East Central German or East Middle German () is the eastern

Central German Central German or Middle German () is a group of High German languages 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 Ger ...

language and is part of

High German The High German languages (, i.e. ''High German dialects''), or simply High German ( ) – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Ben ...

. Present-day

Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the umbrella term for the standard language, standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for commun ...

as a

variant, has actually developed from a compromise of East Central (especially

Upper Saxon Upper Saxon (, , ) is an East Central German dialect spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it is mostly extinct and a new r ...

that was promoted by

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author, critic and grammarian of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (renamed Mendeleyevo in 1947) near Königsberg (K ...

) and

East Franconian German East Franconian ( ), usually referred to as Franconian (' ) 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, ...

. East Central German dialects are mainly spoken in Central Germany and parts of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, and were formerly also spoken in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

and

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Dialects

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

Glottolog ''Glottolog'' is an open-access online bibliographic database of the world's languages. In addition to listing linguistic materials ( grammars, articles, dictionaries) describing individual languages, the database also contains the most up-to-d ...

: * Central East Middle German ** High Prussian (''Hochpreußisch'') (nearly extinct) **

Thuringian Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon s ...

(''Thüringisch'') **

(''Obersächsisch'') *** ''Anhaltisch'' *** ''Meißnisch'' *** ''Osterländisch'' *** ''Westlausitzisch'' *** ''

Erzgebirgisch Erzgebirgisch (Standard ; Erzgebirgisch: ) is a (East Central German, East) Central German dialect, spoken mainly in the central Ore Mountains in Saxony. It has received relatively little academic attention. Due to the high mobility of the popula ...

'' ** ''Nordobersäschisch-Südmärkisch'' * Schlesisch–Wilmesau ** Silesian (''Schlesisch'') (nearly extinct) *** Old Zipser (''Altzipserisch'') **

Wymysorys Wymysorys (, ), also known as Vilamovian, Wilamowicean, or Wilmesaurisch, is a West Germanic language spoken by the Vilamovian ethnic minority in the town of Wilamowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland ( in Wymysorys), on the border between Si ...

Eastern Yiddish Yiddish dialects are varieties of the Yiddish language and are divided according to the region in Europe where each developed its distinctiveness. Linguistically, Yiddish is divided in distinct Eastern and Western dialects. While the Western dia ...

(which is a form of

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

besides

Western Yiddish Yiddish dialects are varieties of the Yiddish language and are divided according to the region in Europe where each developed its distinctiveness. Linguistically, Yiddish is divided in distinct Eastern and Western dialects. While the Western dia ...

)

Nordobersächsisch-Südmärkisch

The dialect area of ''Nordobersächsisch-Südmärkisch'' lies north of Upper-Saxon and north-western of Silesian, in the south it includes parts of Lusatia and in the north, depending on definition, it can include the region around Berlin. It consists of multiple sub-parts, where the switch to High German (from Low German or Sorbian) occurred at different times and under different conditions.Map ''Deutsche Dialekte: Historische Verteilung'' by Jost Gippert. A previous version of it was published in: H. Glück (ed.), ''Metzler Lexikon Sprache'', Stuttgart / Weimar, 1993, and later editions. * (older than the URLs below) * *

References

{{Authority control Central German languages German dialects Languages of Germany

Dialects

Nordobersächsisch-Südmärkisch

See also

References