Moselle Franconian language

Moselle Franconian (German Moselfränkisch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian language area, that includes Luxembourgish.

Moselle Franconian
Luxembourgish
Native toGermany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Romania
RegionNorth Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Lorraine, Liège
Standard forms
Official status
Official language in
 Luxembourg
Recognised minority
language in
 Belgium (recognised by the French Community of Belgium)
Language codes
ISO 639-1lb
ISO 639-2ltz
ISO 639-3ltz
Glottologluxe1241
Area where Moselle Franconian / Luxembourgish is spoken with the isogloss between usage of "op" and "of" (Standard German: auf) shown
Central German language area. Moselle Franconian is shown in yellow (Germany) and blue (Luxembourg)

It is spoken in the southern Rhineland and along the course of the Moselle, in the Siegerland of North Rhine-Westphalia, throughout western Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, Luxembourg, the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium and in the neighboring French département of Moselle (in Arrondissement of Boulay-Moselle). The Transylvanian Saxon dialect spoken in the Transylvania region of Romania is derived from this dialect as a result of the emigration of numerous "Transylvanian Saxons" between 1100 and 1300, primarily from areas in which the Moselle Franconian dialect was then spoken.

Varieties

The transition between "dialect" and "separate language" is fluid.[1]

Distribution of the Franconian dialects of the dialect continuum in the Lower (yellow), Central (green) and Upper German (blue) language regions

The Linguasphere Register[2] lists five dialects of Moselle Franconian (code 52-ACB-dc) with codes -dca to -dce:

  • Trierisch (Rhineland-Palatinate, Luxembourg, northwestern Saarland)
  • Eifelisch (Rhineland-Palatinate, East Belgium, Luxembourg, southern North Rhine-Westphalia)
  • Untermosellanisch (Rhineland-Palatinate)
  • West-Westerwäldisch (Rhineland-Palatinate)
  • Siegerländisch (North Rhine-Westphalia)

Also considered part of the Moselle Franconian language are the variants of Lorraine Franconian, Luxembourgish[3][4] and Transylvanian Saxon dialect.

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:

See also

Further reading
  • Werner König: dtv-Atlas Deutsche Sprache. dtv-Verlag, München (Munich) 2005; ISBN 3-423-03025-9 (German).

References
  1. Ammon, Ulrich - Die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt Archived 2015-11-09 at the Wayback Machine (de Gruyter Mouton; ISBN 978-3-11-019298-8)
  2. Linguasphere Register, 1999/2000 edition, p. 430
  3. http://www.luxembourg.public.lu/catalogue/fr-generalites/ap_histoire/ap_histoire_2008_DE.pdf%5B%5D „Im Alltag sprechen die Luxemburger ihren Dialekt, eine moselfränkische Mundart, die sie selbst noch bis Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts als "Lëtzebuerger Däitsch" ("Luxemburger Deutsch") bezeichneten.“
  4. "The rise of the national sentiment (19th century)". The Official Portal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Retrieved 2019-12-01 – via www.luxembourg.public.lu.
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