How Austrian differs from German in pronunciation

Question

What are the most prominent differences in German and Austrian pronunciation?

Answer 1

There are indeed many differences between Austrian and Standard German (hochdeutsch), but here are 4 major ones to keep in mind:

1. Vocabulary

Austrians usually use entirely different words for everyday items

1. Example: Erdapfel (Austrian) vs Kartoffel (German) for potato

1. Pronunciation and Accent

Austrian German has a softer, more melodic intonation, and the pronunciation of vowels and

consonants can differ noticeably.

1. Politeness and Formality

Austrians tend to use more formal speech in everyday situation, especially with strangers, favoring

Sie (formal "you") over du

1. Diminutives and Expressions

Austrian German often uses the diminutive ending -erl (e.g.Maederl for "girl") while Standard German

uses - chen (Maedchen)

There is so much more, and as a half German/ half Austrian by heritage, I would be glad to share more if you like.

Best

Angelika

Answer 2

There are many other differences in addition to those G.M. correctly listed, e.g. words ending in -e are softened with a consonant (Suppe => Suppm, Tasche => Taschn), or the ending -erl is added quite frequently to make diminutives (Flasche => Flascherl, Türe => Türl). Moreover, there are so many words that are not just pronounced differently, but that are different because of a different ending, e.g. viel => vui , will => wui. And then there is a whole dictionary of different vocabulary, but that is of course a separate topic. The differences between regional accents and dialects of German fills books and you would have to look at each and every region individually, such as Vorarlberg, Tirol, Salzburg, Oberösterreich, Niederösterreich, and the one that sounds like a completely different language: "Wienerisch" (German spoken in Vienna).

If you are looking for more academic and concise literature on this topic, you may want to study the vowel shifts that have occured in German or read some of the publications by Rudolf Muhr (Association of Austrian German/ Austrian German Research Centre), such as his paper on "The Pronouncing Dictionary of Austrian German (AGPD) and the Austrian Phonetic Database (ADABA): Report on a large Phonetic Resources Database of the three Major Varieties of German".

Answer 3

Given that there is a great variety of dialects in Germany and Austria, classic German “hochdeutsch” pronunciation of the consonant “s” in the middle of the word, especially in combination with other consonants such as “st” or “sp”, is pronounced the same way as it sounds in the alphabet; however, in Austria and some of the southern parts of Germany, “st” and “sp” are pronounced as [sht] and [shp]. For example, ‘bist’ [bisht], ‘Wespe’ [weshpe], ‘Australien’ [aushtralien].

The reverse can occur in the far north of Germany where “st” and “sp” might be pronounced as [st] and [st] in all positions: ‘Stadt’ [stat], ‘spät’ [spɛːt].

Also in Austria, such consonants as “k”, “p”, “t” often might transform into “g”, “b”, “d”: ‘kaufen’ [gaufen], ‘trinken’ [drinken].

In the spoken language, Austrian often use the dialect that is close to the Bavarian or Alemannic dialects.