East Central German

East Central German is the eastern, non-Franconian sub-group of Central German dialects, themselves part of High German. Present-day Standard German as a High German variant has actually developed from a compromise of East Central (especially Upper Saxon promoted by Johann Christoph Gottsched) and East Franconian German. East Central German dialects are mainly spoken in Central Germany and parts of Brandenburg, and were formerly also spoken in Silesia and Bohemia.

Dialects

East Central German is spoken in large parts of what is today known as the cultural area of Central Germany (Mitteldeutschland). It comprises:

and further:

See also

Further reading

East Central

Central German

Central German (Mitteldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spoken from the Rhineland in the west to the former eastern territories of Germany.

Central German divides into two subgroups, West Central German and East Central German.

Central German is distinguished by having experienced only the first and fourth phases of the High German consonant shift. It is spoken in the linguistic transition region separated from Northern Germany (Low German/Low Franconian) by the Benrath line isogloss. It is separated from Southern Germany (Upper German) by the Speyer line.

Central German is spoken in large and influential German cities like the capital Berlin, the former West German capital Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf and the main German financial center Frankfurt.

The area corresponds to the geological region of the hilly Central Uplands that stretches from the North German plain to the South German Scarplands, covering the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony.

Central Germany

Central Germany (Mitteldeutschland or Zentraldeutschland) may refer to: