Upper German

Not to be confused with Standard German.

Upper German
Geographic distribution:	Southern Germany, northern and central Switzerland, Austria, and Northern Italy
Linguistic classification:	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic High German Upper German
Subdivisions:	Alemannic Austro-Bavarian
1: East Franconian   2: South Franconian   3: Swabian German   4: Low Alemannic   5: Alsatian   6: High and Highest Alemannic   7: Northern Austro-Bavarian   8: Central Austro-Bavarian   9: Southern Austro-Bavarian

Upper German (German: Oberdeutsch) is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy.

Family tree

Upper German can be generally classified as Alemannic or Austro-Bavarian. However, there are several dialects in these two groups besides the more widespread versions of Alemannic and Austro-Bavarian.

• Alemannic German (G: Alemannisch)
  • Swabian German (G: Schwäbisch, spoken mostly in Swabia, numbered 3)
  • Low Alemannic German (G: Niederalemannisch, numbered 4)
    • Alsatian (Al & G: Elsässisch, spoken in Alsace, France, numbered 5)
    • Alemán Coloniero (G & Spanish: Alemán Coloniero, spoken in Venezuela)
    • Basel German (Baseldytsch: Baslerdüütsch, G: Baseldeutsch)
  • High Alemannic German (Al & G: Hochalemannisch, numbered 6)
    • Bernese German (Bernese: Bärndütsch, G: Berndeutsch)
    • Zürich German (G: Zürichdeutsch, Zürich German: Züritüütsch)
  • Highest Alemannic German (Al & G: Höchstalemannisch, numbered 6)
    • Walliser German (G: Walliserdeutsch Walliser German: Wallisertitsch, spoken in the Wallis Canton of Switzerland)
      • Walser German (G: Walserdeutsch)
• Austro-Bavarian (A-B: Boarische Språch, G: Bairisch, spoken in Austria, South Tyrol, Italy, and in Bavaria, Germany)
  • Northern Austro-Bavarian (A-B: Nordboarisch, G: Nordbairisch, spoken in Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, numbered 7)
  • Central Austro-Bavarian (A-B: Mittelboarisch, G: Mittelbairisch, spoken in Bavaria and Austria, numbered 8)
    • Viennese German (G: Wienerisch, spoken in Vienna and parts of Lower Austria, Austria)
    • Munich German (G: Münchnerisch, spoken in Munich, Bavaria)
  • Southern Austro-Bavarian (A-B: Südboarisch, G: Südbairisch, spoken in Austria and South Tyrol, Italy)
  • Cimbrian (G: Tzimbrisch, Italian: lingua cimbra, spoken in northeastern Italy)
  • Mócheno (It: lingua mòchena, spoken in Trentino, in Italy)
  • Hutterite German (G: Hutterisch, spoken in Canada and the United States)

High Franconian

Whether the East Franconian (including Erzgebirgisch, often overlooked and incorrectly classified as part of Upper Saxon) and South Franconian dialect groups, also collectively known as High Franconian, should be included as part of Upper German or instead classified as Central German is an open question, as they have traits of both Upper and Central German and are frequently described as a transitional zone. Hence, either scheme can be encountered.

Based on the fact that Langobardic has undergone the High German consonant shift completely, it is also often classified as Upper German. However, if the High German consonant shift occurred late (7th/8th century), which now seems to be the prevalent view, it would seem to be anachronistic to do so. On the other hand, if Langobardic was still essentially identical to Bavarian or Alemannic at the time, the anachronism would disappear, and in fact, what is attested in Langobardic cannot really be shown to be systematically different in any particular point from the earliest attested form of Bavarian in the 8th century, apart from a few divergent phonological developments, which, however, seem to postdate the sound shift.