German dialects

German dialects are the various traditional local varieties of the German language. Though varied by region, those of the southern half of Germany beneath the Benrath line are dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant shift, and the dialect continuum that connects High German to the neighboring varieties of Low Franconian (Dutch) and Low German. The varieties of German are conventionally grouped into Upper German, Central German and Low German; Upper and Central German form the High German subgroup.

Extends: [German dialects](https://wikipedia.org.ai/German dialects), [Dialects by language](https://wikipedia.org.ai/Dialects by language)