German dialects

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This thread is dedicated to Q&A concerning German dialects.

A link to a collection of texts and sound files in various German dialects along with a map, by W. Näser of Marburg University:
http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~naeser/DIAL-BSP.HTM

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HISTORY OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE

• Verbix: Germanic Languages
A brief overview of the Germanic languages from Verbix.

• Ethnologue: High German
A language tree for High German placing it within its linguistic context.

• Überblick über die Geschichte der deutschen Sprache
Jan Wohlgemuth traces the development of the German language in this useful online analysis.

• A Short History Of The German Language
Helmut Richter offers a brief but comprehensive overview of the development of the German language.

• Die deutsche Sprache
This article by Hans Eggers chronicles the development of the German language from past to present.

• Lautwandel
An online explanation of the sound shifts and other linguistic processes that have shaped the German language.

• Lingorama
A depiction of the different epochs in the history of the German language and the changes that took place within them.

• Lautverschiebung
An explanation of the sound shifts that shaped the Germanic languages.

• Die Entwicklung der Sprache
A seminar course on the development of language from a German perspective.

• Lexilinks
An excellent linklist of online dictionaries.

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ABOUT DIALECTS AND HIGH GERMAN

An overview of the main German dialects and developments in the field of dialectology from Robert Shea


Although the German-speaking areas of Europe--counting only Germany in the borders of 1937 (470662 sq.km), Austria (83850 sq.km), Switzerland (all; 41293 sq.km), Liechtenstein (157 sq.km)--are but a fraction of the territory of the U.S. (9363353 sq.km), the linguistic diversity of the German language is immensely greater than the variants of American English. Dialects abound. When I entered the teachers' prep school at Ochsenhausen in 1941, I noticed to my amazement that among my class of 25--all from Württemberg--there were 20 distinctly different subdialects of Schwäbisch, Niederalemannisch and Fränkisch spoken! The regional, and often even local, variants differ from each other and from High German in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary to an extent that can make communication increasingly difficult the farther the dialect areas are apart.

That's when High German (Hochdeutsch) comes to the rescue, the "standard language"--equivalent of the "Queen's English"--the principal vehicle of the media, of literature, religion, education and commerce. Most German-speakers grow up "bilingually" -- with the dialect of their region and High German.

If you know some German and don't understand a dialect speaker, s/he will usually shift toward High German (= still colored by regionalisms but more of less approximating what you might have learned in school or at home).

It would do the dialects a great injustice to look at them as "bad" or "corrupted" German. After all, they have seniority: they are linked to the historic tribal sub-structure of the German- speaking people(s) who settled in central Europe and in England (Anglo-Saxons) during the "Völkerwanderung" (migration of nations) around 500 A.D. The major tribes, from N to S, were: the Frisians (Friesen), the Saxons (Sachsen), the Franks (Franken), the Thuringians (Thüringer), the Alemanni (Alemannen) and the Bavarians (Bayern). Each of these tribes developed its own dialect and subdialects. In the course of history, dynastic territorial actions--war, marriage, or inheritance--altered the political borders of the original tribes, but seldom did these acquisitions/losses affect the ethno-linguistic deliniations of the tribes. In the southern part of the German-speaking area, e.g., the Alemanni had settled in what today is: Alsace, Baden, Württemberg, western Bavaria, western Austria, Liechtenstein and two thirds of Switzerland. They formed the duchy (Herzogtum) of Schwaben. Even after 1500 years, the overarching Alemannic dialect base still makes it possible for people in these areas to communicate in their respective subdialects. The visitor in Augsburg--30 miles from München--will be surprised to hear the folks there speak "schwäbisch" rather than "bayerisch," and in Nürnberg and Würzburg it isn't "bayerisch" either, it is "fränkisch" you hear, yet Bavaria is Germany's biggest "Land." The Alemanni in Alsace speak "elsässisch," an Alemannic subdialect, and French. I suppose it is a bit hard for Austrians to swallow the linguistic designation "südbayerisch" (south Bavarian) for their dialects. But let's not forget: most of Austria was settled by Bavarians well over 1000 years ago, hence the legitimacy of the designation.

These examples want to drive home a point: political and ethno-linguistic borders must not necessarily coincide. In the course of history the latter have shown more permanence than the former. The accompanying map of German dialects around 1930 (grayscale 251kb or in color 137KB- better viewed when printed out) illustrates these incongruences. The map is based on the one by Theo van Dorp in Adolf Bach's Geschichte der deutschen Sprache, 9th ed. (Wiesbaden: VMA-Verlag, n.d.), 102. It affords an overview of the three large dialect bands spanning German-speaking Central Europe with each, in turn, showing sub- groups of dialects. From North to South:

I. NIEDERDEUTSCH (Plattdeutsch, Low German)
1. Friesisch (Frisian), 2. Niederfränkisch (Low Franconian),
3. Niedersächsisch (Low Saxon).

II. MITTELDEUTSCH (Middle German)
1. Fränkisch (Franconian): a. Mittelfränkisch (Middle Franconian), Ripuarisch (Ripuarian), Moselfränkisch (Moselle-Franconian); b. Rheinfränkisch (Rhine Franconian).
2. Thüringisch (Thuringian). 3. Obersächsisch (Upper Saxon),
4. Schlesisch (Silesian).

III. OBERDEUTSCH (Upper German, s.t. confused with High German)
1. Ober-Fränkisch (Upper Franconian): a. Süd-Fränkisch (South Franconian, b. Ostfränkisch (East Franconian).
2. Alemannisch (Alemannic): a. Schwäbisch (Swabian), b. Niederalemannisch (Low Alemannic), c. Upper Alemannic.
3. Bayerisch (Bavarian): a. Nord-, b. Mittel-, c. Süd-Bayer isch (North, Middle, South Bavarian).

A phenomenon called "Second or Old High German Soundshift" (Zweite oder Althochdeutsche Lautverschiebung) between the 5th and 9th centuries created the three big dialect bands. It affected especially the consonants p, t, k. In the Upper German area they were shifted, depending on position within a given word, as follows: p to pf, ff; t to s, ss, z, tz; k to ch. Middle German participated to a somewhat lesser degree: a Frankfurter likes his "äppelwoi" (Apple wine), not "Apfelwei(n)." The line separating Upper and Middle German is also referred to as the "Appel/Apfel" line. Low German (including Anglo-Saxon) was not affected by the soundshift at all. The line between Low and Middle German is called the "maken/machen" line. The Low German band of this map shows less differentiation than the Middle and Upper bands, but Mecklenburg, West- and East Pomerania, Brandenburg and East Prussia certainly also have dialect variants of their own. Along the Ruhr River you hear "Westfaelisch", 50 km east of there it is "Ostfaelisch," then Elb-Ostfaelisch. It is a colorful mosaic, that "small" German-speaking area!

In our next Newsletter we will explore commonalities between English (Anglo Saxon) and German. And we will see how the sound- shift rules affected the changes from West Germanic to the German of today.



In spite of dire predictions, regional differences and dialects are not disappearing.

GEOGRAPHIC BASE OF GERMAN DIALECTS HAS BROADENED



German, like nearly everything else, isn't quite what it used to be.

Earlier this century, according to linguists, there were nearly four dozen distinct dialects of the language in use, and that was before the fine points of local variation were taken into account. In the course of the half century since the end of the Second World War, however, dialects have come under pressure from a variety of social, cultural, economic and technological changes. Greater mobility and demographic shifts have been the downfall of some local dialects, but in general they have proven more durable than might have been expected.

The state of German's dialects was the topic of discussion among the more than 500 linguists from 26 nations who turned out recently (March 12-14) for the Institute for the German Language's annual meeting, held this year in Mannheim (Baden-Württemberg). Developments such as the expansion of the mass media and the opening of higher educa- tion to all members of society have indeed spurred tremendous changes in the verbal habits of German-speakers, a number of the conference participants agreed, but dialect has nonetheless managed to hold on in large parts of the German-speaking world and a uniform version of German is unlikely to develop. While some local Mundarten have become extinct, linguists have seen a development among young people toward Verkehrsdialekte (cross-regional speech patterns) spoken across regional borders, as well as a general tendency to employ forms of colloquial German that incorporate dialect elements. Peter Wiesinger, a Vienna-based specialist in the German language, noted that this development is also tied to the relative "prestige" of dialects. Residents of northeastern Germany, he says, are less likely to use dialect than residents of western and southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. For example, 95 percent of Switzerland's German-speakers use dialect, Wiesinger said, while in southern Brandenburg only 14 percent of the population speak the local dialect. Gerhard Stickel, director of the Institute for the German Language, argues that dialect has won a new prestige as many German-speakers carefully pepper High German with words and expressions from dialect. Even among intellectuals and members of the urban middle class, he observes, there is a noticeable trend toward making use of dialects for the "earthy" flavor it imparts to language.

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Questions And Answers About German Dialects

by Helmut Richter



What kind of German is spoken where?

There are lots of local features in German dialects and languages, and the borders between the regions where each is spoken do not coincide as to form coherent areas for few basic languages, and any short description will be full of inaccuracies. Hence it is only for a first very crude sketch that we divide the German-speaking countries as follows:

• The North consists of the German provinces of Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Schleswig-Holstein, most of North-Rhine-Westfalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) except its westernmost parts and the Northern half of Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt). This is the part of Germany that is situated North of a line passing through Cologne (Köln) and immediately South of Berlin. Nearly 40% of the native speakers of German live there.
• The South consists of the Southern neighbours of Germany (Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Southern Tyrol (Südtirol; belonging to Italy since WWI)) and the German provinces of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria (Bayern). This is the region South of the river Main including the Eastern half of the mountain range at its North bank. About 35% of the native speakers of German live there.

In the sequel, the remaining portion of the German-speaking countries, between the North and the South, will be called the Centre. It can be further subdivided as follows:

• The West consists of the German provinces of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), Saarland, Hesse (Hessen), and the westernmost parts of North-Rhine-Westfalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen). This is the part of the Centre that belonged to West Germany prior to the reunification. As far as German is spoken there, Luxemburg belongs also into this group. About 15% of the native speakers of German live there.
• The East consists of the German provinces of Saxony (Sachsen), Thuringia (Thüringen), and the Southern half of Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt). This is the part of the Centre that belonged to East Germany prior to the reunification. About 10% of the native speakers of German live there. The now mostly extinct dialects of the now Polish provinces East of the rivers Oder and Neiße belong mostly here as well.

The South is the region where the Second Sound Shift (see the separate article on the history of German) is fully in effect for the local dialect, and the North where it is not in effect at all, whereas in the Centre, it is partially in effect (in the East more than in the West). As standard German is based on Eastern and Southern language, the Northern vernacular with its greater distance to the standard has more problems to survive.

As far as dialect is concerned, the main border is between the North where the dialects are varieties of Low German, and the rest where this is not the case. For colloquial standard German, the main border is between the South where the regional language mingles more easily with the intended standard and the rest where this is the less the case, the farther North we are. The mountain range South of river Mosel and North of river Main is indeed a border for many features where Northern/Central and Southern usage differ. Examples:

Written language differences between North and South Germany

• In the South, sein is still used as auxiliary verb for the perfect tense of static words like stehen, sitzen, liegen, and intransitive hängen. In the Centre and North, haben is used instead.
• The usage of the many hardly translatable particles differs. For example, Northern and Central aber (Das habe ich dir aber gesagt. - I did tell you that.) would be schon in the South, and Southern halt (Da kann man halt nichts machen. - You just can't do anything about it.) would be eben in the North and Centre.
• There is no simple past tense (ich las) in the South, perfect tense (ich habe gelesen) is used instead.
• The diminutive ending -chen is more typical for the North and the Centre, whereas -lein and its dialectal variants (-le, -el, -erl) prevail in the South.

Pronunciation differences between North and South Germany

• By a sound shift in early New High German times the s in st and sp is pronounced with a sh-sound but in standard German only initially in a word (e.g. Spiel, Stein); for foreign words the standard is quite inconsistent (s-sound in statisch, sh-sound in stationär, either in statistisch). In the South, this sound shift applies to other positions as well to a varying degree. In Bavaria and most of Austria the sh-sound appears consistently at the beginning of words, and also in the middle of a fair number of words, e.g. in Wurst, zuerst, Vesper, and Konstruktion. In the Alemannic South-West including Switzerland and in Tyrol all st and sp are pronounced with the sh-sound e.g. also in Fest, er is(t), Schwester. In the Centre and North, common usage is about standard; in the very North, st and sp are pronounced with an s-sound even initially in a syllable or word.
• When, by the general phonological rules of standard German, a vowel might be either long and closed or short and open, long vowels are preferred in the North and short vowels in the South with a large overlap. Examples are the stressed vowels in Kritik, schon, Barsch, Städte, Titel, Husten, gehabt, gibt, erst, Behörde, höchst, Erde, sorted after the author's perception from "pronouncedly Northern if long" over "both possible" to "pronouncedly Southern if short". All of these are standardised as long, an effect of the standard having been developed by a North German, Theodor Siebs (1862-1941). However, Swiss and Austrian pronunciation standards allow short pronunciation for most of these words.
• In the Centre and North, post-vocalic g is often pronounced as if it were written ch (with the same two allophones as the real ch): Tag, Tage, täglich as [tɑ:x], [tɑ:xə] or [tɑ:ɣə], [tɛ:çlɪç], Weg as [ve:ç], weg as [vɛç], Honig as [ho:nɪç]. This does never happen in the South. The standard has taken over the pronunciation of word-final -ig as [ɪç] but not the other Northernisms. (If your browser does not show the IPA in the square brackets, here is the ASCII-IPA representation: [tA:x], [tA:x@] or [tA:Q@], [tE:ClIC], [ve:C], [vEC], [ho:nIC].)

Concerning the voiced and unvoiced pronunciation of consonants, the East is closer to the South:

• Syllable-initial s and w are mostly pronounced as unvoiced [s] and bilabial [w] in the South and East but as voiced [z] and labio-dental [v] in the West and the North.
• There is a difference in how the "hard" (tense, aspirated and unvoiced) consonants p, t, k are distinguished from the "soft" (lax, unaspirated and voiced) b, d, g. In the South and East, all these consonants tend to be spoken unvoiced and with little aspiration, but the differentiation in tenseness is often more explicit so that Rad can be told from Rat despite the devoicing at the word end. However, in Southern and Eastern dialects (Saxon, Franconian, Bavarian), lax pronunciation of all these consonants prevails, so that there is no difference left between b and p, between d and t, or between g and k (the latter pair not in all contexts).

Why are varieties of German called "high", "low", "upper", or "flat" (Hochdeutsch, Niederdeutsch, Oberdeutsch, Plattdeutsch)?

The "Hoch-" (high) in "Hochdeutsch" may either refer to

• "Hochsprache" (standard language; official or literary style) as distinct from "Umgangssprache" (colloquial language) and "Dialekt" (dialect) or to
• "Hochdeutsch" (High German: German spoken in the higher regions) as distinct from "Niederdeutsch" (Low German: German spoken in the Lowlands).

Conversely, "Platt" (flat) may refer to non-standard, dialectal German or to Low German.

The usage of these terms is therefore sometimes ambiguous. Here is a list of possible meanings and ambiguities:

Note that although "Hochdeutsch" is the typical antonym of "Plattdeutsch" in both meanings of both words, the meanings do still not coincide: in the West of Germany, "Platt" refers to the local vernacular which is a Central German, not a Low German dialect, and in the Northern Lowlands, one would only call Low German "Platt" whereas colloquial language with many regionalisms is still not "Hochdeutsch".

The ambiguity stems from the fact that High German has become the basis for standard German. Etymologically, "Hochdeutsch" comes from the regional meaning and "Platt" from the language level, but nowadays these words are mostly understood the other way: when a non-linguist speaks about "Hochdeutsch", typically standard German is meant, and "Platt" is typically (albeit not exclusively) associated with the thick Low German vernacular of the coastal regions.

In English, most translations given above as literal are acceptable to convey the meaning, with the exception of "Hochsprache" which should be translated as "standard language". "Plattdeutsch" is used as a loan word in English, and is thus not translated.

Are Swiss, Austrian, and Luxemburgish separate languages or German dialects?

There is no linguistic criterion to distinguish a dialect from a language. A dialect is a language if it is treated as such in a particular country. Or, as Max Weinreich put it: "A language is a dialect with an army and a navy."

In Germany and Austria, local languages are treated as dialects: they are never written or used in radio or TV broadcasts with the exception of folkloristic programmes, and their usage is restricted to situations where both speakers agree on using the dialect. In South Tyrol (Italy), German has a minority status, but also there it is standard German and not the local language which has this status.

In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, there are much more occasions where the local language, Schwyzerdütsch, is used: in most radio and TV programmes, in court trials, and many more. However, Schwyzerdütsch is rarely written, and the minutes of a negotiation held in Schwyzerdütsch would be written down in standard German: hence the term "Schriftdeutsch" (written German) for standard German. Schwyzerdütsch has not the status of an official language but it is something like an official, albeit unwritten, dialect. Schwyzerdütsch comes in several subdialects which are mutually intelligible.

In Luxemburg, there are three official languages: the local language, Lëtzebuergesch, which is akin to West Central German dialects, French, and standard German. Other than all German dialects including Schwyzerdütsch, Lëtzebuergesch has a well-defined orthography and it is taught in school. So there is no question that Lëtzebuergesch is a language in its own right, and not a German dialect. - Due to the judicial system in Luxemburg, which has developed out of French law, most contracts and documents are written in French, so that the actual use of written Lëtzebuergesch is somewhat limited.

Which local dialect is nearest to standard German from a linguistic standpoint?

This depends a lot on which linguistic criteria one wants to apply. Historically, standard German has developed out of Southern and Eastern dialects, and was most heavily influenced by Luther who lived in the East and took an Eastern language, the chancery language of Meißen, as his standard. The dialect of Meißen in Saxony, Saxon (sächsisch, more precisely: obersächsisch) compares to standard German in an interesting way:

• Phonologically, it is quite distinct: The hard (unvoiced, aspirated, tense) plosives p, t, and k are spoken softly (unvoiced but unaspirated and lax) exactly like b, d, and g; the monophthongisation which is typical for the transition from Middle High German (MHD) to New High German (NHD) was more radical in Saxony (Sx) than in the rest of Germany: not only have the diphthongs ie, uo, and üe become monophthongs but so have ei and ou as well (MHD ein kleiner boum, NHD ein kleiner Baum became Sx e gleener Boom); and rounded vowels have entirely disappeared (NHD schöne Grüße became Sx scheene Grieße).
• Syntactically, however, it is quite similar: if you know the phonological rules, translating standard German to Saxon by just applying these rules yield quite fair results (well, you have to know which NHD ei and au stem from MHD ei and ou; the others remain unchanged). In contrast to that, other dialects, for instance Bavarian, have grammars where a sentence has to be thoroughly reworded when translating between the dialect and standard German.
• Each dialect has its special vocabulary, and so has Saxon, but the number of exclusively Saxon words is certainly not high compared to other German dialects.

To sum up, despite its very pronounced sound which distinguishes Saxon from standard German, it is probably a good candidate for a German dialect linguistically close to standard German.

Where in Germany are chances best to learn standard German when you just talk with people?

Surprisingly, this is not where the local dialect is linguistically close to standard German which developed out of Southern and Eastern High German dialects. In these regions, the local dialect mixes too easily with standard German. Moreover, the phonology of these dialects happens to be thoroughly distinct from standard German (see previous question).

In the regions where Low German was the local vernacular, High German has also been the official language for quite some time, but there, until not long ago, it was a language distinct from the local idiom. Therefore, it was not so much "spoilt" by local language habits, and chances are better for a foreigner to pick up standard German. Moreover, the standard pronunciation was defined by Theodor Siebs who himself came from the Low German region, further contributing to the puzzling effect that standard High German can quite well be learnt in the formerly Low German area.

The answer to the question is therefore: in the South of the Low German region, and there in the greater cities where interaction with people from the rest of Germany has traditionally been frequent. Hannover is often nominated as "capital of Standard Germany" but in other cities like Münster or Magdeburg you will hear standard German as well.

Are German dialects mutually intelligible?

The short answer is "No". Had people from different German-speaking regions not all learnt a common standard German, they would have a hard time understanding each other.

Each of the dialects contains some typical words that aren't cognates of standard German words and are thus hardly understood elsewhere, but in none of the dialects these words account for a large percentage of the vocabulary. Mutual intelligibility should therefore not be measured by the knowledge of such words but rather by the ability to understand the flow of language consisting of cognates of standard German.

In general, we have a dialect continuum in the German-speaking countries: normally, the dialect of neighbouring regions is easily understood even when it is clearly recognised as distinct from one's own. Only in the Alps, the range where a dialect is understood outside the region where it is spoken can be rather small: so there are Swiss dialects not understood in all of Switzerland (contrary to the remark in another section that Swiss dialects are mutually intelligible which is in general true). Perhaps, distance should not be measured in kilometres or miles but in walking days; then one valley in the Alps can be quite "far" away from a neighbouring one.

The Low German dialects in Germany's North are mutually intelligible but not understood elsewhere. Of the remaining dialects, those of Switzerland, of Southern Bavaria and Austria, and of the West bank of the Rhine are particularly difficult to understand outside the regions where they are spoken whereas the Central and Eastern German dialects have much better chances to be understood everywhere.

When Swiss TV contributions are broadcasted in the whole of the German-speaking countries, they are usually equipped with German subtitles in order to be understood. Folkloristic theater from Bavaria or the North Sea coast is usually not subtitled, but for Germany-wide dissemination, a watered-down version of the dialect is often employed.

Do the names of German dialects denote tribes, geographic regions, or political entities?

Tribes have disappeared for a long time: the people now living in a certain area are not the descendants of common ancestors. But the old Germanic tribes have let their names to become names of political entities, often in different times of history the names of different countries which have little in common from an ethnic, linguistic, or geographic standpoint. Roughly, there are three possible reasons why a name can mean different countries in history:

• The people moves. This has happened a lot prior to the rise and decay of the Frankish empire, but only little afterwards, with the colonisation of the Slavonic East by Germanic people as the most notable exception .
• The country moves: By war, treaty or marriage, a country expands on one side and independently shrinks at the other. The Franks have moved this way upwards the rivers Rhine (Rhein) and Main from North-West Germany to their current place in the Northern half of the province of Bavaria (Bayern).
• Only the name of the country moves: a once important country becomes less important, and a once unimportant region at the edge of the country inherits the name. For instance, after Heinrich der Löwe (1129-1195, reigned 1142-1180), duke of Saxony, lost most of his dukedom in Northern Germany (now Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)), the name Saxony (Sachsen) was granted to the dukes of Anhalt (now Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)), and later to those in Meißen (now in Saxony (Sachsen)).

The dialects spoken in the regions which, in some time in history, carried the name of Franconia (Franken) have little or nothing in common, and the same holds for Saxony (Sachsen). The question of this section can thus be reworded to: If the name of a dialect is that of a country or province, which of the countries that have had this name in history is meant? Unfortunately, scientific and popular usage of dialect names differ in this respect:

• When linguists assign names to dialects, they often use historic names from the time before and after the Frankish empire and they qualify these names by building composites with "upper", "lower", "Northern", etc. Due to the migration of countries, the unqualified names have no real meaning.
• When ordinary people name the dialects they encounter, they use names from today's geography: they call "fränkisch" or "sächsisch" the dialect that is typical for today's Franken or Sachsen, and what would be called "ostfränkisch" (or "obersächsisch", resp.) by the linguists.

Of course, dialect borders do not always coincide with today's political borders and do sometimes indeed reflect earlier political borders. For instance, Swabian (schwäbisch) is not only spoken where we find "Schwaben" on our maps today, to wit in Bavaria between the rivers Iller and Lech, but above all in Württemberg which once belonged to a dukedom Schwaben. Nonetheless, a usage of names that can be understood only from history does not occur in popular but only in scientific usage of dialect names. Such inconsistencies in naming are particularly confusing when the same qualified name has two different meanings, as for instance: The Southern central part of today's Franconia around Nuremberg (Nürnberg) is "Mittelfranken" (central Franconia), but "mittelfränkisch" is the linguists' name of the dialects of the region South of Cologne (Köln) which happens to be in the center of the whole area they - and only they - call "fränkisch".

There is one historic name that has become popular, albeit only in a small region. Linguists call a large group of dialects in South-West Germany and Switzerland "Alemannic" ("alemannisch") and qualify by adding "highest", "high", "low", etc. In a very small part of this region, to wit in the High Alemannic region in Germany around Waldshut, Lörrach, and Freiburg, people call their own dialect "alemannisch" although this is not a name in today's geography. This usage is probably a consequence of the work of the poet Johann Peter Hebel (1760-1826) who published very popular poems in this dialect under the title "Alemannische Gedichte", thus introducing the term.

Another distinction between geography and linguistics is made in Bavaria: As the province of Bavaria comprises also regions where Franconian (fränkisch) and Swabian (schwäbisch) is spoken, and the Bavarian dialect extends over the borders of Bavaria, is has become customary to use the spelling "bairisch" for the dialect and the culture, and "bayerisch" for the political entity. The word is, of course, the same with the y being a fairly recent (19th c.) spelling change, but the distinction is often useful.