Upper German language area after 1945: blue: Bavarian-Austrian dialects
Bavarian (Boarisch orBairisch;[2]German:Bayrisch[ˈbaɪʁɪʃ]ⓘ), alternatelyAustro-Bavarian, is a group ofUpper Germanvarieties spoken in the south-east of theGerman language area, including the German state ofBavaria, most ofAustria, andSouth Tyrol inItaly.[3] Prior to 1945, Bavarian was also prevalent in parts of the southernSudetenland and westernHungary.[4] Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million people in an area of around 125,000 square kilometres (48,000 sq mi), making it the largest of allGerman dialects. In 2008, 45 percent of Bavarians claimed to use only dialect in everyday communication.[5]
Reasons why Bavarian can be viewed as a dialect of German include the perception of its speakers, the lack of standardization, the traditional use of Standard German as aroofing language, the relative closeness to German which does not justify Bavarian to be viewed as anabstand language, or the fact that no country applied for Bavarian to be entered into theEuropean Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.[12][13]
The wordBavarian is derived from the name of theBaiuvarii people who first appeared under this name in Bavaria in the 6th century. The origin of their name is uncertain, but the most common theory reconstructs the word as*Bajowarjōz, meaning 'inhabitants ofBoii land'. The Boii wereCeltic inhabitants of the area before the Roman conquest, and their name survived.[15]
The local population eventually established theDuchy of Bavaria, forming the south-eastern part of thekingdom of Germany. TheOld High German documents from the area of Bavaria are identified asAltbairisch (Old Bavarian), even though at this early date there were few distinctive features that would divide it fromAlemannic German.
The dialectal separation of Upper German into East Upper German (Bavarian) and West Upper German (Alemannic) became more tangible in theMiddle High German period, from about the 12th century.
Differences are clearly noticeable 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 Bavarian, roughly coinciding with the border between Austria and Bavaria. In addition, the Viennese dialect has some characteristics distinguishing it from all other dialects. In Vienna, minor, but recognizable, variations are characteristic for distinct districts of the city.
For the use of Bavarian and standard German in Austria, seeAustrian German.
Public sign combining Standard German and Bavarian
Bavarian has no official status in any country or territory. Bavarian differs sufficiently fromStandard German to make it difficult for native speakers to adopt standard pronunciation. EducatedBavarians andAustrians can almost always read, write and understand Standard German, but they 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 asSchriftdeutsch ("written German") rather than the usual termHochdeutsch ("High German" or "Standard German"). Given thatCentral German and Upper German together comprise theHigh German languages, out of which the then new, written standard was developed and as opposed toLow German, that is an alternative naming many High German dialect speakers regard justified.
Bavaria and Austria officially use Standard German as the primary medium of education. With the spread of universal education, the exposure of speakers of 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. This accent usually only exists in families where Bavarian is spoken regularly. Families that do not use Bavarian at home usually use Standard German instead. In Austria, some parts of grammar and spelling are taught in Standard German lessons.As reading and writing in 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 large, Standard German is thelingua franca.
Although there exist grammars,vocabularies, and a translation of theBible[citation needed] in Bavarian, there is no common orthographic standard. Poetry is written in various Bavarian dialects, and many pop songs use the language as well, especially ones belonging to theAustropop wave of the 1970s and 1980s.
Although Bavarian as a spoken language is in daily use in its region, Standard German, often with strong regional influence, is preferred in themass media.
Ludwig Thoma was a noted German author who wrote works such asLausbubengeschichten in Bavarian.
Aspiration may occur among voiceless plosives in word-initial position.
The phoneme/h/ is frequently realised as[ç] or[x] word-internally and is realised as[h] word-initially.
Intervocalic/s/ can be voiced to[z], unless it isfortis (lengthened), such as in/hɔasːn/ 'to be named', compared to/rɔasn/ 'to travel', where the sibilant islenis.
Realization of trill sounds varies by dialect. Some (especially those close to the Czech and Swiss border) realize it as a alveolar trill (r) or sometimes tap (ɾ). Others such as almost all southern Bavarian dialects realize either as a Uvular trill (ʀ) or fricative (ʁ).[citation needed]
Some dialects, such as the Bavarian dialect in South Tyrol, realise/k/ as an affricate[k͡x] word-initially and before/m,n,l,r/, which is an extension of theHigh German consonant shift to velar consonants.
Vowel phonemes in parentheses occur only in certain Bavarian dialects or only appear as allophones or in diphthongs. Nasalization may also be distinguished in some dialects.
Bavarian has an extensivevowel inventory, like most Germanic languages. Vowels can be grouped as back rounded, front unrounded and front rounded. They are also traditionally distinguished bylength ortenseness.
Northern and Central Bavarian usually have case inflection only for the article. With very few exceptions, nouns are not inflected for case.
Thesimple past tense is very rare in Bavarian and has been retained for only a few verbs, including 'to be' and 'to want'. In general, the perfect is used to express past time.
Bavarian features verbal inflection for several moods such asindicative,subjunctive,imperative andoptative. See the table below for inflection of the Bavarian verbmåcha, 'make; do':
The possessive pronounsDeina andSeina inflect in the same manner. Oftentimes,-nige is added to the nominative to form the adjective form of the possessive pronoun, like mei(nige), dei(nige), and the like.
Bavarians produce a variety ofnicknames for those who bear traditional Bavarian or German names like Josef, Theresa or Georg (becomingSepp'l or more commonlySepp,Resi andSchorsch, respectively). Bavarians often refer to names with the family name coming first (likeda Stoiber Ede instead ofEdmund Stoiber). The use of the article is considered mandatory when using this linguistic variation. In addition, nicknames different from the family name exist for almost all families, especially in small villages. They consist largely of their profession, names or professions of deceased inhabitants of their homes or the site where their homes are located. This nickname is calledHausname (en: name of the house) and is seldom used to name the person, but more to state where they come from or live or to whom they are related. Examples of this are:
Mohler (e.g.Maler – painter)
Bachbauer (farmer who lives near a brook/creek)
Moosrees (Theresa (Rees/Resi) who lives near a moss)
^Zehetner 1985, p. 16: "Bairisch ist der oberdeutsche Dialekt, der dem Stamm der Baiern (oder Bajuwaren) eigen ist." [Bavarian is the Upper German dialect that is proper to the tribe of the Bavarians (or Baiuvarii).]
^"Bairisch versus bayerisch".Bayerisches Wörterbuch (BWB).Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Retrieved2023-02-26.Von der Verbreitung und von der Sprecherzahl her ist das Bairische die am weitesten verbreitete deutsche Mundart. [In terms of distribution and number of speakers, Bavarian is the most widespread German dialect.]
^Kurt Gustav Goblirsch,Consonant Strength in Upper German Dialects, John Benjamins Publishing Company 2012 asNOWELE Supplement Series vol. 10 (originally Odense University Press 1994), p. 23 f.
Hinderling, Robert (1984). "Bairisch: Sprache oder Dialekt?". In Harnisch, Rüdiger (ed.).Jahrbuch der Johann-Andreas-Schmeller-Gesellschaft 1983. Bayreuth: Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät. pp. 47–64.
Kühebacher, Egon (1965–1971).Tirolischer Sprachatlas. 3 Vol.:Vokalismus, Konsonantismus, Sprachatlas. (= Deutscher Sprachatlas. Regionale Sprachatlanten. Hg. von Ludwig Erich Schmitt, Karl Kurt Klein, Reiner Hildebrandt, Kurt Rein. Bde. 3/1–3). Marburg: N. G. Elwert Verlag.
^Venetian is either grouped with the rest of the Italo-Dalmatian or the Gallo-Italic languages, depending on the linguist, but the major consensus among linguists is that in the dialectal landscape of northern Italy, Veneto dialects are clearly distinguished from Gallo-Italic dialects.
