South Bergish (German: ') or Upper Bergish (German: ') is a group of German dialects of the

Bergisches Land The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains ...

region East of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and approximately south of the

Wupper The Wupper is a right tributary of the Rhine in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous region of the Bergisches Land in Berg County and enters the Rhine at Leve ...

and north of the

Sieg The Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine. The river is named after the Sicambri. It is in length. The source is located in the Rothaargebirge mountains. From h ...

. These dialects are part of the Ripuarian group and thus are also called East Ripuarian. Ripuarian dialects are also spoken west of the Rhine up to the German border, and in some small areas next to the respective borders in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Ripuarian Bergish dialects belong to the Middle German group, and thus are varieties of

High German The High German dialects (german: hochdeutsche Mundarten), 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 Benrath and ...

, where they belong to the northmost ones. In the North, they border to the Bergish dialects, which are part of the

Low Franconian Low Franconian, Low Frankish, NetherlandicSarah Grey Thomason, Terrence Kaufman: ''Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics'', University of California Press, 1991, p. 321. (Calling it "Low Frankish (or Netherlandish)".)Scott Shay ...

group like

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

. Some of South Bergish is transitional with

East Bergish East Bergish is a group of dialects of the Bergisches Land Region in western Germany. It combines features of the Westphalian group, the South Guelderish or Cleverlands group, and (predominantly) the Limburgish group, of which some of it is p ...

. In popular view, rather than scientific, South Bergish dialects are often referred to as ''Bergish'' by locals, or as ''

Rhinelandic Rhinelandic is a term occasionally used for linguistic varieties of a region on both sides of the Middle and Lower Rhine river in Central West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It has at least two distinct meanings which often ca ...

'' by outsiders.

Literature

Georg Wenker Georg Wenker (January 25, 1852 – July 17, 1911) was a German linguist who began documenting German dialect geography during the late nineteenth century. He is considered a pioneer in this field and contributed several groundbreaking publica ...

: ''Das rheinische Platt''. 1877. ** ''Das rheinische Platt'', (Sammlung deutsche Dialektgeographie Heft 8), Marburg, 1915. * Georg Cornelissen, Peter Honnen, Fritz Langensiepen (Hrsg.): ''Das rheinische Platt''. Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Handbuch der rheinischen Mundarten Teil 1: Texte. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln. 1989. * Maria Loiuse Denst: ''Olper Platt - Bergisches Mundart-Wörterbuch für Kürten-Olpe und Umgebung''. Schriftenreihe des Bergischen Geschichtsvereins Abt. Rhein-Berg e. V. Band 29. Bergisch Gladbach 1999. * Hans Bruchhausen und Heinz Feldhoff: ''Us Platt kalle un verstonn'' - Mundartwörterbuch Lützenkirchen-Quettingen. Bergisch Gladbach 2005. * Leo Lammert und Paul Schmidt: ''Neunkirchen-Seelscheider Sprachschatz'', herausgegeben vom Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Neunkirchen-Seelscheid 2006. (ca. 7300 Wörter) * Theodor Branscheid (Hrsg): ''Oberbergische Sprachproben. Mundartliches aus Eckenhagen und Nachbarschaft''. Band 1, Eckenhagen, 1927. * Werner Heinrichs: ''Bergisch Platt'' - Versuch einer Bestandsaufnahme, Selbstverlag, Burscheid, 1978 * Manfred Konrads: ''Wörter und Sachen im Wildenburger Ländchen'', Rheinland-Verlag, Köln, 1981 * Helmut Fischer: ''Wörterbuch der unteren Sieg''. Rheinische Mundarten. Beiträge zur Volkssprache aus den rheinischen Landschaften Band 4. Rheinland Verlag, Köln, 1985. Languages of Germany Central German languages German dialects Ripuarian language North Rhine-Westphalia {{Germanic-lang-stub

See also

Literature