While Dutch is classified as a Low Franconian language, the Dutch Low Saxon varieties, which are also defined as Dutch dialects, form a dialect continuum with the Westphalian language.

It is formed without a prefix, as in English, Danish, Swedish, Norse and Frisian, but unlike standard German, Dutch and some dialects of Westphalian and Eastphalian Low Saxon:

( There is also a difference in the use of consonants within the Westphalian dialects: North of the Wiehengebirge, people tend to speak unvoiced consonants, south of the Wiehengebirge they speak voiced consonants, e. g. Foite <-> Foide.

Among the Westphalian language there are different subgroups of dialects:

Westphalian, and Low German in general, unlike many of the Middle German dialects, were too distant from standard German to be considered dialects and were therefore not tolerated and efforts were made to stamp it out.

The Westphalian dialect belongs to the low Saxon dialects, which is a part of the family of low German dialects.

Some Dutch Low Saxon dialects show features of Westphalian, a West Low German dialect spoken in Germany.

The language area comprises the North German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia ( the Westphalian part ), Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt ( the northwestern areas around Magdeburg ) as well as the northeast of The Netherlands ( i. e. Dutch Low Saxon, spoken in Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel and northern Gelderland ) and the Schleswigsch dialect spoken by the North Schleswig Germans in the southernmost part of Denmark.

# It has many idiomatic expressions of its own and usages of particular words different from the ones in Northern ( Low Saxon, Mecklenburgic ) and Southern ( Westphalian, Eastphalian, Märkisch ) Low German.

Westphalian or Westfalish ( Wäästfaalisch ) is one of the major dialect groups of West Low German.

One of the reasons for the diminishing use of Westphalian is the rigorous enforcement of German-only policies in traditionally Low German-speaking areas during the 18th century.

This indicates that Riessens is part of the larger Westphalian branch of Low Saxon.

* Westphalian language, one of the major dialect groups of West Low German

It is a dialect of the Westphalian branch of the Low German language group, which together with Limburgs is one of the two officially recognised regional languages of the Netherlands.

St. Mathilda was the daughter of the Westphalian count Dietrich and his wife Reinhild, and her biographers traced her ancestry back to the legendary Saxon leader Widukind ( c. 730 – 807 ).

The Saxon stem duchy covered the greater part of present-day Northern Germany, including the modern German states ( Länder ) of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt up to the Elbe and Saale rivers in the east, the city-states of Bremen and Hamburg, as well as the Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Holstein region ( Nordalbingia ) of Schleswig-Holstein.

Though his ongoing campaigns were successful, he had to deal with the fragmentation of the Saxon territories in Westphalian, Eastphalian and Angrian tribes, demanding the conclusion of specific peace agreements with single tribes, which soon were to be broken by other clans.

A Westphalian variety of high German is spoken in Schwelm ( Westphalian: from old Saxon " Westfal " = " western land ").

The Wiehen Hills form the northwestern boundary of the Lower Saxon Hills to which they belong geographically, together with the Westphalian part of the ridge.

* East Westphalian in East Westphalia ( including the dialect of Osnabrück )

It has many lexical similarities and other proximities with Eastphalian, extending to the East and a bit to the North of the area where Westphalian is spoken.

** Westphalian language around Münster, including the Osnabrück region of Lower Saxony

A linguistic definition of Westphalia ( see Westphalian language ) includes the former Prussian Province of Westphalia ( except Siegen-Wittgenstein ), Lippe, the region around Osnabrück and the greater area of the Emsland.

Nevertheless, the Westphalian dialect of German includes some words that originate from the dying Westphalian language, which are otherwise unintelligible for other German speakers from outside Westphalia.

** Westphalian language

The population's main language was once Westphalian, but it has since been replaced by High German.

It is implicit in the Westphalian system of nation-states, and explicitly recognized under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, that all states have the inherent right to individual and collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against them.

As a young girl, she was sent to the convent of Herford, where her grandmother Matilda was abbess and where her reputation for beauty and virtue ( probably also her Westphalian dowry ) is said to have attracted the attention of Duke Otto I of Saxony, who betrothed her to his recently divorced son and heir, Henry the Fowler.

The idea of a nation state is associated with the rise of the modern system of states, often called the " Westphalian system " in reference to the Treaty of Westphalia ( 1648 ).

The Westphalian system did not create the nation state, but the nation state meets the criteria for its component states ( by assuming that there is no disputed territory ).

The immense development of the Fehme is explained by the privileges of the Freischöffen ; for they were subject to no jurisdiction but those of the Westphalian courts: whether as accused or accuser they had access to the secret sessions, and they shared in the discussions of the general chapter as to the policy of the society.

Princes and nobles were initiated ; and in 1429 even the emperor Sigismund himself became “ a true and proper Freischöffe of the Holy Roman Empire .” There is a manuscript in the Town Hall of the Westphalian town of Soest, which consists of an original Vehmic Court Regulation document, along with illustrations.

Approximately half of the state is located in the relative shallow regions of the Westphalian Lowland or rather the Rhineland, both widely extending into the North German Plain.

Münster is situated on the river Aa, approximately 15 km south of its confluence with the Ems in the Westphalian Bight, a landscape studded with dispersed settlements and farms, the so called " Münsterland ".

Bochum (; Westphalian: Baukem ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia ( NRW ), western Germany.

Hagen is home to the Westfälisches Freilichtmuseum Hagen, or Hagen Westphalian Open-Air Museum, a collection of historic industrial facilities where trades such as printing, brewing, smithing, milling, and many others are represented not simply as static displays, but as living, working operations that visitors may in some cases even be invited to participate in.

The district is also known as Mühlenkreis, as it has many reconstructed historic mills, many linked by the Westphalian Mill Route.

The name Porta Westfalica is the Latin expression for " Westphalian Gate ", as the gorge appears like a gate to the region Westphalia, which lies to the south of it.

Another oft-stated reason for opposition is the Westphalian concept that foreign governments should never possess a right to intervene in another sovereign nation's internal affairs ( including terrorism or any other non-international affair ).

In the 12th century, old Arnsberg became the seat of Westphalian jurisdiction ( whose coat of arms is up to the present still used by the Hochsauerlandkreis ).

True Westphalian is currently only spoken by mostly elderly people.

Although it is not known whether this, and other early references, refer to precisely the bread that came to be known as pumpernickel, there has long been something different about Westphalian rye bread that elicited comment.

Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.