Do Austrians speak Austrian or German?

Question

Do Austrians speak Austrian or German?

Answer 1

German, but there are slight variations. Like how americans speak slightly different english from the english.



To Thomas, so was France :-P , Austria done it because they are close allies.

Answer 2

an austrian dialect of german. however, almost everyone would understand if you spoke "high" german.

Answer 3

It is officially German, but there are a lot of variations and quite a lot of words which a German would not necessarily understand. This is due to the Hungarian and even Turkish influences in the local dialect, so I guess one could be cheeky and actually say that Austrian is a language in its own right... ;o)



Examples for weird Austrian words: Kukuruz, Karfiol, Paradeiser etc. These could not even be properly guessed by a German.

Answer 4

german with a dialect in it

Answer 5

GERMAN!! Think of Hitler, he wanted to unite all german speaking nations and that included Austria!

Answer 6

A Dialect of German

Answer 7

German, there is no such language as Austrian.

Answer 8

In Austria they speak a German dialect.

When they write, it is German.

In Southern Austria they don’t speak Swiss.

If a Swiss person wrote what he says, no German

nor Austrian would understand him right away.

(Chasch chuum glaube, gäll!)

Swiss is only spoken in Switzerland!!!



So Austrian is German, however it is pronounced!

Most speakers from these different regions understand one another,

at least when they switch to their version of standard German.



You are welcome

Answer 9

German, there is no such language as Austrian or Swiss for that matter

Answer 10

This is rather like asking whether Americans speak American or English. Austrians speak German, or at least a variety thereof. In fact, according to some, the Austrians speak the purest German of all the German-speaking world; High German is prevalent amongst the Austrian people.

Answer 11

The Austrian dialect of German.

Answer 12

Austrian Is a dialect of German, just as are Bavarian, Swabish or Alsacian. There can be some variations in vocabulary or pronunciation from "standard" German, but they are all generally intercomprehensible. Certainly, a German from the Rhinelands or the North would have less trouble understanding an Austrian than an American would with a Geordie or cockney.

Answer 13

German

Answer 14

Hmm all the Austrians I know speak English. One of them also does speak Swiss. The language of Austria is German, though.

Answer 15

There`s not such thing like Austrian, but they might have a slight different accent while speaking it.....but there is Swiss German.

Answer 16

They speak German

Answer 17

They speak German for sure

Answer 18

German. Someone in my school moved from Austria. He speaks German. Well, now he speaks English. But in Austria they speak German.

Answer 19

German. In fact they were briefly incorporated into Germany in the 1930s and '40s.

Answer 20

German is their official language, although i would imagine there would be a fair few Hungarian speakers there due to their close political ties up until the middle of the last century

Answer 21

German. Who said that some spoke Swiss? I hope that they were joking. It is still German as far as I am aware.

Answer 22

german

Answer 23

Languages of Austria



Republic of Austria. Republik Österreich. 8,174,762. National or official languages: Standard German, Slovenian (regional). Literacy rate: 99% to 100%. Also includes Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Czech (7,100), French (15,000), Greek (12,000), Kirmanjki, Northern Kurdish (23,000), Polish (39,000), Turkish (68,000), Western Farsi (2,000), Yeniche, Arabic (3,000), Chinese (1,200). Information mainly from M. Stephens 1976; B. Comrie 1987. Blind population: 11,005. Deaf population: 482,311. Deaf institutions: 17. The number of languages listed for Austria is 9. Of those, all are living languages.



Living languages



Alemannisch:



[gsw] 300,000 in Austria (1991 Annemarie Schmidt). Western Austria, Vorarlberg. Alternate names: Alemannic. Dialects: High Alemannisch (Hochalemannisch). Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, German, Upper German, Alemannic.



Bavarian:



[bar] 6,983,298 in Austria (2000 WCD). Population total all countries: 7,667,478. Central Bavarian is in the Alps and Lower Austria and Salzburg; North Bavarian in the north of Regensburg, to Nuremburg and Western Bohemia, Czech Republic; South Bavarian in the Bavarian Alps, Tyrol, Styria, including the Heanzian dialect of Burgenland, Carinthia, northern Italy, and part of Gottschee. Also spoken in Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy. Alternate names: Bayerisch, Bairisch, Bavarian Austrian, Ost-Oberdeutsch. Dialects: Central Bavarian, North Bavarian, South Bavarian. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, German, Upper German, Bavarian-Austrian.



Croatian:



[hrv] 103,000 in Austria (1991). Burgenland and Vienna. Dialects: Burgenland Croatian. Classification: Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western



German (Standard):



[deu] 7,500,000 in Austria (J.A. Hawkins in B. Comrie 1987). Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, German, Middle German, East Middle German.



Hungarian:



[hun] 22,000 in Austria (1995). Vienna, Lower Austria, Styria, Burgenland. Alternate names: Magyar. Dialects: Oberwart. Classification: Uralic, Finno-Ugric, Ugric, Hungarian.



Romani, Sinte:



[rmo] 500 in Austria (1990 D. Holzinger). Alternate names: Rommanes, Sinte, Sinti. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Romani, Northern.



Slovenian:



[slv] 30,885 in Austria (2000 WCD). Population includes several thousand Windisch speakers (1995). Carinthia (Kärnten) and Steiermark (Styria), southwest Austria. Alternate names: Slovene. Dialects: Windisch. Classification: Indo-European, Slavic, South, Western.



Walser:



[wae] 8,080 in Austria (2000 WCD). Vorarlberg (Grosses Walsertal: Blons, Fontanella, Raggal, St. Gerold, Sonntag, Thüringerberg); Kleinwalsertal (Mittleberg); Brandnertal (Brand); Montafon (Silbertal); Reintal (Laterns); Tannberg (Schricken, Lech, Warth); Tirol: Paznauntal (Galtnr). 14 communities in Austria. Alternate names: Walscher. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, High German, German, Upper German, Alemannic.

Answer 24

English?

Answer 25

In Southern Austria they speak Swiss.