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 (including ) 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 (; ; or ) in Luxembourg, Belgium and France
- Hunsrik (), spoken in Brazil and derived from the dialect of Moselle Franconian
- Rhine Franconian (; )
- Palatinate Franconian (; ), spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate
- Lorraine Franconian (; ) in the French region of Lorraine
- Bukovina German () in Bukovina (extinct)
- 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 (popularly called Franconian because dialects of this sub-family are spoken all over Franconia).
West Central German was spoken in several settlements throughout America, for example in the Amana Colonies.
See also
- East Central German
- Limburgish language
- High German consonant shift