| Transylvanian Saxon | |
|---|---|
| Siweberjesch-Såksesch/Såksesch | |
 | |
| Native to |  Romania[a] |
| Region |  Transylvania (German:Siebenbürgen or Transsilvanien) |
Native speakers | 200,000[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | tran1294 |
 Areas where Transylvanian Saxon was spoken in theKingdom of Romania in 1918 (the grey-coloured areas to the west denote whereSwabian was spoken). | |
 Transylvanian Saxon is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Transylvanian Saxon is the nativeGerman dialect of theTransylvanian Saxons, an ethnicGerman minority group fromTransylvania in centralRomania, and is also one of the three oldest ethnic German andGerman-speaking groups of theGerman diaspora inCentral and Eastern Europe, along with theBaltic Germans andZipser Germans.[2][3] In addition, the Transylvanian Saxons are the eldest ethnic German group of all constituent others forming the broader community of theGermans of Romania.
The dialect is known by theendonymSiweberjesch Såksesch or justSåksesch; in German asSiebenbürgisch-Sächsisch,Siebenbürgisch-sächsischer Dialekt/Mundart, orDie siebenbürgisch-sächsische Sprache (obsolete German spelling:Siebenbürgisch Teutsch); inTransylvanian Landler dialect asSoksisch; inHungarian aserdélyi szász nyelv; and inRomanian aslimba săsească,săsește, ordialectul săsesc.
Linguistically, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect is very close toLuxembourgish (especially regarding itsvocabulary). This is because many ancestors of the present-day Transylvanian Saxons stemmed from contemporaryLuxembourg as early as the 12th century, especially in the area of contemporarySibiu County (German:Kreis Hermannstadt), as part of theOstsiedlung process. In their case, the Ostsiedlung colonisation process took place in southern, southeastern, and northeastern Transylvania for economic development, guarding the easternmost borders of the formerKingdom of Hungary as well as mining, especially in the area ofBistrița (German:Bistritz or Nösen, archaic form).[4]
Consequently, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect has been spoken in the south, southeast, and northeast of Transylvania since theHigh Middle Ages onwards.[5][6] In addition, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect is also similar to theZipser German dialect spoken by the Zipsers inSpiš (German:Zips), northeasternSlovakia as well asMaramureș (i.e.Maramureș County) andBukovina (i.e.Suceava County), northeastern Romania.[7]
There are two main types or varieties of the dialect, more specifically northern Transylvanian Saxon (German:Nordsiebenbürgisch), spoken inNösnerland (Romanian:Țara Năsăudului) including the dialect ofBistrița, and south Transylvanian Saxon (German:Südsiebenbürgisch), including, most notably, the dialect ofSibiu (German:Hermannstadt). In the process of its development, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect has been influenced byRomanian andHungarian as well.[8] Nowadays, given its relatively small number of native speakers worldwide, the dialect is severely endangered.
In terms ofcomparative linguistics, it pertains to theMoselle Franconian group ofWest Central German dialects. In this particular regard, it must be mentioned that it shares a consistent amount of lexical similarities withLuxembourgish.[9][10]
The dialect was mainly spoken inTransylvania (contemporary centralRomania), by native speakers of German,Flemish, andWalloon origins who were settled in theKingdom of Hungary starting in the mid and mid-late 12th century (more specifically from approximately the 1140s/1150s to the 19th century). Over the passing of time, it had been consistently influenced by bothRomanian andHungarian given the centuries-long cohabitation of the Saxons withRomanians andHungarians (mostlySzeklers) in the south, southeast, and northeast of Transylvania.[11][12][13] The main areas where Transylvanian Saxon was spoken in Transylvania were southern and northern Transylvania.[14][15]
In the contemporary era, the vast majority of the native speakers have emigrated in several waves, initially to Germany andAustria, but then subsequently to the US, Canada as well as other Western European countries, managing in the process to preserve (at least temporarily) their specific language there.
Lastly, one can perceive the Transylvanian Saxon dialect, bearing in mind its conservative character when compared to other dialects of the German language (due primarily to its geographic isolation from other German idioms) as a type of German spoken in medieval times, or, more specifically asOld High German orMiddle High German.
Traditionally, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect was mainly spoken in the rural areas of Transylvania throughout the passing of time, since the arrival of the Transylvanian Saxons in theCarpathian Basin during theMiddle Ages (more specifically beginning in the 12th century) onwards. In the urban settlements (i.e. several towns and cities such asSibiu/Hermannstadt orBrașov/Kronstadt),standard German (i.e. Hochdeutsch) was more spoken and written more instead.
The traditional areas where the Transylvanian Saxon dialect has been spoken are southern Transylvania and north-eastern Transylvania which represent the main areas of settlement of the Transylvanian Saxons since theHigh Middle Ages onwards. These areas correspond mainly toSibiu County,Brașov County,Mureș County, andBistrița-Năsăud County and, to a lesser extent,Alba County andHunedoara County respectively.
Furthermore, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect also varied from village to village where it was spoken (that is, a village could have had a slightly different local form of Transylvanian Saxon than the other but there was still a certain degree of mutual intelligibility between them; for instance, more or less analogous and similar to howEnglish accents vary on a radius of 5 miles (8.0 km) in the England/United Kingdom).
Before theRomanian Revolution of 1989, most of the Transylvanian Saxons were still living in Transylvania.
By 1990, the number of Saxons living in Transylvania had decreased dramatically. Shortly after the fall of communism, from 1991 to 1994, many Transylvanian Saxons who still remained in Transylvania decided to ultimately emigrate to re-unified Germany, leaving just a minority of approximately 20,000 Transylvanian Saxons in Romania at the round of the 21st century (or less than 1 percent of the entire population of Transylvania).[16][17]
The number of native Transylvanian Saxon speakers today is estimated at approximately 200,000 persons. Transylvanian Saxon is also the native dialect of the formerPresident of Romania,Klaus Iohannis, by virtue of the fact that he is a Transylvanian Saxon.[18] It is also the native dialect of well knownGerman rock superstarPeter Maffay. Additionally, according to the2011 Romanian census, only 11,400 Transylvanian Saxons were still living in Transylvania at that time.[19] The2021 Romanian census (postponed one year to 2022 because of theCOVID-19 pandemic in Romania) reported a smaller overall figure for the German minority in Romania and, most probably, an even fewer number of native Transylvanian Saxon speakers still living in Transylvania.
Below is a sample text written in the Transylvanian Saxon dialect, entitled 'De Råch' (meaning 'The Revenge'), which is, more specifically, an old traditional ballad/poem (also translated and in comparison with standard German/Hochdeutsch and English):[20]
| De Råch (Transylvanian Saxon in original) Hië ritt berjuëf, hië ritt berjåff, | Die Rache (Standard German)[b] Er ritt bergab, er ritt bergauf, | The Revenge (English translation) He rode downhill, he rode uphill, |
Below is another sample text of religious nature, more specifically theOur Father prayer:[21]
| Foater auser (Transylvanian Saxon in original) Foater auser dier dau best em Hemmel, |
