German dialects: overview

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In contrast to other countries, such as Italy, where dialects of different regions can be quite incomprehensible to each other, the dialects of Germany, also called Mundarten, are in general not that different and quite understandable. They have their own typical special vocabulary and their own typical pronunciation, but the written language is identical to Hochdeutsch.

It has become popular to translate popular books into these Mundarten, so for example the book "The Little Prince" has been published in the dialects of BADISCH-ALEMANNISCH, BAYRISCH, BERLINISCH, FRÄNKISCH, HESSISCH, KÖLSCH, PÄLZISCH, SAARLÄNDISCH, SCHWÄBISCH.

These "translated" books in general make use of a rather ad-hoc orthography to reflect the local pronunciation, and it is not to be taken too seriously. Also they try to use local expressions whenever possible.

Another typical Mundart is Sächsisch.

Niedersächsisch (Neddersassisch, Nedersaksisch, Nedderdüütsch, Niederdeutsch, Plattdeutsch, Plattdüütsch) is no dialect, however. According to the European Language Charter it is an independent regional language.

An excellent map of West Central German dialects can be found here.

languages >> German >> German issues >> German dialects