Viennese German
Encyclopedia
Viennese German is the city dialect spoken in Vienna
, the capital of Austria
and is counted among the Bavarian dialects. Even in Lower Austria
, the state
surrounding the city, many of its expressions are not used, while farther to the west they are often not even understood.
as well as other dialects spoken in Austria (see also Austrian German
and Bavarian
).
At the beginning of the 20th century one could differentiate between 4 Viennese Dialects (named after the districts in which they were spoken): Favoritnerisch (Favoriten
, 10. Bezirk), Meidlingerisch, (Meidling
,12. Bezirk), Ottakringerisch (Ottakring
, 16. Bezirk), and Floridsdorferisch (Floridsdorf
, 21. Bezirk). Today these labels are no longer applicable and one speaks of one Viennese dialect with its usage varying as one moves further away from the city.
Besides the locational dialects of Old Vienna, there was also class-based dialects. For example, Schönbrunnerdeutsch, or German as spoken by the courtiers and attendants of the Habsburg Imperial Court at Schönbrunn Royal Palace, had a manner of speech that had an affected bored inflection combined with over-enunciation. The nasal tonality was akin to German spoken with a French accent. While far less used today, educated Viennese are still familiar with this court dialect.
only found in Viennese German:
Other characteristics are found in Viennese German as well as in Bavarian
dialects:
and sometimes even Old High German
roots. Furthermore, it integrated many expressions from other languages, particularly from other parts of the former Habsburg Monarchy
, as Vienna served as a melting pot
for its constituent populations in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
The transcription of Viennese has not been standardized. Thus, the rendering of pronunciation here is incomplete:
peculiarities:
For example: Waaaßt, wos mir heut in der Schule für än gråååsliches Fläääsch kriegt ham? (Standard German Weißt du, was für ein widerliches Fleisch wir heute in der Schule vorgesetzt bekamen?) The monopthongized Diphthong
s, like ei ~ äää or au ~ ååå, are particularly stressed and lengthened.
The reason for the convergence of the typical Viennese Dialects, is the attitude, strengthened by the media, that Urwienerisch is to be considered something of the Proletariat
. With the rising standard of living the original Viennese can further converge, as it is considered a sign of low-class origins, while the unique Viennese words (such as Zwutschgerl) however generally stay in use.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the capital of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and is counted among the Bavarian dialects. Even in Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
, the state
States of Austria
Austria is a federal republic made up of nine states, known in German as Länder . Since Land is also the German word for a country, the term Bundesländer is often used instead to avoid ambiguity. The Constitution of Austria uses both terms...
surrounding the city, many of its expressions are not used, while farther to the west they are often not even understood.
Linguistic peculiarities
Viennese is rather different from the Austrian form of Standard GermanStandard German
Standard German is the standard variety of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas...
as well as other dialects spoken in Austria (see also Austrian German
Austrian German
Austrian German , or Austrian Standard German, is the national standard variety of the German language spoken in Austria and in the autonomous Province of South Tyrol...
and Bavarian
Bavarian
Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria. Bavarian may also refer to:* Austro-Bavarian, a group of closely related dialects of German, spoken in parts of Bavaria, most of Austria and the Alto Adige/Südtirol* Bavarian cream, a...
).
At the beginning of the 20th century one could differentiate between 4 Viennese Dialects (named after the districts in which they were spoken): Favoritnerisch (Favoriten
Favoriten
Favoriten, the 10th district of Vienna, Austria , is located south of the central districts. It is south of Innere Stadt, Wieden and Margareten...
, 10. Bezirk), Meidlingerisch, (Meidling
Meidling
Meidling is the 12th district of Vienna . It is located just southwest of the central districts, south of the Wienfluss, west of the Gürtel belt, and east and southeast of Schönbrunn palace...
,12. Bezirk), Ottakringerisch (Ottakring
Ottakring
Ottakring is the 16th District in the city of Vienna, Austria . It is located west of the central districts, north of Penzing and south of Hernals. Ottakring has some heavily populated urban areas with many residential buildings...
, 16. Bezirk), and Floridsdorferisch (Floridsdorf
Floridsdorf
Floridsdorf is the 21st district of Vienna, Austria .Floridsdorf is located in the northern part of Vienna.The District Office and the centre of Floridsdorf are located round Am Spitz, at the junction of Prager Straße and Brünner Straße .Since 2004, Floridsdorf has had its own tower: the...
, 21. Bezirk). Today these labels are no longer applicable and one speaks of one Viennese dialect with its usage varying as one moves further away from the city.
Besides the locational dialects of Old Vienna, there was also class-based dialects. For example, Schönbrunnerdeutsch, or German as spoken by the courtiers and attendants of the Habsburg Imperial Court at Schönbrunn Royal Palace, had a manner of speech that had an affected bored inflection combined with over-enunciation. The nasal tonality was akin to German spoken with a French accent. While far less used today, educated Viennese are still familiar with this court dialect.
Phonology
Viennese phonologyPhonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
only found in Viennese German:
- Monophthongization: Compared to Standard German and to other Bavarian dialects, diphthongs are often monophthongized, somewhat like a Southern U.S. accentSouthern American EnglishSouthern American English is a group of dialects of the English language spoken throughout the Southern region of the United States, from Southern and Eastern Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky to the Gulf Coast, and from the Atlantic coast to most of Texas and Oklahoma.The Southern dialects make...
.
For example:- Standard German heiß – Bavarian hoaß – Viennese haaß [haːs]
- Standard German weiß – Viennese wääß [væːs]
- Standard German Haus – Viennese Håås [hɒːs]
- It is typical to lengthen vowels somewhat, often at the end of a sentence. For example: Heeaasd, i bin do ned bleeed, wooos waaasn ii, wea des woooa (Standard German Hörst du, ich bin doch nicht blöd, was weiß denn ich, wer das war).
- The "Meidlinger L": In the working classWorking classWorking class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
dialect, the pronunciation of the letter "l" reflects the CzechCzech languageCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
pronunciation. This is known as Meidlinger L. - Inserting vowels into consonant clusters (EpenthesisEpenthesisIn phonology, epenthesis is the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially to the interior of a word. Epenthesis may be divided into two types: excrescence, for the addition of a consonant, and anaptyxis for the addition of a vowel....
): Likewise depending on the social class, every now and then a speaker may insert a vowel (near-Schwa) between two following consonants. This usually results in an additional syllable, which "intensifies" the word and usually has a negative feeling to it.
Examples:- Standard German Verschwinde! – Viennese Vaschwind! – intensified Vaschawind!
- Standard German Verbrecher! – Viennese Vabrecha! – intensified Vabarecha!
- Standard German abgebrannt – Viennese oobrennt – intensified oobarennt
- Standard German Geradeaus! – Viennese Groodaus! – intensified Garoodaus!
Other characteristics are found in Viennese German as well as in Bavarian
Bavarian
Bavarian is the adjective form of the German state of Bavaria, and refers to people of ancestry from Bavaria. Bavarian may also refer to:* Austro-Bavarian, a group of closely related dialects of German, spoken in parts of Bavaria, most of Austria and the Alto Adige/Südtirol* Bavarian cream, a...
dialects:
- Consonant tensenessFortis and lenisIn linguistics, fortis and lenis are terms generally used to refer to groups of consonants that are produced with greater and lesser energy, respectively, such as in energy applied, articulation, etc....
: Voiceless fortisFortis and lenisIn linguistics, fortis and lenis are terms generally used to refer to groups of consonants that are produced with greater and lesser energy, respectively, such as in energy applied, articulation, etc....
consonants [p, t, k] become voiceless Lenis-consonants [b̥, d̥, ɡ̊]. The [k], however, usually remains fortis when it follows a vowel. - VocalizingL-vocalizationIn linguistics, l-vocalization is a process by which an sound is replaced by a vowel or semivowel sound. This happens most often to velarized .-English:...
of /l/ within a word after a vowel,
e.g. also → oeso [ˈɔe̯so], Soldat → Soedot [sɔe̯ˈdɔːt], fehlen → föhn [fœːn], Kälte → Köödn [ˈkøːd̥n̩] - Vocalizing of /l/ at the end of a word, after a vowel,
e.g. schnell → schnöö [ʃnœː], viel → vüü [fʏː] - Unrounding front vowels after palatal consonants,
e.g. Glück [ˈɡlʏk] → Glick [ˈɡlɪk], schön [ˈʃøːn] → schee [ˈʃẽː] - Rounding unrounded vowels that come before palatal consonants [l],
e.g. schneller → schnöller [ˈʃnœlɐ], vielleicht → vülleicht [fʏˈlæːçt], wild → wüüd [vyːd̥]
Grammar
In the realm of grammar, one does not find many differences with other Bavarian dialects. The following are typical:- avoidance of the genitive case
- use of the preposition ohne (without) with the dative case instead of the accusativeAccusative caseThe accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
- The replacement of "ihn" or "ihm" with "eam", for instance: "Hast du ihn gesehen?" ("Have you seen him?") would be in Viennese "Host eam gsehn?"
- The replacement of "wir" with "mia".
- The avoidance of the personal pronouns in the second person singular, for instance "Bist deppert?" ("Are you a fool?") instead of High German "Bist du blöd?"
Influences on the vocabulary
The Viennese vocabulary displays particular characteristics. Viennese retains many Middle High GermanMiddle High German
Middle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...
and sometimes even Old High German
Old High German
The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
roots. Furthermore, it integrated many expressions from other languages, particularly from other parts of the former Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, as Vienna served as a melting pot
Melting pot
The melting pot is a metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" into a harmonious whole with a common culture...
for its constituent populations in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
The transcription of Viennese has not been standardized. Thus, the rendering of pronunciation here is incomplete:
Examples
- from Old High GermanOld High GermanThe term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
:- Zähnd (Standard German Zähne, English teeth, from zand)
- Hemad (Hemd, = English shirt, from hemidi)
- from Middle High GermanMiddle High GermanMiddle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...
:- Greißler (=small grocer, from griuzel - diminutiveDiminutiveIn language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
of Gruz =grain) - Baaz (=slimy mass, from batzen=being sticky)
- si ohgfrettn (=to struggle, from vretten)
- Greißler (=small grocer, from griuzel - diminutive
- from HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
and YiddishYiddish languageYiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
:- Masl (=luck, from masol)
- Hawara (=friend, companion, from chaver)
- Gannef (=crook, from ganav)
- Beisl (=bar, pub, from bajser)
- from CzechCzech languageCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
:- Motschga (=unappetizing mush, from močka=residue in a pipe or a piss or from omáčka=Sauce, Soup)
- Pfrnak (=(big) nose, from frňák)
- Lepschi (Auf Lepschi gehen = to go out or to amuse oneself, from lepší=better)
- from HungarianHungarian languageHungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
:- Maschekseitn (=the other side, from a másik)
- Gattihosn (=long underpants, from gatya = trousers)
- from ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
:- Gspusi (=girlfriend, from sposa)
- GstanzlGstanzlThe Gstanzl is a mocking song that is especially known in the Austrian-Bavarian regions. A Gstanzl normally consists of four lines, sometimes eight, and is sung in dialect. They can either be sung at certain dances , or are sung without dancing.Gstanzln are normally only sung by men...
(=Stanza of a humorous song, from stanza) - Gusta (=appetite for something, from gusto)
- from FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
:- Trottoa (=sidewalk, from trottoir)
- Lawua (=washbowl, from lavoir)
- Loschi (from logis)
Pragmatics
In Viennese one increasingly finds the following pragmaticsPragmatics
Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics which studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behavior in philosophy, sociology, and linguistics. It studies how the...
peculiarities:
- Frequently occurring ironic speechIronyIrony is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions...
which is marked neither through intonationIntonationIntonation may refer to:*Intonation , the variation of tone used when speaking*Intonation , a musician's realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument*Intonation Music Festival, held in Chicago...
nor through gesturesNonverbal communicationNonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Messages can be communicated through gestures and touch , by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact...
. This is – especially for foreigners – a source of misunderstandings. - “Opposite exaggeration,” the recognizable diminutive suffixesDiminutiveIn language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
such as -l or -erl (as in Kaffeetscherl or Plauscherl).
Tendencies
In more recent times Viennese has become closer to Standard German; this has developed into a kind of Standard German spoken with a typical Viennese accent (for example, the original Viennese Wos host’n fir a Notn gschriebn? becomes modern Was hast’n für eine Note gschriebn?). The typical Viennese monophthongization, through which the dialect differentiates itself from the neighboring dialects, remains, but mostly in the form of a developing “Pseudo-Standard German” that many foreigners, particularly from other states, feel is ugly .For example: Waaaßt, wos mir heut in der Schule für än gråååsliches Fläääsch kriegt ham? (Standard German Weißt du, was für ein widerliches Fleisch wir heute in der Schule vorgesetzt bekamen?) The monopthongized Diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
s, like ei ~ äää or au ~ ååå, are particularly stressed and lengthened.
The reason for the convergence of the typical Viennese Dialects, is the attitude, strengthened by the media, that Urwienerisch is to be considered something of the Proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
. With the rising standard of living the original Viennese can further converge, as it is considered a sign of low-class origins, while the unique Viennese words (such as Zwutschgerl) however generally stay in use.
External links
- Viennese for Americans - A Phrase Book (A humorous guide to speaking Viennese; no translations into High German)
- Radio Wien (Live broadcasting from Vienna mostly in Viennese dialect)