Rhine Franconian dialects

Rhine Franconian, also called Rhenish Franconian, is a group of German dialects. People speak it in western Germany. You can hear it mainly in the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, northwest Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse. It is also spoken in northeast France, especially in the Moselle area of Lorraine and in the northwest part of Bas-Rhin in Alsace.

This dialect chain is part of West Central German. It has special borders that show where it is spoken. To the north, it ends at the Sankt Goar line, also called the das–dat line. This line separates it from Moselle Franconian. To the south, it stops at the Main line or Speyer line. This line marks the start of the Upper German dialects. These lines show how the dialect changes when you travel from place to place.

Subgroups

Rhine Franconian has a few main types. One type is called Hessian, also known as Hessian. Another type is called Palatine-Lorraine, which has two smaller types: Palatine German, or Palatine German, and Lorraine Franconian, or Lorraine Franconian.