Rhine Franconian dialects

Rhenish Franconian or Rhine Franconian (German: Rheinfränkisch [ˈʁaɪnfʁɛnkɪʃ] ^ⓘ) is a dialect chain of West Central German. It comprises the varieties of German spoken across the western regions of the states of Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, northwest Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse in Germany. It is also spoken in northeast France, in the eastern part of the département of Moselle in the Lorraine region, and in the north-west part of Bas-Rhin in Alsace. To the north, it is bounded by the Sankt Goar line (or das–dat line) which separates it from Moselle Franconian; to the south, it is bounded by the Main line which is also referred to as the Speyer line which separates it from the Upper German dialects.

• Hessisch or Hessian
• Pfälzisch-Lothringisch
  • Pfälzisch or Palatine German
  • Lothringisch or Lorraine Franconian

• Saarland (section Local dialect)
• Moselle Franconian (adjacent language area)

• Hughes, Stephanie. 2005. Bilingualism in North-East France with specific reference to Rhenish Franconian spoken by Moselle Cross-border (or frontier) workers. In Preisler, Bent, et al., eds. The Consequences of Mobility: Linguistic and Sociocultural Contact Zones. Roskilde, Denmark: Roskilde Universitetscenter: Institut for Sprog og Kultur.ISBN 87-7349-651-0.