German

German is the language mainly spoken in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein. It is has had several different stages and different dialects.

German and its variations and offshoots are all West Germanic languages, in the larger group of Germanic. There are many dialects of German, and often the location of an individual in and around Germany can determine how far the dialect is from the standard of High German. In the North, a large dialect is often acknowledged as a separate West Germanic language known as Low German. Low German and its close relative Dutch are known for only going through the fourth stage of the High German Consonant Shift, which separates High German from most other West Germanic languages.

List of German Dialects, Forms, and Offshots

• Standard German
  • Old High German †
  • Middle High German †
  • Early New High German †
  • New High German
• German dialect groups
• High German
  • Upper German
    • Alemannic
    • Bavarian
    • South Franconian
    • East Franconian
  • Central German
    • West Central German
      • Central Franconian
        • Ripuarian
        • Moselle Franconian
          • Luxembourgish (official language of Luxembourg, standardized)
      • Rhine Franconian
        • Lorraine Franconian
        • Palatinate German
        • Hessian
      • East Central German
        • Berlin-Brandenburgish
        • Thuringian
        • Upper Saxon
        • Silesian
        • High Prussian
  • Low German
    • Low Saxon
      • Old Saxon (Old Low German) †
      • Middle Low German †
      • Schleswigisch
      • Holsteinisch
      • Northern Low Saxon
      • East Frisian Low Saxon
      • Westphalian
      • Eastphalian
    • East Low German
      • Mecklenbugisch-Vorpommersch
      • Brandenburgisch
    • Low Franconian
      • Southern Low Franconian
      • Ostbergisch
      • (Old Dutch) †
      • (Middle Dutch) †
      • (Standart Dutch)
      • (South Guelderish)
      • (Limburgish)
      • (Brabantian)
      • (East Flemish)
      • (Zeelandic)
      • (West Flemish)
      • (Afrikaans)

This article is one of quite a few pages about Natlangs. Indo-european natlangs: Balto-Slavic Natlangs: Czech * Russian Celtic Natlangs: Revived Middle Cornish * Pictish Germanic Natlangs: North Germanic Natlangs: Norwegian West Germanic Natlangs: Anglo-Saxon * Dutch * English (Old English * Middle English * Modern English * Scots) * German (High German * Low German) Indo-Iranian Natlangs: Pahlavi Italic Natlangs: French * Italian * Latin * Spanish Debated: Cimmerian Uralic Natlangs: Finnish * Khanty * Mansi * Mordvinic * Proto-Uralic Altaic (controversial): Japanese Sino-Tibetan Natlangs: Uto-Aztecan Natlangs: Nahuatl - Isolate Natlangs: Basque * * Hypothetical/debated Natlangs and Natlang families: Danubian * Europic (obsolete)