!!!Dialekte

Dialects: As a consequence of the historical stability of the Austrian 
lands the dialects in Austria are largely congruent with the provinces 
and thus also bear their names (Viennese, Styrian, Tirolean, etc.; the 
Burgenland dialect was formerly sometimes referred to as "Heanzen" 
dialect). They merge into each other without any clear-cut language 
boundaries and have always been in close mutual contact; in fact, they 
are similar enough to have generated common Austrian colloquial and 
standard languages ( Austrian German). Only the Alemannic dialect of 
Vorarlberg differs to a great extent from the other Austrian dialects, 
which are of Bavarian origin, and is closer to the languages spoken in 
Switzerland and Swabia.

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The Austrian dialects developed out of Middle High German. As early as 
in the High Middle Ages there were distinct individual dialects in 
Austria  Vernacular Literature), whose emergence was closely linked to 
the territories of the temporal and spiritual lords that remained 
unaltered for long periods of time.

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The dialects of Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland, Upper Austria, a 
large part of Salzburg and a small part of Styria evolved out of 
Middle Bavarian. The salient characteristics of these dialects, spoken 
in the regions along the River Danube, are: consonants are weakened (p 
to b; t to d; k to g in front of l, n, r); l and r are vocalised in 
certain positions; vowels with secondary stress are omitted, as in the 
prefix ge- and the -e at the end of a word; ancient parasitic sounds 
from Old High German are preserved, particularly in the conservative 
"ui" dialect of Lower Austria and Burgenland.

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The Austrian dialects belonging to Southern Bavarian are spoken in the 
mountainous regions, in Carinthia, Tirol, most parts of Styria, parts 
of Salzburg and the extreme south of Burgenland. They are somewhat 
closer to the standard language, mainly because they keep the fortis 
sounds (k, p, t) and the vowels with secondary stress (ge-).

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The ''Burgenland'' dialects are considered relatively antiquated and 
have a lilting accent. ''Carinthian'' is also an old dialect that 
sounds particularly melodic and soft, a fact that is not least due to 
the linguistic interaction with the Slovenians, which has lasted for 
centuries. Its most salient feature is the "Carinthian lengthening" of 
the vowels. The inhabitants of each valley have their own variant 
forms. Distinctive characteristics of Carinthian are the diminutive 
suffix "-le" and the much-used expletive "lai", meaning "only" 
(instead of High German "nur"). ''Lower Austrian'' is a somewhat more 
modern dialect, particularly in the plains surrounding Vienna, where 
usage is strongly influenced by the Viennese language standards. The 
areas in which the "ui" dialect is spoken have maintained their 
traditional character. ''Upper Austrian'' dialects are traditional 
rural dialects, with the exception of the eastern part, where usage 
has adopted modern characteristics. Pronunciation shows considerable 
differences in the various parts of Upper Austria. The ''Salzburg'' 
dialect ("Pinzgauerisch-Pongauerisch") is a "mountain dialect" with 
peculiar features in the Flachgau region. ''Styrian'' is divided into 
Upper Styrian and Middle Styrian. The former is also spoken in parts 
of Lower Austria; the Heanzen dialect extends into parts of eastern 
Styria on the border to Burgenland. The most conservative dialect in 
Austria is ''Tirolean''; its most distinctive features are the 
sh-pronunciation of the s (as in -sp, -st, -rs, etc.) and the 
affricative k. Even more conservative are the numerous dialects of 
Austrian origin spoken in various  Speech Enclaves, which go back as 
far as the Middle Ages. ''Old Viennese'', still in use during the 
times of Maria Theresia (1717-1780), has considerably changed since 
and its use has much decreased over time. Its place has been taken by 
"New Viennese" after 1918 and "Young Viennese" after 1945. Interaction 
between the old dialects and High German gave birth to colloquial 
language standards, which have spread from Vienna to large parts of 
Austria, in particular to provincial capitals and larger towns; hence, 
the rural dialects are increasingly assimilated into Viennese language 
usage. The ''Vorarlberg'' dialect is also spoken in parts of the Lech 
Valley in Tirol. Again, there is a wide variety of individual forms 
and developments.

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The introduction of compulsory education and military service, and 
especially the influence of the mass media, have resulted in a growing 
erosion of dialects in favour of the standard language.  Dialect 
Dictionaries.

!Literature
M. Hornung and F. Roitinger, Unsere Mundarten, 1950; E. 
Kranzmayer, Historische Lautgeographie des gesamtbairischen 
Dialektraumes, 1956; M. Hornung, Mundartkunde Osttirols, 1964; idem, 
Woerterbuch der Wr. Mundart, 1998.


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