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| Central German | |
|---|---|
| Middle German, Mitteldeutsch | |
| Geographic distribution | Western andCentral Germany, southeasternNetherlands, easternBelgium,Luxembourg and northeasternFrance |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | fran1268 |
 Central German dialects after 1945 and theexpulsions of the Germans 4:Hessian | |
Central German orMiddle German (German:mitteldeutsche Dialekte, mitteldeutsche Mundarten, Mitteldeutsch) is a group ofHigh German languages spoken from theRhineland in the west to theformer eastern territories of Germany.
Central German divides into two subgroups,West Central German andEast Central German.
Central German is distinguished by having experienced theHigh German consonant shift to a lesser degree thanUpper German. It is spoken in the linguistic transition region separated fromNorthern Germany (Low German/Low Franconian) by theBenrath lineisogloss and separated fromSouthern Germany (Upper German) by theSpeyer line.
Central German is spoken in large and influential German cities such asBerlin, the formerWest German capitalBonn,Cologne,Düsseldorf, the main German financial centerFrankfurt,Leipzig, andDresden.
The area corresponds to the geological region of the hillyCentral Uplands that stretches from theNorth German plain to theSouth German Scarplands, covering thestates ofSaarland,Rhineland-Palatinate,Hesse,Thuringia andSaxony.
The East Central dialects are the closest toStandard German (chiefly as a written language) among other German dialects. Modern Standard German thus evolved from the vocabulary and spelling of this region, with some pronunciation features fromEast Franconian German.[1]
