Editing German language (section)

===Low Franconian===
{{Further|Low Franconian}}
The [[Low Franconian languages|Low Franconian]] dialects fall within a linguistic category used to classify a number of historical and contemporary West Germanic varieties most closely related to, and including, the [[Dutch language]]. Consequently, the vast majority of the Low Franconian dialects are spoken outside of the German language area. Low Franconian dialects are spoken in the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Namibia, and Suriname, and along the [[Lower Rhine]] in Germany, in [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]. The region in Germany encompasses parts of the [[Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region]].

The Low Franconian dialects have three different standard varieties: In the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname, it is Dutch, which is itself a Low Franconian language. In South Africa, it is [[Afrikaans]], which is also categorized as Low Franconian. During the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Early Modern Period]], the Low Franconian dialects now spoken in Germany, used [[Middle Dutch]] or Early Modern Dutch as their [[literary language]] and [[Dachsprache]]. Following a 19th-century change in Prussian language policy, use of Dutch as an official and public language was forbidden; resulting in [[Standard German]] taking its place as the region's official language.<ref>Heinz Eickmans, ''Aspekte einer niederrheinischen Sprachgeschichte'', in: Werner Besch, Anne Betten, Oskar Reichmann, Stefan Sonderegger (eds.), ''Sprachgeschichte: Ein Handbuch zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache'', 2nd ed., 3. Teilband, (series: HSK 2.3), Walter de Gruyter, 2003, here p. 2636.</ref><ref>Georg Cornelissen: Das Niederländische im preußischen Gelderland und seine Ablösung durch das Deutsche, Rohrscheid, 1986, p. 93.</ref> As a result, these dialects are now considered German dialects from a socio-linguistic point of view.<ref>Jan Goossens: Niederdeutsche Sprache – Versuch einer Definition. In: Jan Goossens (Hrsg.): Niederdeutsch – Sprache und Literatur. Karl Wachholtz, Neumünster, 1973, p. 9–27.</ref>

The Low Franconian dialects in Germany are divided by the [[Uerdingen line]] (north of which the word for "I" is pronounced as "ik" and south of which as "ich") into northern and southern Low Franconian. The northern variants comprise [[Kleverlandish]], which is most similar to Standard Dutch. The other ones are transitional between Low Franconian and [[Ripuarian language|Ripuarian]], but closer to Low Franconian.
* Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in the area: [[Cape Town]], [[Pretoria]], [[Brussels]],{{efn|in danger of extinction due to the [[Francization of Brussels]]}} [[Gqeberha]], [[Amsterdam]], [[Düsseldorf]]*, [[Rotterdam]], [[The Hague]], [[Antwerp]], [[Duisburg]]*, [[Utrecht]], [[Wuppertal]]*, [[Mönchengladbach]]*, [[Ghent]], [[Bloemfontein]], [[Eindhoven]], [[Paramaribo]], [[Krefeld]]*, [[Almere]], [[Oberhausen]]*, [[Tilburg]], [[Nijmegen]], [[Mülheim an der Ruhr]]*, [[Arnhem]], [[Haarlem]], [[Amersfoort]], [[Solingen]]*, [[Neuss]]*, [[Breda]], [[Apeldoorn]], [[Zwolle]], [[Zoetermeer]], [[Leiden]], [[Maastricht]], [[Dordrecht]], [[Bruges]], [[Remscheid]]*, [['s-Hertogenbosch]], [[Delft]], [[Moers]]*, [[Leuven]], [[Willemstad]], and the south of [[Essen]]*.
<nowiki>*</nowiki> <small>city with German as standard language</small>