The subdivision of West Central German into a series of dialects, according to the differing extent of the High German consonant shift, is particularly pronounced. It is known as the Rhenish fan (, ) because on the map of dialect boundaries, the lines form a fan shape.Rheinischer Fächer – Karte des Landschaftsverband Rheinland Here, no fewer than eight isoglosses, named after places on the Rhine River, run roughly west to east. They partially merge into a simpler system of boundaries in East Central German. The table below lists the isoglosses (bold, in light fields) and the main resulting dialects (italics, in dark fields), arranged from north to south.
Chart
Dialects and isoglosses of the Rhenish fan(Arranged from north to south: dialects in dark fields, isoglosses in light fields)I.e., it is arranged like this: northern dialect Isogloss northern form southern form southern dialect. Compare also:
Map also printed in:Winfried Dolderer, Overmaas – „jenseits der Maas“: Eine historische Annäherung, in: Sebastian Bischoff, Christoph Jahr, Tatjana Mrowka, Jens Thiel (eds.), „Mit Belgien ist das so eine Sache ...“: Resultate und Perspektiven der Historischen Belgienforschung (series: Historische Belgienforschung, Bd. 9), Waxmann, Münster / New York, 2021, p. 15ff., here p. 18.Johannes Venema, Zum Stand der zweiten Lautverschiebung im Rheinland: diatopische, diachrone und diastratische Untersuchungen am Beispiel der dentalen Tenuis (voralthochdeutsch /t/), Franz Steiner Verlag, 1997, p. 10–12. North Low Franconian (Kleverlandish, East Bergish) / Low German Uerdingen line (Uerdingen)() ik/ick ich South Low Franconian (Limburgish) Benrath line()(Boundary: Low German — Central German) maken machen Ripuarian Franconian (Cologne, Bonn, Aachen) (Dorp/Dorf-Linie or /)(State border NRW–RP) Dorp Dorf Northern Moselle Franconian (Luxembourgish, Trier) up uf Southern Moselle Franconian () Bacharach line (Bacharach)(dat/das-Linie or / or ) dat, wat das, was Rhenish Franconian (, Frankfurt) Speyer line (Speyer)()(Boundary: Central German — Upper German) Appel Apfel Germersheim line (Germersheim)()(Boundary: Central German — Upper German) Pund Pfund Upper German
Notes
References