East Franconian (german: Ostfränkisch) or Mainfränkisch, usually referred to as Franconian (') in German, is a dialect which is spoken in
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...
, the northern part of the federal state of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and other areas in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
around
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
,
Bamberg,
Coburg
Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...
,
Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg ...
,
Hof,
Bayreuth,
Meiningen,
Bad Mergentheim, and
Crailsheim
Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's main attractions include two Evangelical churches, ...
. The major subgroups are ' (spoken in
Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia.
History
After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...
and southern
Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
), ' (spoken in
Upper and
Middle Franconia
Middle Franconia (german: Mittelfranken, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the west of Bavaria and borders the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; however ...
) and ' (spoken in some parts of
Middle Franconia
Middle Franconia (german: Mittelfranken, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the west of Bavaria and borders the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; however ...
and
Hohenlohe
The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire which was divided between several branches. The Hohenlohes became imperial counts in 1450. The county was divided numerous tim ...
).
![Franconia details](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Franconia_details.png)
In the transitional area between
Rhine Franconian
__NOTOC__
Rhenish Franconian or Rhine Franconian (german: Rheinfränkisch ) 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, nor ...
in the northwest and the
Austro-Bavarian
Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian.
Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million pe ...
dialects in the southeast, East Franconian has elements of
Central German and
Upper German
Upper German (german: Oberdeutsch ) is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in the southern German-speaking area ().
History
In the Old High German time, only Alemannic and Bairisch are grouped as Upper German. In the Middle High ...
. The same goes only for
South Franconian German
South Franconian (german: Südfränkisch) or South Rhine Franconian (german: Südrheinfränkisch) is an Upper German dialect which is spoken in the northernmost part of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, around Karlsruhe, Mosbach and Heilbronn. L ...
in adjacent
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
. 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
__NOTOC__
Rhenish Franconian or Rhine Franconian (german: Rheinfränkisch ) 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, nor ...
in the west and
Upper Saxon
Upper Saxon (german: Obersächsisch, ; ) is an East Central German language 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's mostl ...
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:
* (East Franconian)
** (Upper East Franconian): in the ''Würzburger Übergangsstreifen, Regnitz-Raum Obermain-Raum, Bayreuther-Raum, Obermain-Raum, Bayreuther-Raum, Nailaer-Raum, Plauener-Raum''
** (Lower East Franconian): in the ''Würzburger-Raum'', subdivided in a Northern and Southern part, ''Coburger-Raum, Henneberger-Raum, Reußischer-Raum''
** (South East Franconian)
Another view differentiates two major sub-dialects:
* (East Franconian): in Franken and a part of Baden-Württemberg with Wertheim and Tauberbischofsheim and also in the Vogtland
** (Lower East Franconian): in Unterfranken and in the Coburger and Henneberger Raum
** (Upper East Franconian): in Ober- and Mittelfranken
A third view has:
* (East Franconian)
** (Lower East Franconian)
*** : around ''Meiningen – Suhl – Schmalkalden''
*** (Lower East Franconian in a stricter sense): ''hohenlohischer Raum'', ''Würzburger Raum''
**** : in the Würzburg area ()
** ''area between Unterostfränkisch and Oberostfränkisch:''
** (Upper East Franconian):
*** (= ):
Older sources give the following grouping:
* (Upper Franconian)
n a broad sense** (South Franconian): in the area of Karlsruhe, Rastatt, Heilbronn, Hall
** (East Franconian) = (lit. Main Franconian): from the Saxon Vogtland and the Thüringerwald to the eastern Spessart, to the Rhön and near to the Neckar (in Oberfranken, Mittelfranken without Nürnberg, Unterfranken, Vogtland)
***
**** = : Itzgrund and around Coburg/Koburg
**** : Henneberg, around Meiningen
**** or
'sometimes''[F. L. Baumann (in Donaueschwingen): ''Schwaben und Alemannen, ihre Herkunft und Identität.'' In: ''Forschungen zur Deutschen Geschichte. Sechszehnter Band.'' Göttingen, 1876, p. 215ff., here p. 267] Rhön
*** (Upper Franconian)
n a middle sense in
Upper Franconia
Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...
(Oberfranken) and the
Vogtland
Vogtland (; cz, Fojtsko) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the former ...
**** : in parts of Upper Franconia, namely around Bayreuth, Kulmbach and Hof, and in the Vogtland
***** (): in the Vogtland, around Plauen
***** (Upper Franconian)
n a strict sense around Hof and Bayreuth
****
***
***
'sometimes'', in some older sources classified with Nürnbergisch as Bavarian*** (Lower Franconian)
**** : around Schweinfurt
**** : around Würzburg
**** (the dialect of Ochsenfurt) = : around Ochsenfurt
***
*** : around Tauberbischofsheim
See also
*
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...
References
External links
Linguistic atlas of Middle Franconia
Linguistic atlas of Lower Franconia
German dialects
Languages of Germany
Bavaria
Upper German languages
{{Germanic-lang-stub