Editing German language (section)

===German dialects versus varieties of standard German===
In German [[linguistics]], German [[dialect]]s are distinguished from [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]] of [[standard German]].

*The ''German dialects'' are the traditional local varieties. They are traditionally traced back to the different German tribes. Many of them are hardly understandable to someone who knows only standard German, since they often differ from standard German in [[lexicon]], [[phonology]] and [[syntax]]. If a narrow definition of [[language]] based on [[mutual intelligibility]] is used, many German dialects are considered to be separate languages (for instance in the [[Ethnologue]]). However, such a point of view is unusual in German linguistics.
*The ''varieties of standard German'' refer to the different local varieties of the [[pluricentric language|pluricentric]] standard German. They only differ slightly in lexicon and phonology. In certain regions, they have replaced the traditional German dialects, especially in Northern Germany.