Zipserisch

Zipser German (German: Zipserisch or Zipserdeutsch; Hungarian: ''szepességi szász nyelv'' or ''cipszer nyelv''; ) is a dialect of the German language which developed in the Upper Zips region (, ) of what is now northeastern Slovakia among people who settled there from present-day central Germany and the northern Lower Rhine river (e.g. contemporary Flanders and Luxembourg) beginning in the 13th century (or during the High Middle Ages as part of the Ostsiedlung).Karl Julius Schröer, ''Die deutschen Mundarten des ungrischen Berglandes'' (1864)

These German settlers are collectively known as Zipser Germans in Central and Eastern Europe and part of the Carpathian Germans () in their native Slovakia. The Lower Zips was inhabited by other Germans who spoke a different dialect called "Gründlerisch". The Upper Zipser German dialect is also close or related to the Transylvanian Saxon dialect () of the Transylvanian Saxons ().

The Zipser German dialect has been spoken for centuries in present-day Slovakia and Romania. In Romania, the dialect has been spoken in the historical regions of Bukovina and Maramureș, northern Transylvania. Nowadays there are a few Zipser German-speaking communities in southern Bukovina (more specifically Suceava County) as well as Maramureș County. In addition, there are several differences between the forms of the Zipser German dialect which had developed on the territory of present-day Romania and the main Zipser German dialect from Zips, Slovakia. In Maramureș, the main community of Zipser Germans (and, by extension, Zipser German speakers) still lives in Vișeu de Sus () and Baia Mare (). Smaller communities of Zipser Germans are also found in the mountainous Banat or Caraș-Severin County. There are also sparse communities of Zipser Germans across Carpathian Ruthenia (i.e. Zakarpattia Oblast), Ukraine.

The Zipser German dialect as spoken in Romania

Beginning in at least the 18th century, many Zipsers migrated to contemporary northern Romania, including to southern Bukovina (present-day Suceava County),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. then part of the Habsburg-ruled lands and a newly acquired land following the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), where several other German dialects were also spoken by the local Bukovina German community (such as Swabian, for example).Willi Kosiul, ''Die Bukowina und ihre Buchenlanddeutschen'', 2012, , volume 2

Throughout the passing of time, the speech of the Zipsers in present-day Romania (such as those who migrated to Maramureș, present-day Maramureș County) 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 in Bukovina, Romania

The dialect spoken in Bukovina (more specifically in southern Bukovina or Suceava County, northeastern Romania), 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'. In southern Bukovina, the Zipser German dialect has been spoken in rural areas such as in the communes of Cârlibaba (), Iacobeni (), Pojorâta (), or Vama ().

References

{{Languages of Slovakia

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