Students of German who first left the plane in Austria, Germany or Switzerland are shocked if they do not know anything about German dialects. Although standard German (Hochdeutsch) is widespread and commonly used in typical business or travel situations, there is always a moment when you suddenly do not understand a word, even if your German is pretty good.
When this happens, it usually means that you are faced with one of the many dialects of the German language.
Linguistic diversity
According to some estimates, the number of German dialects varies from 50 to 250. A large discrepancy is associated with the difficulty in defining the term “dialect” itself. This is a completely normal phenomenon, if we understand that in the early Middle Ages on the territory that is now the German-speaking part of Europe, there were only dialects of various Germanic tribes. There was no common German language, which appeared much later. In fact, the first common language - Latin - in the German region was introduced by the Romans. The result can be seen in “German” words, such as “Kaiser” (“emperor” from Caesar) and “student” (Schüler from Latin scholae).
This linguistic confusion also has a political parallel: until 1871 there was no country called Germany. At the same time, the German-speaking part of Europe does not coincide geographically with the current political borders. In parts of eastern France, in a region called Alsace and Lorraine, they still speak the German dialect known as Alsatian (Elsässisch).
Linguists divide the variants of German and other languages into three main categories: Dialekt / Mundart (dialect), Umgangssprache (idiomatic language, local application), and Hochsprache / Hochdeutsch (standard German). But even linguists disagree on the clear boundaries between the categories. German dialects exist almost exclusively in oral form (despite transliteration), which makes it difficult to determine where one ends and another begins.
Standard language
There is a dominant rule-making variety, which is studied by almost all non-native speakers. It is called Standarddeutsch (Standard German) or often Hochdeutsch (High German).
Standarddeutsch exists in every German-speaking country. However, Germany, Austria and Switzerland have their own, slightly different version of Standarddeutsch. Since Germany is the largest country in the trio, most learn standard German. It is used in the media, politics and education of Germany.
This “standard” German can have different accents (which is not equivalent to a dialect). Austrian German, Swiss (standard) German or Hochdeutsch, heard in Hamburg and heard in Munich, may sound a little different, but everyone can understand each other.
Features
One way to determine is to compare which words are used for the same subject. As an example of the German dialects, we can consider the common word “mosquito”, which can take any of the following forms: Gelse, Moskito, Mugge, Mücke, Schnake, Staunze. Not only that, but the same word can have different meanings depending on where you are. Eine (Stech-) Mücke in northern Germany is a mosquito. In some parts of Austria, the same word refers to mosquitoes or flies. In fact, there is no single universal term for some words in the dialects of the German language in Germany. A jelly-filled donut is called three different words, not counting other linguistic changes. Berliner, Krapfen and Pfannkuchen - everything means a donut. But Pfannkuchen in southern Germany is a pancake or crepe. In Berlin, the same word refers to a donut, and in Hamburg, a donut refers to a Berliner.
Modern German dialects
Spending some time in one or another part of the German Sprachraum ("language zone"), you have to get acquainted with the local dialect. In some cases, knowledge of the local form of German may be a matter of survival. There are several main branches of the German language, going mainly from north to south. All of them have different options within themselves.
Frisian
This German dialect in Germany is spoken in the north of the country, along the coast of the North Sea. The North Frisian dialect is used south of the Danish border. West Frisian - to modern Holland, while East Frisian is used north of Bremen along the coast and, quite logically, on the north and east Frisian islands off the coast.
Low german
It is also called Netherlandic or Plattdeutsch. This German dialect is used from the Dutch border east to the former German territories of East Pomerania and East Prussia. It is divided into many variants, including northern Lower Saxon, Westphalian, East Italian, Brandenburg, East Pomeranian, Mecklenburg, etc. This dialect often resembles English more (with which it is associated) than standard German.
“Low” in this case means the lowlands of northern Germany, in contrast to the highlands of the Alps. Although it is gradually dying away, many who speak it still consider it part of their legacy, even to the point that they call it their own language, not a dialect.
Mitteldeutsch (Middle German)
The Central German region extends through the middle of Germany from Luxembourg (where they speak the subdialect of the Latin language Mitteldeutsch) east to modern Poland and the Silesian region (Schlesien). There are too many sub-dialects to list them, but the main division has passed between the West-Mid-German and East-Mid-German.
Upper Saxon (Sächsisch)
Saxony is one of the federal states of Germany. It is located in the eastern part of the country and was part of the former German Democratic Republic during the Cold War. Many consider it the most ugly German dialect.
Its markers include a different pronunciation of ei vowels, so they don't sound like English hi, but rather like English hay. Some R sounds also acquire a different pronunciation.
Berlin (Berlinerisch)
Some say that he is dying due to the influence of standard German in the media, decades of separation and a reduction in the number of Berliners who have lived in the city all their lives. This German dialect is known for replacing its sounds ch with k, softening hard g with j and blurring the edges between cases.
Swiss German (Schwiizerdütsch)
This name (also spelled Schweizerdeutsch or even Schwizertitsch) is a universal term for various dialects in the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland.
Despite the fact that they vary from place to place even in this small country, there are some general trends, such as a change in vowels, compared to standard German, which can even affect how the Swiss pronounce the articles.
Austrian German (Österreichisches Deutsch)
There is a standard version of this language, which is very, very similar to that in Germany. In fact, if you see Austrian German in writing, for example, in the newspapers Die Presse or Der Standard, you may not notice any differences at all! But spoken language is different. This primarily relates to differences in pronunciation.
Bavarian (Bayerisch)
Bavaria is located in the southeast of Germany, and it is the largest of the federal states. Bavarian has similarities with other dialects.
Since the Bavarian-Austrian region has been politically unified for over a thousand years, it is also more linguistically homogeneous than the German North. There are several units (Southern, Middle and Northern Bavarian, Tyrolean, Salzburg), but the differences between them are not very significant.