Ripuarian language in the context of "Eupen"

50°38′N 06°02′E / 50.633°N 6.033°E / 50.633; 6.033

The German-speaking Community (German: Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft (Belgiens), pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃˌʃpʁaːxɪɡə ɡəˈmaɪnʃaft ˈbɛlɡi̯əns], DG), also known as East Belgium (German: Ostbelgien [ˈɔstˌbɛlɡi̯ən] ), is one of the three federal communities of Belgium. The community is composed of nine municipalities in Liège Province, Wallonia, within the Eupen-Malmedy region in Eastern Belgium. The primary language of the community is German, making this one of the three official languages in Belgium. Traditionally the community and the wider area around it forms an intersection of various local languages and/or dialects, namely Limburgish, Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian varieties. The community has an area of 854 km (330 sq mi), and has a population of around 79,000 (as of January 2024) – about 7.0% of Liège Province and about 0.7% of the national total.

Colognian or Kölsch (pronounced [kœ̂lɧ], narrower [kœ̂ɫːʃ]; full name Kölsch Platt) is a small set of very closely related dialects, or variants, of the Ripuarian group of dialects of the Central German group. These dialects are spoken in the area covered by the Archdiocese and former Electorate of Cologne reaching from Neuss in the north to just south of Bonn, west to Düren and east to Olpe in northwest Germany.

Central or Middle Franconian (German: mittelfränkische Dialekte, mittelfränkische Mundarten, mittelfränkische Mundart, Mittelfränkisch) refers to the following continuum of West Central German dialects:

• Ripuarian (spoken in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in eastern Belgium, and the southeastern tip of Dutch Limburg)
• Moselle Franconian (in German Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, in eastern Belgium and French Lorraine)
  • Luxembourgish (in Luxembourg and the adjacent areas of Belgium and France)

Luxembourgish is often included within Moselle Franconian, but sometimes regarded as a separate group. The German-speaking Community of Belgium comprises both Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian dialects. The Central Franconian dialects are part of a continuum stretching from the Low Franconian language area in the northwest to the Rhine Franconian dialects in the southeast.Along with Limburgish, Central Franconian has a simple tone system called pitch accent.

West Central German (German: Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. It includes the following sub-families:

• Central Franconian (Mittelfränkisch)
  • Ripuarian (Ripuarisch), spoken in North Rhine-Westphalia (including Kölsch) and German-speaking Belgium and a small edge of the south of the Dutch province of Limbourg.
  • Moselle Franconian (Moselfränkisch; French: francique luxembourgeois) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and France
    • Luxembourgish (Luxemburgisch; Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch; francique luxembourgeois or luxembourgeois) in Luxembourg, Belgium and France
    • Hunsrik (Riograndenser Hunsrückisch), spoken in Brazil and derived from the Hunsrückisch dialect of Moselle Franconian
• Rhine Franconian (Rheinfränkisch; francique rhénan)
  • Palatinate Franconian (Pfälzisch; francique palatin), spoken in Rhineland-Palatinate
    • Lorraine Franconian (Lothringisch; francique lorrain) in the French region of Lorraine
    • Bukovina German (Bukowinadeutsch) in Bukovina (extinct)
    • Pennsylvania German (Pennsylvaniadeutsch) in historical communities in North America, especially Pennsylvania
  • Hessian (Hessisch) in Hesse and the Rhenish Hesse region of Rhineland-Palatinate
    • North Hessian (Nordhessisch)
    • Central Hessian (Mittelhessisch)
    • East Hessian (Osthessisch)
    • South Hessian (Südhessisch)

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).

Düren (German pronunciation: [ˈdyːʁən]; Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne, on the river Rur.

Parkstad Limburg (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpɑr(ə)kstɑt ˈlɪmbʏr(ə)x]; Ripuarian and Limburgish: Parksjtad Limburg [ˈpɑʀəkʃtɑt ˈlɪmbʏʀəx]) is a conurbation of seven municipalities in the southern part of the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. Consisting of Heerlen, Kerkrade, Landgraaf, Brunssum, Simpelveld, Voerendaal and Beekdaelen, the municipalities work together to improve public services, transport, and housing on a regional level. This collaboration started in 1999. Within Parkstad, the city of Heerlen functions as the centre of economic and social activity, and to a lesser extent the cities of Kerkrade and Landgraaf function in the same regard as regional hubs.