West Central German language
Central German language area after 1945 and the expulsions of the Germans . Moselle Franconian is shown in yellow (Germany) and blue (Luxembourg)
Moselle Franconian (German : Moselfränkisch ; Luxembourgish : Muselfränkesch ) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian languages area , that includes Luxembourgish .
Overview
Moselle Franconian 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. Another variety of Moselle Franconian, the Hunsrik , is spoken in some rural areas of southern Brazil , brought by 19th century immigrants from the Hunsrück region in modern Germany.[ 1] [ 2]
Varieties
The transition between "dialect" and "separate language" is fluid.[ 3]
The Linguasphere Register [ 4] lists five dialects of Moselle Franconian (code 52-ACB-dc) with codes -dca to -dce:
Also considered part of the Moselle Franconian language are the variants of Lorraine Franconian , Luxembourgish [ 5] [ 6] 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 Standard German speakers:
Most speakers of Luxembourgish are multilingual, speaking Standard German and French in addition to Luxembourgish.
See also
References
Further reading