Moselle Franconian dialects

Moselle Franconian
Native to	Germany, France, 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
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	mose1248
Area where Moselle Franconian and Luxembourgish are spoken with the isogloss between usage of "op" and "of" (Standard German: auf) shown

Moselle Franconian (German Moselfränkisch) is a group of West Central German dialects, part of the Central Franconian language area.

Central German language area, Moselle Franconian shown in yellow

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.

PODCAST: Peter von der Mosel's poem Mei Peef un eech (My pipe and I)

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:

• Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesch)
• Lorraine Franconian
• Transylvanian Saxon
• Riograndenser Hunsrückisch (Hunsrik)

See also

• Saarland (section Language)
• Rhine Franconian (related neighbouring dialect group)
• Meuse-Rhenish

Further reading

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