Austrian German voice overs: what you need to know

Austrian German, also known as Austrian High German, is a variety of the German language that’s spoken in Austria. Austrian German is not considered an independent language but rather a dialect of Standard German. Just like German, the variety spoken in Austria falls under the West Germanic language category.

Almost the entire population of Austria (9 million people) are native Austrian German speakers. It’s unknown how many people outside Austria speak this German variety as it is incredibly similar to various other German dialects. Although Austrian diaspora communities around the world might be keeping the unique features of the language alive abroad.

Language History

Austrian German is a rather young language variety that developed in the Hapsburg empire — its roots reach only to the mid-18th century.

The Habsburg empire (that included today’s Austrian region) was multilingual, many languages were used in different parts of the kingdom. However, German as a language standard emerged once mandatory schooling was introduced in 1774 throughout the empire.

Soon after the beginning of compulsory schooling, the new written standard of Austrian German was introduced for school books and official texts. It wasn’t a new German language variety — what we call Austrian German today was actually an already established and standardized administrative language of Saxony.

In 1784, German prevailed as the official language of the Habsburg empire, replacing Latin which’s been used for centuries.

Close Relations

Austrian German is mutually intelligible with Standard German which is mostly spoken in Germany. While Austrian German has a somewhat different vocabulary infused with localisms, Austrian German and Standard German speakers can understand each other without any issue.

Austrian German is closely related to other Germanic languages, particularly Dutch, Swedish, and Norwegian. German and Dutch have a very similar vocabulary (around 75% of Dutch words are German). However, the grammatical differences between the two languages make them not mutually intelligible.

While the majority of Austrian German vocabulary is native Germanic, it does have many loanwords from other languages. Austrian German extensively borrowed from Latin, Greek, and French. More recently, words from English have also entered the vocabulary.

Accents and Voice Over Tips

Austrian German has four main dialects that are spread across the country: Central Austro-Bavarian, Viennese German, Southern Austro-Bavarian, and High Alemanic. The Viennese dialect that’s spoken in the capital Vienna is considered to be the Austrian German spoken standard.

Many regional varieties exist in different parts of the country, although they usually only differ in accent, pronunciation, and vocabulary. All Austrian German dialects and varieties are mutually intelligible.

When recording an Austrian German voice over, be mindful of the pronunciation differences between the Austrian variety and Standard German. Austrian German speakers tend to use more umlauts (especially before “r” and “l”) and connect the words using “s” instead of German Standard “e”. Lastly, note that Austrian German is slightly slower and relaxed pace-wise than Standard German.

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