West Central German

West Central German belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. It includes the following sub-families:

Central Franconian
* Ripuarian, spoken in North Rhine-Westphalia and German-speaking Belgium and a small edge of the south of the Dutch province of Limbourg.
* Moselle Franconian in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and France
** Luxembourgish in Luxembourg, Belgium and France
** Hunsrik, spoken in Brazil and derived from the Hunsrückisch dialect of Moselle Franconian
Rhine Franconian
* Palatinate Franconian, spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate
** Lorraine Franconian in the French region of Lorraine
** Bukovina German in Bukovina
** Pennsylvania German in historical communities in North America, especially Pennsylvania
* Hessian in Hesse and the Rhenish Hesse region of Rhineland-Palatinate
** North Hessian
** Central Hessian
** East Hessian
** South Hessian

On the southern and southeastern edges, West Central German varieties border on an area often considered a transitional area between Central German and Upper German, comprising the dialect groups South Franconian German and East Franconian German.
West Central German was spoken in several settlements throughout America, for example in the Amana Colonies.