Austro-Bavarian language

Bavarian (also known as Austro-Bavarian; , Bayerisch-Österreichisch) ) is a major group of Upper German varieties. They are called "upper" because they are spoken in Switzerland, Austria and southern Germany, which are mountainous. Like standard German, Austro-Bavarian is a High German language, but they are not the same language. However, Austro-Bavarian and Standard German have influenced each other and the vast majority of Austro-Bavarian speakers speak Standard German as well. There are more variants of Bavarian. The variants are Central Bavarian, Southern Bavarian, and Northern Bavarian.

Austro-Bavarian is also used to refer to the dialect group which includes the Austro-Bavarian dialect discussed here, as well as the Cimbrian, Hutterite German, and Mócheno dialects of Germany.

 History and origin 
The Austro-Bavarian language 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.

In German, a distinction is usually made between "bairisch" (referring to the language) and "bayerisch" (referring to the state of Bavaria and used in the name of BMW). Because of King Ludwig I of Bavaria's passion for everything Hellenic, the German name for Bavaria today is spelled "Bayern", while the language spoken there has retained its original spelling "Bairisch"—note the I versus the "Hellenic" Y.

Regions where people speak Bavarian
in Bavaria:
in Upper Bavaria
in Lower Bavaria
in the Upper Palatinate
in Austria:
in all parts of the country except 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 South Tyrol and by small German speaking communities in Trento, Veneto (Cimbrian language) and Friuli.
in Hungary:
 the city of Sopron (Ödenburg) is officially bi-lingual. 

 Diphthongs 
DiphthongExamplesStandard GermanDiphthongExamplesStandard Germaneai hea (her)ich höreeineineuoai woaßich weißåi, oifåin, foinfalleniad’Liabdie Liebeöi, äischnöi, schnäischnelluai duaich tueuii fuiich fühleaui schauich schaueouDoudTod

Consonants

LabialAlveolarPost-alveolarPalatalVelarGlottal  Nasal      Stop        ()  Affricate       Fricative     ()    Trill   Approximant   

Notes:

The phoneme  is frequently realised as  or  word-internally and is realised as  word-initially.
Intervocalic  can be voiced to .
A trill sound  may also be realised as a tap sound [].
Intervocalic  or  sound can be realised as [] or [, ].
Some dialects, such as the Bavarian dialect in South Tyrol, realise  as an affricate  word-initially and before , which is an extension of the High German consonant shift to velar consonants.

 Vowels 
FrontCentralBackunroundedroundedCloseNear-closeClose-mid()Open-mid()Open()()

 Examples of Bavarian and Austrian 
's Bóarische is a Grubbm fő Dialektt im Siin fåm dætschn Shbroochråm.'s Bóarische is a Grubbm fő Dialektt im Siin fóm daitschn Shproochraum.Yiddish בײַריש איז אַ גרופּע פֿון דיאַלעקטן אין דרום פֿון דײַטשיש שפּראַך־קאָנטינוםGermanDas Bairische ist eine Gruppe von Dialekten im Süden des deutschen Sprachraumes.EnglishBavarian is a group of dialects in the south of the German Sprachraum.
Sérawas*/Zéas/D'Ere/Griass Di/Griass Gód, i bĩ da Beeder und kumm/kimm fõ Minchn/Minicha.Sérwus/Habedéare/Griass Di/Griass Gód, i bin/bĩ da Beeder und kimm fő Minga/Minka.Yiddishשלום־עליכם, איך בין פּיטר און קום אױס מינכןStandard GermanHallo/Servus/Grüß dich, ich bin Peter und komme aus München.EnglishHello, I am Peter and I come from Munich.
D'Lisa/'s-Liasl hod sé an Haxn bróchn/brócha.D'Lisa/As Liasal hod sé an Hax brócha.Yiddishליסע/ליסל האָט זיך איר/דאָס/אַ בײן געבראָכןStandard GermanLisa hat sich das Bein gebrochen.EnglishLisa broke/has broken her leg.
I ho(b)/hã/hoo a Göd/Goid gfundn/gfunna.I ho(b) a Gejd/Goid/Göld gfuna.Yiddishאיך האָב (עפּעס (אַ ביסל)) געלט געפֿונעןStandard GermanIch habe Geld gefunden.EnglishI (have) found money.

Related pages
 Austrian German
 Viennese German
 German language

References

Category:Languages of Austria
Category:Bavaria
Category:German dialects