Your textbook German works everywhere, but what you hear in Munich, Vienna, Zurich or Leipzig can sound surprisingly different. Learn how German varies between regions and countries, recognise the best-known features of the major dialects and understand why Austrian and Swiss German are standard varieties in their own right.
| German | Meaning |
|---|---|
| der Dialekt, -e | dialect |
| die Mundart, -en | local dialect (esp. in Switzerland) |
| die Varietät, -en | variety (of a language) |
| das Hochdeutsch (no pl.) | Standard German (in everyday use) |
| die Standardsprache, -n | standard language |
| plurizentrisch | pluricentric |
| der Austriazismus, Austriazismen | word or form typical of Austrian German |
| der Helvetismus, Helvetismen | word or form typical of Swiss German |
| der Teutonismus, Teutonismen | word typical of German used in Germany |
| das Schweizerdeutsch (no pl.) | Swiss German (dialects) |
| die Diglossie (no pl.) | diglossia |
| die Umgangssprache, -n | colloquial language |
| der Regiolekt, -e | regional colloquial variety |
| die Aussprache (no pl.) | pronunciation |
| die Verkleinerungsform, -en | diminutive |
| die Semmel, -n (Bavaria, Austria) | bread roll |
| das Weckle, - (Swabia) | bread roll |
| die Schrippe, -n (Berlin) | bread roll |
| der Jänner (Austria) | January |
| der Paradeiser, - (Austria) | tomato |
| die Marille, -n (Austria) | apricot |
| das Velo, -s (Switzerland) | bicycle |
| Grüezi! (Switzerland) | hello (formal) |
| Servus! (Bavaria, Austria) | hi / bye (informal) |
| Moin! (northern Germany) | hello (any time of day) |
| schaffen (Swabian) | to work |
| heuer (south, Austria, Switzerland) | this year |
| sich an etwas gewöhnen | to get used to something |
German is a pluricentric language: it has several standard varieties with their own norms. Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German are not dialects but standard forms, used in newspapers, schools and law. Words that are standard in only one country are called Austriazismen (Jänner, Paradeiser, Topfen, Matura), Helvetismen (Velo, parkieren, Trottoir, grillieren) and, less commonly, Teutonismen for words typical of Germany (Tüte, Sahne, Abitur). Swiss Standard German also has no ß: Strasse, gross.
Beneath the standard lies a continuum. The Dialekt or Mundart is the traditional local speech, often hard to understand for outsiders. The Regiolekt or regional Umgangssprache is the everyday speech of a region: standard grammar with regional sounds and words, as in Hast du a Semmel? Most people in Germany move along this continuum depending on situation and audience.
Switzerland is a special case: German-speaking Swiss use Schweizerdeutsch dialects in almost all spoken situations, including at work, and Standard German mainly in writing and with non-Swiss. Linguists call this Diglossie. Note also that in linguistics Hochdeutsch can mean the dialects of the central and southern German area (as opposed to Low German, Plattdeutsch), while in everyday speech it simply means Standard German.
The quickest way to recognise where someone comes from is often vocabulary. Many everyday words differ, and some differences are so well known that people joke about them. You do not need to use regional words yourself, but you should understand the common ones, especially if you live in the south, in Austria or in Switzerland.
| Meaning | Germany (north/general) | Bavaria | Austria | Switzerland | Swabia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bread roll | Brötchen (Berlin: Schrippe) | Semmel | Semmel | Weggli, Brötli | Weckle |
| hello | Hallo, Moin (north) | Grüß Gott, Servus | Grüß Gott, Servus | Grüezi | Grüß Gott |
| goodbye | Tschüss | Pfiat di, Servus | Servus, Baba (Vienna) | Uf Wiederluege, Tschüss | Ade |
| diminutive | -chen, -lein | -l, -erl | -erl, -l | -li | -le |
| January / tomato | Januar / Tomate | Januar / Tomate | Jänner / Paradeiser | Januar / Tomate | Januar / Tomate |
Note that Grüß Gott is a neutral everyday greeting in the south, not a religious statement, and that Moin in the north is used at any time of day. Servus works for both hello and goodbye among people who know each other.
Each dialect has hundreds of features, but a few well-known ones help you to orient yourself. They are generalisations: there is considerable variation within every region.
Southern varieties also share grammatical features. The perfect of sitzen, stehen, liegen is formed with sein: Ich bin gesessen. This is correct standard usage in southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In everyday speech, many southern dialects also hardly use the simple past and prefer the perfect: Gestern bin i in d'Stadt gfahrn.
Tap the words in the right order.
A friend in India is moving to Vienna, Zurich or Munich (choose one) for work and has asked you whether the German there will be very different from what they learned in their course. Write an email in German (250–300 words). Explain the difference between dialect and standard varieties, give concrete examples of words and features they will meet, describe your own experiences with regional German and give practical advice on how to cope respectfully.
Liebe Divya, wie schön, dass es mit der Stelle in Wien geklappt hat! Du fragst, ob dir dein Deutschkurs dort überhaupt etwas nützt. Die kurze Antwort: Ja, unbedingt. Die lange Antwort ist etwas komplizierter und, wie ich finde, ziemlich spannend. Zunächst einmal: Österreichisches Deutsch ist kein Dialekt, sondern eine eigene Standardvarietät. In Zeitungen, Behörden und Schulen gilt also Hochdeutsch, nur eben die österreichische Form. Manche Wörter wirst du trotzdem neu lernen müssen. Im Supermarkt heißen Tomaten Paradeiser, Kartoffeln Erdäpfel und Aprikosen Marillen. Der Quark heißt Topfen, die Sahne Schlagobers, und dein Arbeitsvertrag beginnt vermutlich am 1. Jänner und nicht am 1. Januar. Lass dich davon nicht verunsichern: Das sind keine Fehler, sondern korrekte österreichische Wörter. Anders ist es mit dem Dialekt. Wenn deine Kolleginnen in der Kaffeeküche untereinander reden, wirst du am Anfang vielleicht nur die Hälfte verstehen. Mir ging es in München genauso. Statt „nicht“ hörte ich „net“, statt „ein bisschen“ „a bisserl“, und als mich jemand mit „Servus“ verabschiedete, war ich völlig verwirrt, weil ich das Wort für eine Begrüßung gehalten hatte. Inzwischen weiß ich: Es ist beides. Mein wichtigster Rat: Frag einfach nach. Die meisten Menschen erklären ihre regionalen Wörter gern und wechseln sofort ins Hochdeutsche, wenn sie merken, dass man sie nicht versteht. Mach dich aber nie über einen Dialekt lustig, auch nicht im Scherz; für viele ist er ein Stück Heimat. Und wenn du nach ein paar Monaten selbst „Grüß Gott“ und „Baba“ sagst, wird man dich mit einem Lächeln belohnen. Ich freue mich schon darauf, dich zu besuchen. Dann gehen wir gemeinsam Marillenknödel essen. Ganz liebe Grüße Priya
Attitudes to dialect differ strongly across the German-speaking world. In Switzerland, speaking dialect is completely normal for everyone, from cleaners to bank directors, and it carries no social stigma. In Bavaria and Austria, dialect is widely used and often a source of regional pride. In parts of northern and central Germany, by contrast, many people speak a regional colloquial German that is close to the standard, and traditional dialects such as Low German (Plattdeutsch) are spoken mainly by older people, although there are efforts to keep them alive. Some dialects, Saxon in particular, are the target of jokes in other regions, which many Saxons find tiresome.
A fun fact: when Austria joined the European Union in 1995, its accession treaty officially recognised a list of 23 Austrian food words, including Paradeiser, Erdäpfel, Marillen and Topfen, so that they could be used alongside the terms common in Germany. For people from South Asia, much of this will feel familiar: just as Hindi, Marathi or Tamil sound different from district to district, German changes from valley to valley. Curiosity and respect are the best way to approach it.
Related: German C2 lessons · Register converter exercises · Integrating into German life
