Austro-Bavarian language

Austro-Bavarian
Boarisch
Spoken in
Total speakers	12 million
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic High German Upper German Austro-Bavarian
Language codes
ISO 639-1	None
ISO 639-2	gem
ISO 639-3	bar
Linguasphere
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Austro-Bavarian or Bavarian (German: Bairisch, autonym Boarisch) is a major group of Upper German varieties spoken in the south east of the German language area.

History and origin

The Austro-Bavarian regiolect has its origins in the Germanic tribe known as the Bavarii, who established a tribal duchy, which covered much of what is today Bavaria and some of Austria in the early Middle Ages and was eventually subdued by Charlemagne. However, they gradually migrated down the Danube and into the Alps to all those areas where Austro-Bavarian dialects are spoken. German linguists refer to this speech variety, a group of three East Upper German dialects, simply as "Bairisch" (Bavarian, without "Austro"). They are divided into "Oberpfälzisch" (Upper Palatinian, e.g. North Bavarian), "Donaubairisch" (Danube[ian] Bavarian, e.g. Central Bavarian) and "Alpenbairisch" (Alpine Bavarian, e.g. South Bavarian).

These areas had been provinces of the Roman Empire, and the languages of the population were based on Latin, but this language was replaced by the Germanic dialects of the immigrants as the previous inhabitants were assimilated or forced out. This development contrasts with that in the provinces of Gallia and Hispania, where the Germanic languages of the conquerors of those territories were able to exert only a limited influence on the Romance dialects of the local populations.

In German, the very old word "Bairisch", referring to the language, is typically differentiated from the 19th-century term "Bayerisch", which refers to the state of Bavaria. Because of King Ludwig I's passion for all things Hellenic, the German name for Bavaria today is spelled "Bayern", using the Greek 'y', it also reflects the growth of Bavaria after the Vienna Congress into culturally non-Bavarian areas, e.g. Franconia and Swabia, and the attempts to integrate them into the newly formed kingdom. The language spoken there has retained its original Germanic spelling "Bairisch", using the Roman 'i'.

Latin influence

Because of its interaction with the Romance dialects of pre-Germanic inhabitants, some Latin language influence may be seen in Austro-Bavarian's morphology and lexicon. Examples of Latinate vocabulary include "Semmel" or "Semmi" from the Latin "seminare" (seed) and toponyms like Bregenz ("Brigantia"), Regensburg ("Castra Regina"), Passau ("Castra Batavia"), Wels ("Ovilava"), Linz ("Lentia"), Wien ("Vindobona").

Classification

The ISO 639-3 code for Bavarian language is "bar". It had no ISO 639-2 code of its own, but was classified under the "Germanic (Other)" collective language code "gem". Genetically, Bavarian is part of the Upper German family along with Alemannic (which includes Swabian and Swiss German), whereas Standard German is part of the Middle German family, closer to Saxon, which – linguistically – is a Thuringian dialect.

Regions where Austro-Bavarian is spoken

• in Bavaria:
  • in Upper Bavaria
  • in Lower Bavaria
  • in the Upper Palatinate
• in Austria:
  • in all parts of the country with the exception of the federal-state of Vorarlberg and parts of the Reutte district in Tirol , where an Alemannic dialect is spoken.
• in Switzerland:
  • in the village of Samnaun, in Graubünden.
• in Italy:
  • in all of the province of Bolzano-Bozen (South Tyrol) and by small German speaking communities in Trento and Veneto (Cimbrian language).
• in Hungary:
  • the city of Sopron (Ödenburg) is officially bi-lingual.

Subgroups

There are three main dialect groups in Austro-Bavarian:

• Northern Austro-Bavarian, also spoken in the Upper Franconian district of Wunsiedel);
• Central Austro-Bavarian (along the main rivers Isar and Danube, spoken in Munich (by 20% of the People), Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, southern Upper Palatinate, the Swabian district of Aichach-Friedberg, the northern parts of the State of Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Vienna (see Viennese German) and the Northern Burgenland)
• Southern Austro-Bavarian (in Tyrol, Bolzano-Bozen, Carinthia, Styria, and the southern parts of Salzburg and Burgenland).

There are clearly noticeable differences within those three subgroups, which in Austria often coincide with the borders of the particular states. For example, each of the accents of Carinthia, Styria and Tyrol can be easily recognised. Also there is a marked difference between Eastern and Western Central Austro-Bavarian, roughly coinciding with the border between Austria and Bavaria. In addition, the Viennese dialect ("Schönbrunner Deutsch", with its melodical "singing" and the very bright "a") has some characteristics distinguishing it from all other dialects. In Vienna there are even minor, but recongnizable variations that are characteristic for distinct regions of the city.

However, the various Austro-Bavarian dialects are normally mutually intelligible, with the possible exception of some versions of Tyrolean.

Use

In contrast to many other dialects of German, Austro-Bavarian differs sufficiently from Standard German to make it difficult for native Austro-Bavarian speakers to adopt standard pronunciation. All educated Bavarians and Austrians, however, can read, write and understand standard German but may have very little opportunity to speak it, especially in rural areas. In those regions Standard German is restricted to use as the language of writing and the media. It is therefore often referred to as "Schriftdeutsch" (written German) rather than the usual term "Hochdeutsch" (High German or Standard German).

School

Bavaria and Austria officially use Standard German as the primary medium of education. With the spread of universal education, the exposure of speakers of Austro-Bavarian to Standard German has been increasing, and many younger people, especially in the region's cities, and larger towns speak standard German with only a slight accent. In Austria, some parts of grammar and spelling are taught into Standard German lessons. There is no authoritative documented grammar or spelling system for Austro-Bavarian. As reading and writing in Austro-Bavarian is generally not taught at schools, almost all literate speakers of the language prefer to use Standard German for writing. Regional authors and literature may play a role in education as well but by and far standard German is the lingua franca.

Literature

Although there exist grammars, vocabularies, and a translation of the Bible in Austro-Bavarian, there is no common orthographic standard. There is poetry written in various Austro-Bavarian dialects, and many pop songs use the language as well, especially ones belonging to the Austropop wave of the 1970s and 1980s.

Although Austro-Bavarian as a spoken language is in daily use in its region, standard German, often with strong regional influence, is preferred in the mass media.

On the use of Austro-Bavarian and standard German in Austria see Austrian German.

Grammar

The simple past tense is very rare in Austro-Bavarian, and has been retained with only a very few verbs, including 'to be' and 'to want'. In general, the perfect is used to express past time.

Society

Bavarians usually cultivate a large variety of nicknames for those who bear traditional Bavarian or German names like Joseph, Theresa or Edmund (becoming Sepp'l or more common Sepp, Resi and Ede respectively). Bavarians often refer to names with the family name coming first (like der Stoiber Ede instead of Edmund Stoiber). The use of the article is considered mandatory when using this linguistic variation. In addition there exists for almost every family (especially in little villages) a nickname different from their family name. It consists largely of their profession, names or profession of deceased inhabitants of their home or the site their home is located. This nickname is called "Hausname" (en: name of the house) and is seldom used to name the person but more to state where they come from, live in or to whom they are related to.

Samples:

• Mohler (eg. "Maler" - painter)
• Bachbauer (farmer who lives near a brook)
• Moosrees (Resi who lives near a brook)
• Schreiner (joiner)

Samples of Bavarian and Austrian

See also

• Austrian German
• Viennese German
• German language

References

External links

• Ethnologue report for Austro-Bavarian
• Bavarian - English Dictionary from Webster's Online Dictionary - The Rosetta Edition