Uerdingen line

The Uerdingen Line is the isogloss within West Germanic languages, that separates the linguistic forms that use the word ich or similar words rather than ik as the word for I. The Uerdingen line is presently in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. The Uerdingen line starts at Bierbeek inFlemish Brabant in Belgium. Hence it stretches further North into Belgian Limburg. North of the capital of Belgian Limburg, Hasselt, it crosses the Dutch-Belgian border. Thence it goes straight East, South of the town ofVenlo into Germany. Further East its Northern limits are Kempen, Hüls and other places within the Rhineland until it crosses the Rhine at Uerdingen, which now belongs to the city of Krefeld. In the part of the Rhineland, East of the Rhine the places North of the UerdingenLine include Saarn, which belongs to Mülheim an der Ruhr, Kettwig, which belongs to Essen, Elberfeld, which belongs to Wuppertal, Gummersbach and Wiedenest, which belongs to Bergneustadt. To the South of this line, in Belgium, the Netherlands and also Germany the Limburgish dialect of the Dutch language is spoken, in the former countries in Brabant and Limburg only, in the latter in theRhineland in North Rhine-Westphalia only. In all three countries Limburgish is spoken. The Uerdingen line runs further East at Halbe, Hermsdorf, Freidorf and Stoki in Southern Brandenburg in Eastern Germany.

NB: Some of this information might be outdated, as several dialects involved are rarely used.

See also: High German consonant shift