Franconian (Linguistics)
In the conventional nomenclature of German and Dutch studies , the adjective "Franconian" is traditionally used to designate a number of West Germanic dialects that are spoken in the former core regions of the early medieval Frankish Empire (the duchies of Upper Lorraine and the Duchy of Franconia ).
In terms of linguistic typology, there are no linguistic features that are widespread in the whole and only in the "Franconian" area and are therefore typical of the dialects designated as "Franconian". The term was introduced by Wilhelm Braune (1850-1926), who used this term for those historical West Germanic spelling dialects that could not be called Lower Saxon, Alemannic or Bavarian. "Franconian" thus forms a residual category within the former continental West Germanic dialect continuum . The alleged linguistic-historical connection between the Germanic dialects called "Franconian" and the similarly named Old Franconian is also unclear for most Franconian dialects.
The dialects described as "Frankish" in research into Germanic languages include:
- Lower Franconian (the Dutch language , its dialects and Afrikaans )
- West Central German (the Ripuarian , Moselle-Franconian and Rhine-Franconian dialects and Luxembourgish )
- Upper Franconian or Upper Franconian (the East Franconian and South (Rhine) Franconian dialects )
Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Klepsch, Fränkische Dialekte, published on October 19, 2009; in: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria (July 31, 2020)