Viennese German

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.

Linguistic peculiarities

Viennese is rather different from the Austrian form of Standard German 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 Today these labels are no longer applicable and one speaks of one Viennese dialect whose usage differentiates itself as one moves further away from the city.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-ennuciation. 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 phonology only found in Viennese German:

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