Viennese differs from the
Austrian form of
Standard German, as well as from other dialects spoken in Austria. At the beginning of the 20th century, one could differentiate among four Viennese dialects (named after the districts in which they were spoken):
Favoritnerisch (
Favoriten, 10th District),
Meidlingerisch, (
Meidling, 12th District),
Ottakringerisch (
Ottakring, 16th District), and
Floridsdorferisch (
Floridsdorf, 21st District). Today these labels are no longer applicable, and one speaks of a single Viennese dialect, with its usage varying as one moves further away from the city. Besides the regional dialects of Old Vienna, there were also class-based dialects, or
sociolects. For example, (
Schönbrunn German), or German as spoken by the courtiers and attendants of the Habsburg Imperial Court at
Schönbrunn Imperial Palace, was a manner of speech with an affected bored inflection combined with overenunciation. Though based on Standard German, this sociolect is influenced by Viennese. The nasal tonality was akin to Standard German spoken with a French accent. While far less used today, educated Viennese are still familiar with this court sociolect. All in all, speaking Viennese by intonating sentences with distinctive ups and downs creates a very warm, melodic sound. This is particularly true for the "Schönbrunn" variety of Standard German, which is influenced by Viennese.
Phonology Features typical of Viennese German include: •
Monophthongization: Compared to Standard German and to other Bavarian dialects,
diphthongs are often monophthongized (somewhat similar to the way some
Southern US accents turn
oil into
o-ol).For example: • Standard German
heiß – Bavarian
hoaß – Viennese
haaß • Standard German
weiß – Viennese
wääß • Standard German
Haus – Viennese
Håås • It is typical to lengthen vowels somewhat, often at the end of a sentence. For example:
Heeaasd, i bin do ned bleeed, wooos waaasn ii, wea des woooa (Standard German
Hörst du, ich bin doch nicht blöd, was weiß denn ich, wer das war): "Listen, I'm not stupid; what do I know, who it was?" • The "
Meidlinger L", i.e. pronounced with
velarization found in the
working class dialect, which reflects the
Czech pronunciation. • Inserting vowels into consonant clusters (
epenthesis): Likewise depending on the social class, a speaker, every now and then, may insert a vowel between two following consonants. That usually results in an additional syllable, which "intensifies" the word and usually has a negative feeling to it. Examples: • Standard German
Verschwinde! – Viennese
Vaschwind! – intensified
Vaschawind! • Standard German
Verbrecher! – Viennese
Vabrecha! – intensified
Vabarecha! • Standard German
abgebrannt – Viennese
oobrennt – intensified
oobarennt • Standard German
Geradeaus! – Viennese
Groodaus! – intensified
Garoodaus! The following Viennese German characteristics are also found in other
Bavarian dialects: •
Consonant tenseness: Voiceless
fortis consonants become
lenis . The , however, usually remains fortis when it follows a vowel. •
Vocalization of within a word after a vowel,e.g.
also →
oeso ,
Soldat →
Soedot ,
fehlen →
föhn ,
Kälte →
Köödn • Vocalization of at the end of a word, after a vowel,e.g.
schnell →
schnöö ,
viel →
vüü • Unrounding front
vowels after
coronal consonants,e.g.
Glück →
Glick ,
schön →
schee • Rounding unrounded vowels before (which may have been elided by now),e.g.
schneller →
schnöller ,
vielleicht →
vülleicht ,
wild →
wüüd Grammar There are not many grammatical differences from other Bavarian dialects, but the following is typical: • The use of the preposition
ohne (without) with the
dative case instead of the
accusative case Vocabulary The dialect is distinct mostly in its vocabulary.
Influences 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 centuries. Because transcription of Viennese has not been standardised, 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 ohgfrettn (=
to struggle, from
vretten) • from
Hebrew and
Yiddish: •
Masl (=
luck, from Yiddish מזל
mazl) •
Hawara (=
friend, companion, from Yiddish חבֿר
khaver or Ashkenazi Hebrew חבר
chavér) •
Gannef (=
crook, from Yiddish גנבֿ
ganef) •
Beisl (=
bar, pub, from Hebrew
bajis house + Yiddish diminutive suffix -ל
-l =
bajsl small house) • from
Czech: •
Motschga (=
unappetizing mush, from
močka=
residue in a pipe or
a piss or from
omáčka=
Sauce, Soup) •
Pfrnak (=
(big) nose, from
frňák) •
Lepschi (
Auf Lepschi gehen =
to go out or
to amuse oneself, from
lepší=
better) • from
Hungarian: •
Maschekseitn (=
the other side, from
a másik) •
Gattihosn (=
long underpants, from
gatya =
trousers) • from
Italian: •
Gspusi (=
girlfriend, from
sposa) •
Gstanzl (=
Stanza of a humorous song, from
stanza) •
Gusta (=
appetite for something, from
gusto) • from
French: •
Trottoa (=
sidewalk, from
trottoir) •
Lawua (=
washbowl, from
lavoir) •
Loschie (from
logis) • from
Arabic: •
Hadscha (=
a long path, from
Hajj)
Pragmatics In Viennese, the following
pragmatics peculiarities are found quite often: • Frequent
ironic speech that is marked neither through
intonation nor through
gestures. In most cases, sarcasm must be identified through its context. Especially for foreigners, it is a source of misunderstandings. Such ironic speech is common in the Viennese sense of humour, which is better known as
Wiener Schmäh. • Understatement uses recognisable
diminutive suffixes, such as
-l or
-erl, as in
Kaffeetscherl or
Plauscherl. == Trends ==