Editing Benrath line

{{Short description|German isogloss line}}
[[File:Benrather und Speyerer Linie.png|right|thumb|300px|The Benrath ({{lang|de|maken–machen}}) and [[Speyer line]] (''Appel–Apfel''), the main isoglosses of the continental West Germanic languages]]

In [[German language|German]] linguistics, the '''Benrath line''' ({{langx|de|Benrather Linie}}) is the {{lang|de|maken–machen}} [[isogloss]]: dialects north of the line have the original {{IPA|/k/}} in {{lang|de|maken}} (to make), while those to the south have the innovative {{IPA|/x/}} ({{lang|de|machen}}). The line runs from Aachen in the west via Benrath (south of [[Düsseldorf]]) to eastern [[Germany]] near [[Frankfurt (Oder)|Frankfurt an der Oder]] in the area of [[Berlin]] and [[Dessau]] and through former East Prussia dividing [[Low Prussian dialect]] and [[High Prussian dialect]]. It is called Benrath line because Benrath is the place where it crosses the [[Rhine]].

The [[High German consonant shift]] (3rd to 9th centuries AD), in which the (northern) [[Low German]] dialects for the most part did not participate, affected the southern varieties of the [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] [[dialect continuum]]. This shift is traditionally seen to distinguish the [[High German languages|High German]] varieties from the other [[West Germanic languages]]. 

The impact of the High German consonant shift increases gradually to the South. The Benrath line does not mark the northernmost effect of the High German consonant shift, since the [[Uerdingen line]], the ''ik–ich'' isogloss, lies slightly further north; and some of the peripheral changes associated with the shift did affect Low German.

==See also==
*[[Speyer line]]
*[[Uerdingen line]]
*[[Joret line]]
*[[Sankt Goar line]]

==External links==
* [http://www.deutsch-lernen.com/learn-german-online/german_language.htm Varieties of German]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040506160208/http://www.ned.univie.ac.at/publicaties/taalgeschiedenis/dt/benrath.htm Maps of the Benrath line]

[[Category:German language]]
[[Category:Isoglosses]]


{{Germanic-lang-stub}}