Ripuarian

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Relating to the group of Romance languages spoken primarily along the Rhine River region; pertaining to the historical and cultural attributes associated with these languages; connected to the people who traditionally live near the Rhine
2. Concerning the linguistic family found in the areas adjacent to the Rhine, including dialects and vernaculars; associated with the customs and heritage of the Rhine valley inhabitants; referring to the geographical region by the Rhine and its influence
3. Describing languages or dialects from the Rhine riverbanks distinguished by specific phonetic and grammatical features; related to the traditions and history of communities along the Rhine; identifying the regional cultural-linguistic identity near the riverbank zone

Etymology: The name goes back to the Franks, not to any single river town. Medieval Latin writers used "Ripuarius" for the Franks who settled along the Rhine's banks, and the word appears to derive from Latin "ripa", meaning river bank. The Ripuarian Franks were one of the Frankish groups, and their dialects became the basis of the modern Ripuarian languages spoken in the Rhineland. The suffix "-an" is simply the familiar English adjective ending, added to the Medieval Latin stem, so the English word is a straightforward borrowing of a Latin tribal name turned into an adjective. Its meaning has shifted from describing a people to describing the speech and culture of the region around the Rhine, which is why the term now mostly appears in discussions of German dialects.