "Transylvanian Saxons" between 1100 and 1300, primarily from areas in which the Moselle Franconian dialect was spoken at that time.
Varieties
The transition between dialects and separate language is fluid. Some Moselle Franconian dialects have developed into standardized varieties, which can be considered separate languages, especially due to the limited intelligibility of some dialects for pure Standard German speakers: