Language spoken in
Germany,
Austria, and part of
Switzerland as well as
Liechtenstein, Südtirol
? in
Italy, a small part of
Belgium and - still! -
Siebenbuergen (
Transylvania/ Erdély/ Ardeal) and some parts of
Hungary and
Yugoslavia. It is also one of the official languages of
Luxembourg. Belongs to the western group of
Germanic languages. There are a variety of spoken dialects:
- HighGerman
- [Middle German]?
- including [Luxembourgian Language]? (closely related to siebenbürgisch "Saksesch" which is [Transylvanian Saxon]?)
- UpperGerman?
- [Austro Bavarian]?--see Austria/Language
- including ancient [Southern Bavarian]? still spoken in the "Sieben Gemeinden" (Sette Comuni) and "13 Gemeinden" (13 Comuni) in Italy, near Asiago and Verona respectively
- Swiss German
- [High Franconian]?
- LowGerman
However, Low German is much closer to Dutch, and it is only seen as a German dialect due to the fact that it is spoken in a part of Germany. Characteristic of German is that /k/, /p/ and /t/ in some positions developed to /x/, /f/ and /ts/. In English as well as Dutch and Low German, the old /k/ /p/ /t/ are still there, cf. English make, Dutch maken, German machen etc.
Does this page do any justice whatsoever to this very fine language? No, it's just here so that Austrian and Luxembourgain have homes. It's sad, really, but it won't be this way forever. And there is a German version of wikipedia starting up, yes, at http://de.wikipedia.com!
See Common phrases in different languages