German Dialects: Variety and History

What is a dialect?

A dialect is a special way of speaking a language used in a certain region or by a group of people. In German, dialects are also called "Mundarten." They are variations of the German language, just as High German is a variation. When we speak in everyday life, we mostly use informal language. This is a form of German that is between a strong dialect and written High German.

Why are there so many dialects?

The many German dialects have historical reasons. The development of the language began a long time ago with Proto-Indo-European. This is a language family to which many languages belong, including German.

Over 2,000 years ago, before the year zero, Proto-Germanic emerged. This was a very early form of German. An important step in its development was the First Germanic Sound Shift. During this shift, certain sounds changed. For example, the sound "p" often became "f":

• Latin pes (with P)
• Germanic Fuß (with F)

Through such changes in pronunciation or the emphasis of syllables, languages became distinct from each other.

Between 600 and 1000 AD, there was another major change: the Second Germanic Sound Shift. This separated High German and Low German. This separation can also be understood geographically: people in southern Germany, who live higher above sea level, speak High German. In the north, people speak Low German. These differences can still be heard today:

• In the north, people say Appel, in the south Apfel.
• In the north, people say dat and Water, in the south das and Wasser.

Within the High German-speaking area, there are further divisions into Central German and Upper German dialects. So, the language areas have been divided further and further.

Another reason for the variety of dialects was the political division of the German-speaking area into many small territories in the Middle Ages. Each region developed its own way of speaking.

Dialects and the rise of High German

In the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the modern era, roughly between 1350 and 1550, people mainly spoke their regional dialects. These could be so different that speakers from different regions often could not understand each other. Educated people used Latin or chancery languages, which were used in the administrations of different areas.

With the invention of modern printing and especially through Martin Luther's Bible translation around 1520, a common written German language began to develop. From this, High German emerged. At first, it was a language that was written, not spoken. People continued to speak their dialects.

For example, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who came from Frankfurt am Main, probably spoke a Hessian dialect. Sometimes he rhymed words like versuchend with Tugend. If you pronounce these words in Hessian - versuchend, Tuchend - you understand how the rhyme was intended.

As late as 1849, the Bavarian king used the language barrier: he deployed soldiers from Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate to rebellious Swabia. Since Swabians and Lower Bavarians could hardly communicate with each other due to their dialects, it was unlikely that they would join forces.

The role of dialects in the 19th and 20th centuries

With the founding of the German nation-state in 1871, High German became increasingly important. The administration was standardized, and the aim was for everyone in the entire empire to be able to communicate with authorities in the same way. Dialect was often considered the language of uneducated people back then. If you wanted to be modern and have something to say, you spoke High German.

Dictatorships also tried to influence language, but they were often powerless against dialects. In the 1920s and during the Nazi era, for example, the word Automobil was replaced by Kraftfahrzeug because Automobil sounded too French.

In the GDR, there were also attempts to control language. For example, Seniorenheim (nursing home) was renamed Feierabendheim (retirement home). However, these changes mainly affected the vocabulary of the standard language in the media and administration.

In the 1970s and 1980s, classic dialects increasingly disappeared from official daily life. In schools, dialect forms were seen as mistakes and led to bad grades. In everyday life too, many people no longer spoke a pure dialect, but rather a High German with a regional accent. A woman from Franconia or a man from Cologne, for example, can be recognized by their pronunciation, even if they don't speak a dialect.

Dialects today

Dialects are constantly evolving. The fewer people who speak a dialect, the less accurately it is passed on to the next generation. Entire words can thus be forgotten.

What we often understand as dialects today are regional differences that have "crept" into the standard language. This can affect pronunciation, for example, when softer sounds like "d" and "g" are used instead of hard consonants like "t" and "k." Even more often, these regional differences affect vocabulary.

Germany is linguistically very diverse. Today, a distinction is made between larger dialect areas and various regional languages:

• On the North Sea coast, people speak Friesisch.
• In the north of the republic, people speak Platt.
• The area of Westfälisch reaches to Kassel.
• Around Cologne, Kölsch is spoken.
• In western Central Germany, Rhenish dialects like Hessisch and Pfälzisch dominate.
• In the southwest, Schwäbisch and Alemannisch are widespread.
• Bairisch dominates the southeast.
• A large dialect area is Fränkisch, which extends across Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Thuringia, and Saxony.
• Sächsisch transitions into Märkisch from Wittenberg.
• On the Baltic Sea, Mecklenburgisch is spoken.

Sometimes, dialects, like Saxon, are still considered the language of uneducated people today. This is partly because in films and on television, characters from villages, who are portrayed as a bit simple, often speak Saxon. Historically, Saxon was the basis for Luther's Bible translation and thus for modern High German. However, after the decline in importance of Saxony from the mid-18th century onwards, the Saxon dialect was often perceived negatively. Walter Ulbricht's Saxon accent as a politician in the GDR also did not contribute to its popularity. Thus, the Saxon accent in western Germany was sometimes mistakenly equated with "East German" as a whole.