West Central German belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. It includes the following sub-families: 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). West Central German was spoken in several settlements throughout America, for example in the Amana Colonies.