East Franconian German Explained

East Franconian (de|Ostfränkisch pronounced as /de/), usually referred to as Franconian (German: Fränkisch pronounced as /de/) in German, is a dialect spoken in Franconia, the northern part of the federal state of Bavaria and other areas in Germany around Nuremberg, Bamberg, Coburg, Würzburg, Hof, Bayreuth, Meiningen, Bad Mergentheim, and Crailsheim. The major subgroups are German: Unterostfränkisch (spoken in Lower Franconia and southern Thuringia), German: Oberostfränkisch (spoken in Upper and Middle Franconia) and German: Südostfränkisch (spoken in some parts of Middle Franconia and Hohenlohe).

In the transitional area between Rhine Franconian in the northwest and the Austro-Bavarian dialects in the southeast, East Franconian has elements of Central German and Upper German. The same goes only for South Franconian German in adjacent Baden-Württemberg. East Franconian is one of the German dialects with the highest number of speakers.

The scope of East Franconian is disputed, because it overlaps with neighbouring dialects like Bavarian and Swabian in the south, Rhine Franconian in the west and Upper Saxon in the north.

East Franconian is researched by the "Fränkisches Wörterbuch" project in Fürth, which is run by Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Erlangen-Nuremberg University.

Grouping

East Franconian is subdivided in multiple different ways.

One view differentiates three major sub-dialects:^[2]

• German: Ostfränkisch (East Franconian)
  • German: Oberostfränkisch (Upper East Franconian): in the Würzburger Übergangsstreifen, Regnitz-Raum Obermain-Raum, Bayreuther-Raum, Obermain-Raum, Bayreuther-Raum, Nailaer-Raum, Plauener-Raum
  • German: Unterostfränkisch (Lower East Franconian): in the Würzburger-Raum, subdivided in a Northern and Southern part, Coburger-Raum, Henneberger-Raum, Reußischer-Raum
  • German: Südostfränkisch (South East Franconian)

Another view differentiates two major sub-dialects:^[3]

• German: Ostfränkisch (East Franconian): in Franken and a part of Baden-Württemberg with Wertheim and Tauberbischofsheim and also in the Vogtland
  • German: Unterostfränkisch (Lower East Franconian): in Unterfranken and in the Coburger and Henneberger Raum
  • German: Oberostfränkisch (Upper East Franconian): in Ober- and Mittelfranken

A third view has:^[4]

• German: Ostfränkisch (East Franconian)
  • German: Unterostfränkisch (Lower East Franconian)
    • German: Hennebergisch: around Meiningen – Suhl – Schmalkalden
    • German: engeres Unterostfränkisch (Lower East Franconian in a stricter sense): hohenlohischer Raum, Würzburger Raum
      • German: Würzburgisch: in the Würzburg area (German: Würzburger Raum)
  • area between Unterostfränkisch and Oberostfränkisch: German: Ansbacher-, Neustädter- und Coburger Raum
  • German: Oberostfränkisch (Upper East Franconian): German: Regnitz-, Hof-Bayreuther-, Obermain-, Nailaer- und vogtländischer Raum
    • German: Vogtländisch (= German: Ostfränkisch-Vogtländisch): German: vogtländischer Raum

See also

• Franconia
• Eberhard Wagner, German regional dialect researcher, in the dialect of Upper Franconia (East Franconian German).

External links

• Linguistic atlas of Middle Franconia
• Linguistic atlas of Lower Franconia
• Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaft

Notes and References

1. Gerhard Fink and Langenscheidt-Redaktion (ed.), Langenscheidt Lilliput Fränkisch, Langenscheidt: München, 2018, p. 339: "Fränkisch is Fränggisch"
2. Erich Straßner: Nordoberdeutsch. In: Lexikon der Germanistischen Linguistik. Herausgegeben von Hans Peter Althaus, Helmut Henne, Herbert Ernst Wiegand. 2nd ed., Max Niemeyer Verlag Tübingen, 1980 (1st ed. 1973), p. 479ff., here p. 481
3. Hermann Paul: Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik. 25. Auflage neu bearbeitet von Thomas Klein, Hans-Joachim Solms und Klaus-Peter Wegera. Mit einer Syntax von Ingeborg Schöbler, neubearbeitet und erweitert von Heinz-Peter Prell. 25th ed., Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen, 2007, p. 7 [has ''Ostfränkisch'' divided into ''Oberostfränkisch'' and ''Unterostfränkisch'' and gives some geographical information]
4. Peter Wiesinger: Die Einteilung der deutschen Dialekte. In: Dialektologie. Ein Handbuch zur deutschen und allgemeinen Dialektforschung. Herausgegeben von Werner Besch, Ulrich Knoop, Wolfgang Putschke, Herbert Ernst Wiegand. Zweiter Halbband. Volume 1.2 of Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft (HSK). Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York, 1983, p. 807ff., here p. 842–846 (sub-chapter: Das Ostfränkische) and p. 862