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Banat Swabian dialect

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A brief article on the Banat Swabian dialect spoken by the Banat Swabians in Banat, Romania
Banat Swabian
Banat Schwäbisch
Native toMostly Banat, Romania but also Bačka, Serbia
RegionBanat, southwestern Romania (as well as Central-Southwestern Europe)
Language familyIndo-European
Language codes
ISO 639-3–

Banat Swabian (German: Banatschwäbisch and also known as Donauschwäbisch) is a local German dialect spoken in Banat, present-day southwestern Romania by the Banat Swabians (German: Banater Schwaben), an ethnic German sub-group which is part of the larger German minority of Romania and a branch of the Danube Swabians respectively. In comparative linguistics, it is a West Central German dialect and it also has some features which correspond to Hessian dialects.

Background

The location of Banat in southwestern Europe, situated between Romania, Hungary, and Serbia.

When they arrived in Banat during the Modern Age, most of the initial Banat Swabian colonists were not from the historical German region of Swabia. They also came from other regions of present-day Germany and even from Luxembourg. Therefore, the dialect of the Banat Swabians is a West Central German dialect which is part of the Moselle-Franconian family and thereby shares several linguistic similarities with another German dialect spoken in Romania, namely Transylvanian Saxon as well as with Luxembourgish from which the latter is mainly descended. In addition, Banat Swabian is also closer to Palatine German (German: Pfälzisch) or other Rhenish Franconian dialects such as that spoken in Saarland (i.e. Saarländisch).

Hence, only Sathmar Swabian is an actual Alemannic German Swabian dialect, whereas Banat Swabian is closer to Palatine German. It also has words from Romanian and Serbian, being influenced by these two languages given the centuries-long cohabitation between the Germans with Romanians and Serbians in Banat. It is locally known as Schwowisch in Bačka, Serbia.

Notes

  1. Also spoken in Germany and Austria by a few hundred people.

References

  1. "Sprachinseln in Europa: Das Donauschwäbisch oder Banatschwäbisch". 28 January 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  2. "East European Germans". NDSU - North Dakota State University. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  3. Hans Gehl. "Donauschwäbische Dialekte". Sulinet.hu (in German). Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  4. "Swabians and Bohemians". Slatina-Timis.be. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  5. "Donau Schwaben USA". Retrieved 29 January 2023.
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