Zipser German

Zipser German (German: Zipserisch, Zipserdeutsch, Hungarian: ''szepességi szász nyelv'' or ''cipszer nyelv'') is a Germanic dialect which developed in the Upper Zips region of what is now Slovakia among people who settled there from central Germany beginning in the 13th century.Karl Julius Schröer, ''Die deutschen Mundarten des ungrischen Berglandes'' (1864) These German settlers are collectively known as Zipser Germans in Central Europe and as Carpathian Germans in Slovakia. The Lower Zips was inhabited by other Central Germans who spoke a similar dialect called "Gründlerisch" which is considered to be the same language.

Beginning in at least the 18th century, many Zipsers migrated to northern Romania, including to southern Bukovina,Oskar Hadbawnik, ''Die Zipser in der Bukowina'' (1968) discusses the Zipserfest held in Jakobeny in 1936 to commemorate 150 years since the Zipsers migrated to Jakobeny in 1786. where several other Germanic dialects were also spoken.Willi Kosiul, ''Die Bukowina und ihre Buchenlanddeutschen'', 2012, , volume 2 Over time, the speech of the Zipsers in Romania was heavily influenced by that of people from Upper Austria who settled among them and were ultimately assimilated into the Zipser ethnic community. During and after the Second World War, most Zipsers evacuated or were expelled to Germany, but a community of speakers remains in Hopgarten; their distinctive dialect is called "Outzäpsersch" (German: "Altzipserisch", literally "Old Zipserish").Somewhat confusingly, literature on the language also uses "Altzipserisch" in two other ways: to refer to the dialect of the Upper Zips as contrasted with "Gründlerisch", and to refer to the original Central German (Gründlerisch) dialect of the speakers who migrated to Romania, as contrasted with the Upper-Austrian-influenced dialect they now speak. For example, Claus Stephani in ''Zipser Mära und Kasska'' (1989) writes that the later settlers "sprachen Oberösterreichisch, die anderen eine Gründler Mundart: Altzipserisch" (spoke Upper Austrian, hilethe others pokea Gründler dialect: Old Zipserish).

Dialectal differences

The dialect spoken in Bukovina, Gründlerisch in origin, was characterized by the shift of original (Middle High German) /v/ to /b/ and of original /b/ to /p/.І. Я. Яцюк, ''Тернопільський національний педагогічний університет ім. Володимира Гнатюка'', ''Наукові записки. Серія “Філологічна”'', ''УДК 81’282.4:811.112.2(477)'': ''Lexikalische Besonderheiten Deutscher Dialekte in Galizien- und der Bukowina'': “Die Siedler in den ursprünglichen Bergwerksgemeinden im Südwesten der Bukowina sprachen Zipserisch und zwar Gründlerisch, wie es in der Unterzips gesprochen wurde. Dabei wurde im Anlaut wie ausgesprochen: Werke – berka, weh – be, Schwester – schbesta. Anlautendes wurde zu Brot – prot, Brücke – prik.”Oskar Hadbawnik, ''Die Zipser in der Bukowina'' (1968): “Prof. Lang führt dazu aus: «Die Zipser sprechen noch gründlerisch, die Mundart der unteren Zips. Statt w sagen sie b und statt b sagen sie p. «Berka» heißt Werke, «Basa» heißt Wasser und «Perg» heißt Berg.»” The dialect of Hopgarten distinctively shifts Middle High German /l/, in all positions, to 'u'.

References

{{Languages of Slovakia

West Germanic languages
Languages of Slovakia
Languages of Romania
Languages of Ukraine
Languages of Germany
German dialects
Carpathian German people