Franconian Languages - Meaning of "Franconian"

Meaning of "Franconian"

As it applies to modern languages, Franconian is somewhat variable in meaning. It can refer to a West Germanic dialect continuum spoken in the Rhineland, including Dutch at one end and all the transitional dialects between Dutch and standard German, including it, which do not fully participate in the High German consonant shift or German diphthongization of long vowels. This area follows the course of the Benrath and Speyer lines, a zone along which the two changes occurred along with other diagnostic changes. From a linguistics point of view the Rhineland is an intermediate zone where the Rhenish Fan is located, a zone where eight isoglosses converge.

Not all Dutch dialects are contained in the Rhineland; moreover, historical Franconian, which comprises other aspects of the language of the Franks, was spoken also in the lowlands. Dutch is spoken between the Rhineland and the North Sea. A second definition extends the range of Franconian to include the lowlands to the west, to the east all the way to Bamberg in East Franconia, and to the south as far as, and including, Alsace, far from the Rhineland. In all, in this definition, the Franconian language area consists of the Low Countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg), parts of France (e.g. the Dunkirk district and half of Lorraine), and West-Central Germany (around Aachen, Cologne and Trier), as well as all of the former Franconia. In addition to these continental dialects, Franconian includes two overseas dialects: Afrikaans spoken in South Africa and the Pennsylvania German language spoken in North America.

The difference between a dialect and a language is often debatable. In general, a dialect is contained within a language, and is not identical to it, unless the language has only that dialect. The Franconian languages are considered dialects of German and Dutch even though often termed languages. The dialects are further subdivided into ranges under a common name, which may also be subdivided; for example, Flemish is a dialect of Dutch. It is further divided into East and West Flemish. Not all dialects of Dutch and German are Franconian. For example, in the case of German, excluded from the category "Franconian" are the high, or "Alpine," dialects of Swabia, Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland, as well as the various dialects of Low German.

The word "Franconian" refers to a collection of dialects, and not to a language. Languages have to be genetically related, unless they are defined as isolates; that is, a parent language descends into child languages, or reflex languages, which are defined on that account to be "related." Dialects are not necessarily related. For example, German and Dutch, which are closely related, descend from Proto-Germanic, a parent language. Dialects of German and Dutch at any stage of their development are not necessarily related to each other. The defining elements of the dialect might come from any language or be innovated. No dialect labelled "Franconian" has to be related to any other dialect of the same tag. For example, Old Low Franconian, ancestral phase of Dutch, is not related to the Franconian dialects of Old High German. Moreover, Middle Franconian is not related to Middle High German.