| Moselle Franconian | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Romania |
| Region | North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Lorraine, Liège |
Indo-European
| |
Standard forms | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Luxembourg |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis)Individual code: ltz – Luxembourgish |
| Glottolog | luxe1241 |
 Area where Moselle Franconian / Luxembourgish is spoken with the isogloss between usage of "op" and "of" (Standard German: auf) shown | |
Moselle Franconian (German: Moselfränkisch, Luxembourgish: Muselfränkesch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian language area, that includes Luxembourgish. It 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.
Varieties[edit]
The transition between "dialect" and "separate language" is fluid.[1]
The Linguasphere Register[2] lists five dialects of Moselle Franconian (code 52-ACB-dc) with codes -dca to -dce:
- Trierisch (Rhineland-Palatinate, Luxembourg, northwestern Saarland)
- Eifelisch (Rhineland-Palatinate, East Belgium, Luxembourg, southern North Rhine-Westphalia)
- Untermosellanisch (Rhineland-Palatinate)
- West-Westerwäldisch (Rhineland-Palatinate)
- Siegerländisch (southern North Rhine-Westphalia, northeastern Rhineland-Palatinate)
Also considered part of the Moselle Franconian language are the variants of Lorraine Franconian, Luxembourgish[3][4] 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 pure Standard German speakers:
- Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesch)
- Lorraine Franconian
- Transylvanian Saxon dialect
- Hunsrik (language spoken in Brazil)
Most speakers of Luxembourgish are multilingual, speaking Standard German and French in addition to Luxembourgish.
See also[edit]
- Saarland (section Local dialect)
- Rhine Franconian (related neighboring dialect group)
- Meuse-Rhenish
Further reading[edit]
- Werner König: dtv-Atlas Deutsche Sprache. dtv-Verlag, München (Munich) 2005; ISBN 3-423-03025-9 (German).
References[edit]
- ^ Ammon, Ulrich - Die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt Archived 2015-11-09 at the Wayback Machine (de Gruyter Mouton; ISBN 978-3-11-019298-8)
- ^ Linguasphere Register, 1999/2000 edition, p. 430
- ^ http://www.luxembourg.public.lu/catalogue/fr-generalites/ap_histoire/ap_histoire_2008_DE.pdf[permanent dead link] „Im Alltag sprechen die Luxemburger ihren Dialekt, eine moselfränkische Mundart, die sie selbst noch bis Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts als "Lëtzebuerger Däitsch" ("Luxemburger Deutsch") bezeichneten.“
- ^ "The rise of the national sentiment (19th century)". The Official Portal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Retrieved 2019-12-01 – via www.luxembourg.public.lu.