Imstian Dialects
The Imstian Dialects build, together with Bavarian, Alemannic, South and East Franconian, the Upper German dialect group. The two Imstian main dialects are spoken in Germany, Austria and Italy by approximately 250.000 people. They do not have any official status in any state nor are they written officially.
Name
The linguistic term Imstian (German Imstlerisch) derives from the small city of Imst, which is the biggest settlement in the Imstian Sprachraum. The speakers themselves do not call their dialects so, in fact the terms Schwäbisch is used in the north west, Alemannisch in the west and Bairisch in the east, so always according to the surrounding dialects (as many south Franconian speakers call themselves "Swabians" although they actually don't speak an Allemannic language).
