)
, speakers = 200,000
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 =
Germanic
, fam3 =
West Germanic
The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages). The West Germanic branch is classically subdivided into t ...
, 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
The High German dialects (german: hochdeutsche Mundarten), or simply High German (); not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called ''High German'', comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and ...
, fam6 =
West Central German
West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. Its dialects are Franconian and comprise the parts of the Rhinelandic continuum located south of the Benrath line isogloss, including ...
, fam7 =
Central Franconian
, fam8 =
Moselle Franconian
__NOTOC__
Moselle Franconian (german: Moselfränkisch, lb, Muselfränkesch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian dialects, Central Franconian languages area, that includes Luxembourgish.
It is spoken in the southe ...
, map = Deutschsiebenbürgen.svg
, mapcaption = Areas where Transylvanian Saxon was spoken in the
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...
in 1918 (the grey-coloured areas to the west denote where
Swabian was spoken).
, isoexception = dialect
, glotto = tran1294
, glottorefname = Transylvanian Saxon
, map2 = Lang Status 40-SE.svg
, mapcaption2 =
Transylvanian Saxon (Saxon: or just , or , , or ) is the German dialect of the
Transylvanian Saxons
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 ( ...
, an ethnic
German minority group from
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 ...
, 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 ...
.
Background
In terms of
comparative linguistics
Comparative linguistics, or comparative-historical linguistics (formerly comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness.
Genetic relatedness ...
, it pertains to the
Moselle Franconian
__NOTOC__
Moselle Franconian (german: Moselfränkisch, lb, Muselfränkesch) is a West Central German language, part of the Central Franconian dialects, Central Franconian languages area, that includes Luxembourgish.
It is spoken in the southe ...
group of
West Central German
West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch) belongs to the Central, High German dialect family of German. Its dialects are Franconian and comprise the parts of the Rhinelandic continuum located south of the Benrath line isogloss, including ...
dialects. In this particular regard, it must be mentioned that it shares a consistent amount of lexical similarities with
Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.
As a standard form of th ...
.
The dialect was mainly spoken in
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 ...
(contemporary 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 ...
), by individuals of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
,
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
, and
Walloon origins who were settled in the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
starting in the 12th century. Over the passing of time, it had been consistently influenced by both
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, tradition ...
and
Hungarian. The main areas where Transylvanian Saxon was spoken in Transylvania were southern and northern Transylvania.
In the contemporary era, the vast majority of the native speakers have emigrated in several waves, initially to
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 ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, but then subsequently to the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
as well as other
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
an countries, managing in the process to preserve (at least temporarily) their specific language there.
Distribution of the dialect in Transylvania
Traditionally, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect was mainly spoken in the rural areas of Transylvania throughout the passing of time, since the arrival of the Transylvanian Saxons in the
Carpathian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
during the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...
onwards. In the urban settlements (i.e. towns and cities),
standard 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 ...
(i.e. Hochdeutsch) was spoken and written.
Furthermore, the Transylvanian Saxon dialect also varied from village to village where it was spoken (a village could have a slightly different form of Transylvanian Saxon than other; analogous to how
English accents vary on a radius of 5 miles in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
for example).
Recent history of the dialect (1989–present)
Before the
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...
, most of the Transylvanian Saxons were still living in Transylvania. During the communist dictatorship of
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...
, many thousands of these Saxons were sold for a total of around $6 million paid to socialist Romania by
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
.
By 1990, the number of Saxons living in Transylvania had decreased dramatically. Shortly after the fall of Communism, from 1991 to 1994, many Transylvanian Saxons who still remained in Transylvania decided to ultimately emigrate to re-unified
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 ...
, leaving just a minority of approximately 20,0000 Transylvanian Saxons in Romania at the round of the 21st century (or less than 1 percent of the entire population of Transylvania).
The number of native Transylvanian Saxon speakers today is estimated at approximately 200,000 persons. Transylvanian Saxon is also the native dialect of the current
President of Romania
The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Constitution of Romania, Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves ...
,
Klaus Iohannis
Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; also spelled Johannis; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist and former teacher who has been serving as the president of Romania since 2014. He became leader of the National Liberal Party (Romania), Na ...
, by virtue of the fact that he is a Transylvanian Saxon. Additionally, according to the
2011 Romanian census
The 2011 Romanian census was a census held in Romania between 20 and 31 October 2011. It was performed by some 120,000 census takers in around 101,000 statistic sectors throughout the country established by the National Institute of Statistics (IN ...
, only 11,400 Transylvanian Saxon were still living in Transylvania at that time.
Alphabet
* A - a
* B - be
* C - ce
* D - de
* E - e
* F - ef
* G - ge
* H - ha
* I - i
* J - jot
* K - ka
* L - el
* M - em
* N - en
* O - o
* P - pe
* Q - ku
* R - er
* S - es
* T - te
* U - u
* V - vau
* W - we
* X - ix
* Y - ipsilon
* Z - zet
Orthography and pronunciation
Vowels
* a -
/aː* au -
ʊ̯* å -
ː* ä -
/ɛː* äi -
ɪ̯* e -
~e~ə/eː* ei -
ɪ̯* ë -
* i -
/iː* ië -
* o -
/oː* u -
/uː* uë -
* ü/y -
/yː
Consonants
* b -
~p* c -
~g̊* ch -
~ʃ* ck -
* d -
~t* dsch -
͡ʒ* f -
* g -
~k~ʃ* h -
~ː* j -
* k -
~g̊* l -
* m -
* n -
* ng -
* nj -
* p -
~b̥* pf -
͡f* qv -
v* r -
~∅* s -
~ʃ~z* sch -
* ss -
* t -
~d̥* tsch -
͡ʃ* v -
/v* w -
* x -
s* z -
͡sref>
Bibliography
* ''Siebenbürgisch-Sächsisches Wörterbuch''. A. Schullerus, B. Capesius, A. Tudt, S. Haldenwang ''et al.'' (in German)
** Band 1, Buchstabe A – C, 1925, de Gruyter, ASIN: B0000BUORT
** Band 2, Buchstabe D – F, 1926, de Gruyter, ASIN: B0000BUORU
** Band 3, Buchstabe G, 1971, de Gruyter, ASIN: B0000BUORV
** Band 4, Buchstabe H – J, 1972
** Band 5, Buchstabe K, 1975
** Band 6, Buchstabe L, 1997, Böhlau Verlag,
** Band 7: Buchstabe M, 1998, Böhlau Verlag,
** Band 8, Buchstabe N - P, 2002, Böhlau Verlag,
** Band 9: Buchstabe Q - R, 2007, Böhlau Verlag,
Notes
References
External links
* SibiWeb
Die Sprache des siebenbürgisch-sächsischen Volkesvon Adolf Schullerus (German)
* Verband der Siebenbürgersachsen in Deutschland
Sprachaufnahmen in siebenbürgisch-sächsischer Mundart- Audiosamples (German, Såksesch)
* Siebenbürgersachsen Baden-Württemberg
von Waltraut Schuller (German)
(Mundart von Honigberg - Hărman) und Vergleich mit anderen Germanischen Sprachen (German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transylvanian Saxon Language
Central German languages
German dialects
Languages of Romania
Languages of Hungary
Severely endangered languages