Main-Franconian (German: Mainfränkisch) is group of Upper German dialects being part of the East Franconian group. The name is derived from the river Main which meets the river Rhine near Frankfurt after having crossed the former West Germany from East to West. The dialect is estimated by Ethnologue as 40% intelligible with Standard German.
Main-Franconian dialects are spoken in a large stripe along the river Main. Although part of the general continuum of dialects from Scandinavia to the Alps, there are pretty sharp borders for many Main-Franconian dialects. In the North and Northeast, these follow Salzbogen and Rennsteig in the Thuringian Forest, while others in the East and South coincide with the late medieval borders of the Archdiocese of Bamberg and the Bishopric of Würzburg.
Dialects of the Main-Franconian group are spoken mainly in:
- the district Main-Tauber of federal state Baden-Württemberg,
- the three administrative regions of Franconia in the federal state Bavaria, i.e. Lower Franconia, Central Franconia, Upper Franconia,
- the districts Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Hildburghausen, Sonneberg, and the city of Suhl, all located in the southern part of federal state Thuringia.
Main-Franconian dialects encompass these major groups:
- Taubergründisch
(spoken in Bavaria in Euerhausen and Sonderhofen;
in Baden-Württemberg in Weikersheim, Bad Mergentheim, and Tauberbischofsheim) - Unterfränkisch
(spoken in Bavaria in Würzburg and Schweinfurt) - Grabfeldisch
(spoken in Bavaria in Bad Königshofen and Mellrichstadt;
in Thuringia in Römhild, Frankenheim;
in the federal state of Hesse in Gersfeld and Hilders) - Hennebergisch
(spoken in Thuringia in Schmalkalden, Meiningen, Zella-Mehlis, Suhl, Schleusingen) - Bambergerisch
(spoken in Bavaria in Bamberg, Forchheim, and Erlangen) - Itzgründisch
(spoken in Bavaria in Coburg, Neustadt, Bad Staffelstein;
in Thuringia in Sonneberg and Hildburghausen)