East Franconian German

East Franconian
East Franconian
Ostfränkisch
Native to	Germany (Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse)
Native speakers	4,900,000 (2006)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Irminonic High German High Franconian East Franconian; ; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin (German alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	vmf
Glottolog	main1267
	1: East Franconian

East Franconian (German: Ostfränkisch) is a dialect which is spoken in Franconia, the northern part of Bavaria and other areas in Germany around Nuremberg, Bamberg, Coburg, Würzburg, Hof, Bayreuth, Meiningen, Bad Mergentheim, and Crailsheim. The other variants are Unterostfränkisch (spoken in Lower Franconia and southern Thuringia), Oberostfränkisch (spoken in Upper and Middle Franconia) and Südostfränkisch (spoken in some parts of Middle Franconia and Hohenlohe).

Characteristics

The diphthongs of East Franconian is really similar to the Bavarian and Swabian diphthongs. The consonants /p/, /t/, and /k/ gets changed to /b/, /d/, and /g/. For example, the German word Oberfranken, becomes Oberfrangn in East Franconian. The consonant /s/ gets changed to /sch/. Although, this is true, there are some words that are acceptable. For example, the German word Nordosten, becomes Norddossdn in East Franconian. Another noticeable change is the German -erg, -berg, or -burg gets changed to -ärch, -bärch, or -urch in East Franconian. The diphthong similar to Bavarian and Swabian is the German -ür or -für gets changed to -ia or -fia, or sometimes -är. The German -heim becomes -ham in East Franconian. The vowel /a/ sometimes gets changed to /o/ or with a special /o/ like /ô/ or sometimes the opposite in East Franconian.