Editing Low Franconian (section)

== Area loss ==
Until the [[Early Modern Period]], all speakers of varieties of Low Franconian used [[Middle Dutch]] or Early Modern Dutch as their [[literary language]] and [[Dachsprache]]. There was a marked change in the 19th century, when the historically Dutch-speaking region of [[French Flanders]] underwent a period of [[Francization|Francisation]] under the auspices of the French government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/francophonie/HIST_FR_s9_Fr-contemporain.htm#1_Le_r%C3%B4le_de_lInstruction_publique_dans_lapprentissage_du_fran%C3%A7ais_|title=Histoire du français: Le français contemporain|website=www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca|access-date=6 May 2016}}</ref> Similarly, in the Lower Rhine region, local literary Low Franonian varieties were employed in official use until the 17th century, but were subsequently replaced by standard German in most parts, except for [[Upper Guelders]] and [[Duchy of Cleves|Cleves]] (both since 1701 part of [[Prussia]]), where standard Dutch prevailed as literary language. Following the incoporation of Upper Guelders and Cleves into the [[Rhine Province|Prussian Rhine Province]], there was extensive [[Germanisation]], and Dutch was replaced by German for official use, and its use discouraged in favor of German in the public sphere, leading to a rapid decline in the use of standard Dutch. Vernacular Low Franconian varieties continue to be spoken in the Lower Rhine region to this day, but many speakers have switched to local colloquial forms of German (''Umgangssprache'') since the second half of the 20th century due to increased mobility and wider access to mass media.<ref>Heinz Eickmans, ''Aspekte einer niederrheinischen Sprachgeschichte'', in: Werner Besch, Anne Betten, Oskar Reichmann, Stefan Sonderegger (eds.), ''Sprachgeschichte: Ein Handbuch zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und ihrer Erforschung'', 2nd ed., 3. Teilband (series: HSK 2.3), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York, 2003, p. 2629ff., here p. 2634–2638.</ref><ref>Georg Cornelissen: Das Niederländische im preußischen Gelderland und seine Ablösung durch das Deutsche, Rohrscheid, 1986, S. 93.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-21 |title=Historische Sprachverhältnisse - Institut für Landeskunde und Regionalgeschichte |url=https://rheinische-landeskunde.lvr.de/de/sprache/wissensportal_neu/dialekt_1/historische_sprachverhaeltnisse_kopie/historische_sprachverhaeltnisse.html |access-date=2022-09-29 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621135055/https://rheinische-landeskunde.lvr.de/de/sprache/wissensportal_neu/dialekt_1/historische_sprachverhaeltnisse_kopie/historische_sprachverhaeltnisse.html |archive-date=21 June 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In addition, the historically Dutch-speaking [[Brussels Capital Region]] is officially bilingual, but now largely francophone.