Subdialects
Eastern Erzgebirgisch dialects indicate negation with ni(ch) whereas nèt is used in the West. However, this subdialectal boundary is not clearly demarcated. Thus, both forms are found in the town of Lichtenstein, which lies on the northwestern dialect boundary (although ni is perhaps more common).
In both Eastern Erzgebirgisch and in the Lichtenstein dialect, Standard German kl... together with gl... and kn... together with gn... are realized as and respectively (e.g. dlee "klein" small, dnuchng "Knochen" bone).
It is not possible to include the Upper Harz varieties in either of these groups. Furthermore, there is a strong influence from the neighbouring non-Erzgebirgisch dialects in the region bordering Meißenisch, which makes subclassification cumbersome.
Summarizing these findings, we can list four dialects:
| Dialect | Area today | Historic area |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Erzgebirgisch | Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis, districts of Annaberg (northern half), Mittweida (south), Freiberg (south) | districts of Freiberg (northwest), Mittweida (west), Dippoldiswalde (western fringe), City of Chemnitz, Sudetenland (around Katharinaberg) |
| Western Erzgebirgisch | Districts of Aue-Schwarzenberg, Annaberg (southern half) | Sudetenland (triangle from Graslitz through Schlaggenwalde to Pressnitz) |
| Northern Erzgebirgisch | Rural districts of Chemnitzer Land (Region Lichtenstein), Stollberg| | City and Rural District of Zwickau |
| Upper Harzisch | Clausthal-Zellerfeld Region and Sankt Andreasberg (Lower Saxony) |
Read more about this topic: Erzgebirgisch