Languages Of Austria: What Do Austrians Speak?

Austria is a landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of almost nine million people. The country's official language is German, which is spoken by 97-98% of the population. However, there are several other languages and dialects spoken throughout the country, influenced by its rich history and diverse cultural landscape. So, what are the languages spoken in Austria, and how did they come to be?

Official language: German

German is the official language of Austria. It is the first language, or lingua franca, of the country and is used in the media, schools, and official communications. Almost all Austrians speak German, with 97-98% of the population able to converse in the language. It is also the language of education and administration, with primary school children learning in German and most adults requiring it for work.

Austrian German is a version of German that has been influenced by the Austro-Bavarian dialect. Austrian German is mutually intelligible with Standard German, but there are some differences in vocabulary and accent. German speakers visiting Austria may struggle with certain regional dialects, including the Viennese dialect. German-speakers might find themselves in places where the local dialect is very different and hard to understand.

Austrian German is influenced by the country's history. Austria was once part of the Frankish Empire and later the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was also part of the German Confederation and the German Republic after the First World War. The country has worked hard to establish itself as distinct from Germany, and most Austrians identify as Austrian rather than German.

German is the official language of Austria, but it is not the only language spoken there. There are several minority languages, some of which have official status. These include Hungarian, Slovenian, Burgenland-Croatian, Czech, Slovak, and Romani.

Austrian German vs German German

Austrian German, also known as Austrian, is the official language of Austria and is used in education, media and administrative communications. It is mutually intelligible with Standard German, with some differences in terms of accent and vocabulary. German-speaking visitors to Austria may struggle with certain regional dialects, including the local Viennese dialect, which is far less recognisable to German speakers.

Austrian German is influenced by Austro-Bavarian, the unofficial native language of Austria. Austro-Bavarian is a collection of dialects native to the region, with distinct branches spoken in the northern and southern parts of the country. More than 8 million people in Austria speak Austro-Bavarian, making it the de facto main language of Austria, even though it doesn't have an official written standard.

Austro-Bavarian differs greatly from Standard German, making it very difficult for German speakers from other regions to understand. For example, the greeting "hello" in Austria is "grüß gott" or "servus", whereas in Germany it is "hallo" or "guten tag". Another example is "potato", which in Austria is "erdapfel", and in Germany is "kartoffel".

Alemannic, or Swiss German, is another dialect spoken in Austria, mostly in the Vorarlberg region. It is very difficult for German speakers to understand.

While German is the official language of Austria, it is not the same as Standard German. The German spoken in Vienna, for example, may prove puzzling to those who speak Standard German, from the accent to some of the vocabulary.

Overall, while Austrian German and Standard German are mutually intelligible, there are distinct differences in accent, vocabulary and grammar that can make communication between the two groups challenging.

Austro-Bavarian dialects

Austro-Bavarian, also known as Bavarian, is a group of Upper German dialects spoken in the south-east of the German language area, including the German state of Bavaria, most of Austria, and the Italian region of South Tyrol. It is the main dialect outside the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and some areas of Tyrol's Reutte District, where an Alemannic dialect is spoken.

The Austro-Bavarian language has its origins in the Germanic tribe known as the Bavarii, who established a tribal duchy covering much of what is today Bavaria and parts of Austria in the early Middle Ages. Over time, the Bavarii and their language spread down the Danube and into the Alps, which is why Austro-Bavarian gained the geographic spread it has today.

Austro-Bavarian is commonly considered to be a dialect of German, but some sources classify it as a separate language. Reasons for why it is viewed as a dialect of German include the perception of its speakers, the lack of standardization, and the traditional use of Standard German as a roofing language. However, the difference between Bavarian and Standard German is larger than the difference between Danish and some varieties of Norwegian or between Czech and Slovak.

Bavarian has three main dialects: Northern Bavarian, Central Bavarian, and Southern Bavarian. In Austria, the northern and southern parts of the country speak these dialects, with the central parts speaking Central Austro-Bavarian. Austro-Bavarian differs greatly from Standard German, making it difficult for German speakers from different regions to understand native Austro-Bavarian speakers.

Austro-Bavarian has no official orthography, but there are literary efforts, especially in poems, to depict the sound of the pronunciation in the spelling. While there is no common orthographic standard, Austro-Bavarian has grammars, vocabularies, and a translation of the Bible in the language.

The majority of Austro-Bavarian speakers also speak Standard German, and the two languages have influenced each other over the centuries. However, translation services are still required for documents like marketing materials and legal paperwork.

Minority languages

The official language of Austria is German, which is used in education, media, and administrative communications. However, Austria is also home to several minority languages, some of which have official status. According to the European Commission, Austria's recognised minority languages include Hungarian, Slovenian, Burgenland-Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Romany, and sign language. In Carinthia, Slovene is considered an official language alongside German, and in some districts of Burgenland, Hungarian and Croatian have equal status to German as an official language.

Serbo-Croatian is the largest minority language in Austria, spoken by more than 4% of the population. It is followed by Turkish, which is the second-largest minority language, spoken by 2.3% of the population. Serbian is the second most-spoken minority language, with 2.2% of the population speaking it.

Other minority languages in Austria include Burgenland Croatian, Romani, Slovak, Slovenian, Czech, and Hungarian. While little spoken today, Hungarian has historically held an important position in Austria due to the historical ties between the two countries. Slovene is an official language in the Austrian state of Carinthia and is spoken by 0.3% of Austrians.

In addition to these recognised minority languages, there are also several other languages spoken in Austria that are not officially recognised. These include "Jenisch" and "Windisch", which is the German word for a number of Slavic languages. The Austrian regions of Carinthia and Styria use "Windisch" to describe local Slovenian dialects interspersed with numerous German words.

The large number of Turkish speakers and immigrants from former Yugoslavia do not have their languages recognised as protected minority languages, and they are not taught in schools. Some of the extremely rare languages used in Austria include Aramaic, spoken by the Christian Assyrian diaspora community in Vienna.

English as a second language

English is taught as the first foreign language in most Austrian schools, with children receiving regular tuition from the age of seven upwards. As a result, around two-thirds of Austrians speak English fairly fluently. This means that English is the second most spoken language in the country, after German. In fact, Austria places seventh out of 63 countries on Education First's English Proficiency Index, with Austrians in every age group outperforming Europe-wide averages for their levels of spoken English.

However, it's worth noting that English does not have official status in Austria. Official communications, signage, and so forth use German, as that is the primary language of Austria.

English is one of the major foreign languages spoken in Austria, alongside French and Italian. It is estimated that just over 40% of people in Austria speak English, which is more or less on par with the average in European countries. However, less than 1% of Austria's population has English as their mother tongue.

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