West Central German

West Central German
West Central German
Westmitteldeutsch
Geographic; distribution	Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, German-speaking Community of Belgium, Lorraine, Deitscherei
Linguistic classification	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Weser–Rhine Germanic Central German West Central German; ; ; ; ;
Subdivisions	Central Franconian; Rhine Franconian;
Glottolog	high1287
	West Central German–language area

West Central German (German: Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. It includes the following sub-families:

Central Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
- Ripuarian (Ripuarisch), spoken in North Rhine-Westphalia (including Kölsch) and German-speaking Belgium and a small edge of the south of the Dutch province of Limbourg.
- Moselle Franconian (Moselfränkisch; French: francique luxembourgeois) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and France
  - Luxembourgish (Luxemburgisch; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch; francique luxembourgeois or luxembourgeois) in Luxembourg, Belgium and France
  - Hunsrik (Riograndenser Hunsrückisch), spoken in Brazil and derived from the Hunsrückisch dialect of Moselle Franconian
Rhine Franconian (Rheinfränkisch; francique rhénan)
- Palatinate Franconian (Pfälzisch; francique palatin), spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate
  - Lorraine Franconian (Lothringisch; francique lorrain) in the French region of Lorraine
  - Bukovina German (Bukowinadeutsch) in Bukovina (extinct) ^{[citation needed]}
  - Pennsylvania German (Pennsylvaniadeutsch) in historical communities in North America, especially Pennsylvania
- Hessian (Hessisch) in Hesse and the Rhenish Hesse region of Rhineland-Palatinate
  - North Hessian (Nordhessisch)
  - Central Hessian (Mittelhessisch)
  - East Hessian (Osthessisch)
  - South Hessian (Südhessisch)

On the southern and southeastern edges, West Central German varieties border on an area often considered a transitional area between Central German and Upper German, comprising the dialect groups South Franconian German and East Franconian German (popularly called Franconian because dialects of this sub-family are spoken all over Franconia).

West Central German was spoken in several settlements throughout America, for example in the Amana Colonies.

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