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From Middle High German and Old High German*hand, northern variant of hant. The regular form in Moselle Franconian and some southern dialects of Ripuarian is Hand with a plural Hänn (< *hende) through the development: intervocalic -nd- → -nn-. The regular form in most of Ripuarian is Hank with a plural Häng (< *henge) through velarization and subsequently a corresponding development: intervocalic -ŋg- → -ŋŋ-.
These regular systems are preserved in Moselle Franconian and western Ripuarian. In many eastern and central Ripuarian dialects, the native velarization has to a large degree been reverted under the influence of standard German and surrounding varieties. This reversion, which has emanated from Cologne, is irregular, affecting -nk more than it does -ng-, and hence it has led to occasional variation between velarized and de-velarized forms within the inflectional paradigm of one word (compare Wand, Zand, schänge).
The plural Hänn is used in Moselle Franconian and some southern dialects of Ripuarian. The form Häng is used in many Ripuarian dialects, including Kölsch.