The difference between Austrian and German

Despite the fact that Germany and Austria are German-speaking countries, the differences in the languages ​​they speak are present.

Literary German (Hochdeutsch) is the official language in Germany. People speak it on TV, publish laws, write books. At the same time, there are many local dialects that are used in colloquial speech. Austrian German (Österreichisches Deutsch), in relation to Hochdeutsch, is a “supradialectic language form”. That is, it is a literary German, which was strongly influenced by the Bavarian dialect, and it became something more than just a dialect.

Officially, the national language of Austria is pure literary German. It is written and official correspondence is maintained on it. But the scope of use of Austrian German is wider than that of dialects in Germany, because the people of Austria greatly value their identity.

The Austrian is divided into 9 sub-dialect.

Speaking of differences, the pronunciation differs among Austrians: “a” – “e” – “i” is pronounced longer, Austrians speak more clearly and open their mouths more widely. There is even a popular (among Germans and Austrians) opinion that the Austrian language is friendlier and more beautiful than German. In morphology, there are no special differences: different kinds of certain nouns (der Butter (austr.) / Die Butter (German) – this is “butter”, der Zwiebel (austr.) / Die Zwiebel (German) – this “bow”) , the words for potatoes, apricots and some other food are different. Also, the very popular greeting “Grüß Gott”. It is used by absolutely all Austrians and, moreover, quite inarticably. Obviously, the Austrians have their own set of well-established expressions that are best taught in a linguistic environment.

Dont be upset, . Sometimes they do not understand each other either. If you go to YouTube, you will find there a lot of entertaining content on the topic that in another region or country they say incomprehensible phrases that videoblogers themselves do not understand and have never heard.

A link to one of these videos, where the girl explains the difference between German in Germany and in Austria, we attach to this article.

Either way, you still have to learn Hochdeutsch, and then you can already afford to go into the nuances.

German vs. Austrian | German Speaking Austrian: