Central or Middle Franconian (German: mittelfränkische Dialekte, mittelfränkische Mundarten, mittelfränkische Mundart, Mittelfränkisch) refers to the following continuum of West Central German dialects: Luxembourgish is often included within Moselle Franconian, but sometimes regarded as a separate group.

The German-speaking Community of Belgium comprises both Ripuarian and Moselle Franconian dialects.

Along with Limburgish, Central Franconian has a simple tone system called pitch accent.

[1] The Central Franconian language area is not to be confused with the Bavarian administrative district of Middle Franconia, where East Franconian dialects are spoken.

The Central Franconian dialects are of particular interest to linguists because of the tonal distinctions made between different words, for example (Ripuarian) zɛɪ (tonal accent 1) "sieve" vs. zɛɪ (tonal accent 2) "she".