Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

(german: Siebenbürgen or Transsilvanien) , speakers = 1,500 worldwide , date = , ref = , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 =

Irminonic Elbe Germanic, also called Irminonic or Erminonic, is a term introduced by the German linguist Friedrich Maurer (1898–1984) in his book, ''Nordgermanen und Alemanen'', to describe the unattested proto-language, or dialectal grouping, ancestra ...

, fam5 = High German , fam6 =

Upper German Upper German (german: Oberdeutsch ) is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in the southern German-speaking area (). History In the Old High German time, only Alemannic and Bairisch are grouped as Upper German. In the Middle High G ...

, fam7 = Southern Bavarian , map = , mapcaption = , isoexception = dialect , glotto = land1263 , glottorefname = Transylvanian Landler/Landler , map2 = , mapcaption2 = Transylvanian Landler (german: Siebenbürgisch Landlerisch) is a

German dialect German dialects are the various traditional local varieties of the German language. Though varied by region, those of the southern half of Germany beneath the Benrath line are dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant s ...

of the

Transylvanian Landler , native_name_lang = German , image = Sibiu, Transylvania, Evangelische Stadtpfarrkirche, Glasfenster 1908, oesterreichische Protestanten.jpg , image_caption = Detail of a church window in Sibiu/Hermannstadt dedicated to the memo ...

(german: Siebenbürger Landler) community who lives in Sibiu County (german: Kreis Hermannstadt) in southern

, central

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Transylvanian Landler is a southern dialect of the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

and has many linguistic features in common with Bavarian (german: Bairisch). It is estimated that approximately 1,500 people speak this dialect of German at a native level.

Geographical location

Traditionally, it has been spoken in several communes situated in Sibiu County where in the past

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

(more specifically

Evangelical Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

) expelled from Salzkammergut area were allowed to settle. These communes are: Großau ( ro, Cristian), Großpold ( ro, Apoldu de Sus), and Neppendorf ( ro, Turnișor). The ancestors of the Transylvanian Landlers stem from

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

(german: Oberösterreich),

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

(german: Steiermark), and

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

(german: Kärnten). The Transylvanian Landler dialect was also spoken by 40 native speakers in

Sebeș Sebeș (; German: ''Mühlbach''; Hungarian: ''Szászsebes''; Transylvanian Saxon dialect: ''Melnbach'') is a city in Alba County, central Romania, southern Transylvania. Geography The city lies in the Mureș River valley and straddles the rive ...

(german: Mühlbach), Alba County in the past. Consequently, the Transylvanian Landlers were surrounded mostly by Romanian speakers and Transylvanian Saxons (which subsequently influenced their dialect as well). The Transylvanian Landler community has been living in Sibiu County since the mid 18th century onwards. It is considered an endangered German dialect as it is mostly spoken by 200 older people in Transylvania and a few hundred in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Aside from Transylvanian Landler, the Transylvanian Landlers also speak: *

Standard High German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...

; *

Transylvanian Saxon The Transylvanian Saxons (german: Siebenbürger Sachsen; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen''; ro, Sași ardeleni, sași transilvăneni/transilvani; hu, Erdélyi szászok) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania ...

; *

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

Number of speakers in the past

In the past, during the early 20th century and more specifically during the 1930s, it is estimated that the total number of Transylvanian Landler speakers in their three rural communities in southern Transylvania peaked at 6,000. This number, however, has gradually dwindled to a very tiny minority to the present-day, when it is estimated that this German dialect is spoken by approximately 1,500 people worldwide.

Multilingualism

All Transylvanian Landlers speak

and

, aside from their dialect. They also speak

Notes

References

{{reflist Transylvania Languages of Romania Romanian people of Austrian descent Romanian people of German descent Ethnic German groups in Romania German dialects