ABSTRACT
The actual ultimate extent of Eastern Franconian is a point of debate, and Mitzka (1957: 1646 and map) has even included Greiz and Erfurt in the GDR as East Franconian, while some authors exclude parts of the Heilbronn region (Wiesinger 1983: 842f; DSA: Map 56). The Heilbronn region is in fact a transitional zone, whose westernmost limit is the isogloss separating the Franconian diminutive -le from RhFr. -el (Wiesinger 1970: 2, 318ff). To the north-west, East Franconian dialects share a border with Central German dialects (Apfel-Appel isogloss); the southernmost limit can be taken as the line separating the Swabian system of one common plural form for the present tense of the verb ( wir, ihr, sie miihet 'we, you, they mow') from the East Franconian system with two inflected forms: wir, sie miihen 'we, they mow', but ihr miiht 'you (pl.) mow'.
