Languages of Austria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Languages of Austria include German, the official and most widely spoken language, and several minority languages.

The D-A-CH Sprachraum flag, which includes the flags of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, the three dominant German states in Europe.

[edit] German

German is the only nationally official language, and the language spoken by the largest preportion of Austrians. A number of dialects are spoken. Austrian German is the catch-all term for German in Austria, which can differ from Standard German to the many local vernaculars.

High Alemannic German speaking areas marked in yellow, including part of the Austrian state of Vorarlberg.

[edit] Alemannic

Alemannic dialects are mainly spoken in Vorarlberg, and are quite divergent from Standard German. The Alemannic spoken in Vorarlberg can be further divided into the High Alemannic variety.

[edit] Austro-Bavarian

The majority of Austrian German-speakers speak dialects belonging to the Austro-Bavarian group, and there is little linguistic barrier between Austrians and those living in southern Germany.

[edit] Minority Languages

A number of minority languages are spoken in Austria, some of which have official status.

[edit] Turkish

Turkish is the largest minority language, in a situation mirroring that of Germany, spoken by some 2.3% of the population, mostly immigrants.

[edit] Serbian

Serbian is the second most spoken minority language, with usage by 2.2% of Austrians.

[edit] Croatian

Croatian, an official language in Burgenland, is spoken by 1.6% of Austrians, and Croatians are recognized as a minority and have enjoyed special rights following the Austrian State Treaty (Staatsvertrag) of 1955.

Hungarian-speaking areas in Europe, including a portion of the Austrian state of Burgenland.

[edit] Hungarian

While little spoken today, Hungarian has traditionally held an important position in Austria (or, more correctly, Austria-Hungary). Today, Hungarian is spoken by around 20,000 people (.05% of the Austrian population) in Burgenland.

[edit] Bosnian

The least spoken of Austrias minority languages, the Bosnian language is spoken by some .04% of the Ausrian population.

[edit] Refrences

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.

• ftp://www.statistik.at/pub/neuerscheinungen/vzaustriaweb.pdf