Alsatian (Elsässisch)

Alsatian is a German Alemannic dialect spoken in Alsace, a region
in eastern France which has passed between French and German control
many times during its history. As a result, Alsatian has been influenced
a great deal by the French language.

About 96,000 people speak Alsatian, which is 60% of the inhabitants
of Alsace. The majority of speakers are adults and only about 36% of
primary school pupils can speak the dialect. There is limited usage
Alsatian in the media: one radio station, Radio France Alsace, broadcasts in
Alsatian and other radio and TV stations broadcast some programs in
the dialect.

Alsatian is not easily intelligible to speakers of standard German,
but is closely related to other Alemannic dialects, such as Swiss
German and Swabian. It is often confused with the Frankish language,
a more distantly related German West Franconian dialect. Both languages
are called alsacien in French.

Many speakers write in standard German, although street names, which
were formerly only in French, may use local spellings.