East Central German in the context of "Central German"

Silesian (Silesian: Schläsisch, Schläs’sch, Schlä’sch, Schläsch, German: Schlesisch), Silesian German, or Lower Silesian is a nearly extinct German dialect spoken in Silesia. It is part of the East Central German language area with some West Slavic and Lechitic influences. Silesian German emerged as the result of Late Medieval German migration to Silesia, which had been inhabited by Lechitic or West Slavic peoples in the Early Middle Ages.

Until 1945, variations of the dialect were spoken by about seven million people in Silesia and neighboring regions of Bohemia and Moravia. After World War II, when the province of Silesia was incorporated into Poland, with small portions remaining in northeastern Czech Republic and in former central Germany, which henceforth became eastern Germany, the local communist authorities expelled the German-speaking population and forbade the use of the language.

Upper Saxon (German: Obersächsisch, standard pronunciation: [ˈoːbɐˌzɛksɪʃ], Upper Saxon pronunciation: [ɵːb̥oˤˈsɛɡ̊sʃ]) is an East Central German dialect spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it is mostly extinct and a new regiolect (also known as obersächsische Umgangssprache) has emerged instead. Though colloquially called "Saxon" (Sächsisch), it is not to be confused with the Low Saxon dialect group in Northern Germany. Upper Saxon is closely linked to the Thuringian dialect spoken in the adjacent areas to the west.

Standard German has been heavily based on Upper Saxon, especially in its lexicon and grammar. This is due to it being used as the basis for early developments in the standardization of German during the early 1500s, including the translation of the Bible by Martin Luther.

The Lusatian dialects (Standard German: Lausitzisch) are East Central German (High German) dialects spoken in southern Brandenburg and eastern Saxony. The name "Lusatian" derives from the term Lusatia, meaning the dialects of Lusatia. They are most closely related to Silesian German.

Berlin and Brandenburg originally lay in the Low German language area. Through immigration to Berlin from (then) Central German-speaking regions like Silesia and Saxony, the city's Low German dialect has been strongly influenced by Central German, so that it evolved from a Low German into a Central German (High German) variant, which then spread from Berlin to the surrounding areas of Brandenburg.

Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon spoken mainly in the state of Saxony, therefore both are also regarded as one Thuringian-Upper Saxon dialect group. Thuringian dialects are among the Central German dialects with the highest number of speakers.

High Prussian (German: Hochpreußisch) is a group of East Central German dialects in former East Prussia, in present-day Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (Poland) and Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia). High Prussian developed in the 13th–15th centuries, brought in by German settlers mainly from Silesia and Thuringia, and was influenced by the Baltic Old Prussian language.