The Viennese language is an East Central Austro-Bavarian dialect spoken mostly in the Austrian capital of Vienna. 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. The Central Austro-Bavarian Germanic dialects forming a subgroup of the Austro-Bavarian dialects. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). ... Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) is one of the fifty federal states or Bundesländer in Austria. ... Since Austria is a federal republic according to the constitutional framework of Austrian politics, Austrias nine provinces are customarily referred to as States of Austria or Bundesländer, singular Bundesland. ...

Viennese has to be distinguished from the Austrian form of Standard German and other dialects spoken in Austria. (also see Austrian language). German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... In Austria, there is no unitary Austrian Germanic dialects are spoken. ...

Grammar and phonology

Grammar and phonology of Viennese are mostly identical to other Austro-Bavarian dialects, but there are some differences, such as Grammar is the study of the rules governing the use of a language. ... Phonology (Greek phone = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), or phonemics, is a subfield of grammar (see also linguistics). ... Subdivisions Northern Austro-Bavarian Central Austro-Bavarian Southern Austro-Bavarian Austro-Bavarian or Bavarian is an Upper Germanic language. ...

• avoidance of the genitive case;
• use of the preposition ohne (without) with the dative case instead of the accusative.
• In those cases where other Austro-Bavarian dialects replace standard German ei with oa, Viennese uses a long a. (E.g. Standard German zwei (=two), general Austro-Bavarian zwoa, Viennese zwa).
• In those cases where ei is not replaced by oa in Austro-Bavarian (e.g. drei (=three)), it is usually pronounced as a long open 'e' (similar to the pronunciation of ä in parts of Germany).
• Hard consonants (particularly t and p) are pronounced as soft - the letter v is often pronouced like the softer w.
• In the working class dialect, the pronunciation of the letter "l" reflects the Czech pronunciation. This is known as Meidlinger L, after the working-class district of Meidling.

The genitive case is a grammatical case that indicates a relationship, primarily one of possession, between the noun in the genitive case and another noun. ... The dative case is a grammatical case for nouns and/or pronouns. ... The accusative case of a noun is, generally, the case used to mark the direct object of a verb. ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... Meidling is the 12th district of Vienna in the South-Western part of the city, south of the Wienfluss, west of the Gürtel and east and southeast of Schönbrunn palace. ...

Vocabulary

The Viennese vocabulary displays particular characteristics. Viennese retains many Middle High German 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 and early 20th century. Middle High German is an ancestor of the modern German language, and was spoken from 1050 to about 1500. ... Old High German is the earliest recorded form of the modern German language, and was spoken from the middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century. ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ... Alternate meaning: crucible (science) The melting pot is a metaphor for the way in which heterogenous societies develop, in which the ingredients in the pot (iron, tin; people of different backgrounds and religions, etc. ...

The transcription of Viennese has not been standardized. Thus, the rendering of pronunciation here is incomplete:

Examples:

• from Old High German:
  • Zähnd (Standard German Zähne, English teeth, from zand)
  • Hemad (Hemd, = English shirt, from hemidi)
• from Middle High German:
  • Greißler (=small grocer, from griuzel - diminutive of Gruz =grain)
  • Baaz (=slimy mass, from batzen=being sticky)
  • si ohfrettn (=to struggle, from vretten)
• from Hebrew and Yiddish:
  • Masl (=luck, from masol)
  • Hawara (=friend, companion, from chavver)
  • Gannef (=crook, from ganab)
  • Beisl (=bar, pub, from bajser)
• from Czech:
  • Motschga (=unappetizing mush, from mocka=residue in a pipe or macka=Sauce, Soup)
  • Pfrnak (=(big) nose)
• from Hungarian:
  • Maschekseitn (=the other side, from a másik)
  • Gattihosn (=long underpants, from gatya = trousers)
• from Italian:
  • Gspusi (=girlfriend, from sposa)
  • Gstanzl (=Stanza of an humourous song, from stanza)
• from French:
  • Trottoa (=sidewalk, from trottoir)
  • Lawua (=washbowl, from lavoir)
  • Loschi (from logis)

Old High German is the earliest recorded form of the modern German language, and was spoken from the middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century. ... Middle High German is an ancestor of the modern German language, and was spoken from 1050 to about 1500. ... A diminutive ia a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object named, intimacy, or endearment. ... The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ... Yiddish (Yid. ...

Literature and usage

The most well-known poets writing in Viennese are Wolfgang Teuschl, most known for his translation of the Gospel into Viennese (Da Jesus und seine Hawara, meaning Jesus and his Buddies), and H.C. Artmann (med ana schwoazzn dintn, meaning With Black Ink). H.C. Artmann and Willi Resetarits (Dr. Kurt Ostbahn) also translated three volumes of the Asterix series into Viennese. In Christianity, Gospels are a genre of Early Christian literature essentially concerning the message and meaning of Jesus. ... Hans Carl Artmann (June 12, 1921 - December 4, 2000), also known as Ib Hansen, was an Austrian poet, best known for his poems written in Viennese (med ana schwoazzn dintn). ... Hans Carl Artmann (June 12, 1921 - December 4, 2000), also known as Ib Hansen, was an Austrian poet, best known for his poems written in Viennese (med ana schwoazzn dintn). ... Wilhelm Resetarits (born December 21, 1948 in Stinatz, Austria), better known as Willi Resetarits and Dr. Kurt Ostbahn, is an Austrian singer, cabaret artist and human rights activist. ... A shrewd, cunning little warrior; all perilous missions are immediately entrusted to him. ...

More recently, Viennese has been receding to some degree because of an increased influence of Standard German (partly due to the influence of TV). From this, a variety of Standard German with a particular Viennese accent has developed, which usually is spoken by the younger, more well-educated people of Vienna. German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ...

Also see

• Austro-Bavarian
• Austrian language