Upper Saxon German: Difference between revisions

| name = Upper Saxon

| nativename = {{lang|sxu|Obersächsisch}}

| states = [[Germany]]

| region = [[Saxony]]

| speakers = 2 million

| date = 1998

| ref = e18

| familycolor = Indo-European

| fam2 = [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]

| fam3 = [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]]

| fam5 = [[CentralHigh German languages|High German]]

| fam6 = [[East Central German]]

| iso3 = sxu

| glotto = uppe1465<!--Glottolog has ISO [sxu] as equivalent to [uppe1400] 'Central East Middle German', the MI language that includes Upper Saxon. However, the scope of [sxu] 'Upper Saxon' in Ethnologue is the Upper Saxon of this article.-->

| glottorefname = Upper Saxon

| notice = IPA

| map = Mitteldeutsche Mundarten.png

| mapcaption = Central German dialects after 1945 and the [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|expulsions of the Germans]]

'''Upper Saxon''' ({{lang-langx|de|Obersächsisch}}, {{IPA-|de|ˈoːbɐˌzɛksɪʃ|pronlabel=standard pronunciation:}};, {{IPA-all|ɵːb̥oˤˈsɛɡ̊sʃsxu|Upper Saxon:ɵːb̥oˤˈsɛɡ̊sʃ}}) is an [[East Central German]] dialect spoken in much of the modern [[States of Germany|German state]] of [[Saxony]] and in adjacent parts of southeastern [[Saxony-Anhalt]] and eastern [[Thuringia]]. As of the early 21st century, it's is mostly extinct and a new regiolect (also known as {{lang|de|obersächsische Umgangssprache}}) has emerged instead.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://home.uni-leipzig.de/siebenh/projekt/saechsisch/index.html |first=Beat |last=Siebenhaar |title=Der obersächsische Sprachraum |publisher=Leipzig University |access-date=2 June 2019}}</ref> Though colloquially called "Saxon" ({{lang|de|Sächsisch}}), it is not to be confused with the [[West Low German|Low Saxon]] dialect group in [[Northern Germany]]. Upper Saxon is closely linked to the [[Thuringian dialect]] spoken in the adjacent areas to the west.

The Upper Saxon dialect evolved as a new [[Variety (linguistics)|variety]] in the course of the medieval German ''{{lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]''}} (eastern colonisation) from about 1100 onwards. Settlers descending from the [[stem duchy|stem duchies]] of [[Duchy of Saxony|Saxony]], [[Duchy of Franconia|Franconia]], and [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]], as well as [[Thuringia]] and [[County of Flanders|Flanders]], moved into the [[Margravate of Meissen]] between the [[Elbe]] and [[Saale]] rivers,<ref name="LIZ_2011">{{Cite web |title=Ein Leipziger Sprachforscher ist sich sicher: Sächsischer Dialekt weitgehend ausgestorben |work=Leipziger Internet Zeitung |date=17 February 2011 |url=http://www.l-iz.de/Bildung/Forschung/2011/02/Leipziger-Sprachforscher-Saechsischer-Dialekt-weitgehend-ausgestorben.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114704/http://www.l-iz.de/Bildung/Forschung/2011/02/Leipziger-Sprachforscher-Saechsischer-Dialekt-weitgehend-ausgestorben.html |archive-date=26 August 2014}}</ref> formerly populated by [[Polabian Slavs]]. As the colonists belonged to different German tribes speaking different dialects, Upper Saxon became an intermediary, [[Koiné language|koiné dialect]] (''Kolonialdialekt'' or ''Ausgleichsdialekt''), having less distinct features than the older, more original dialects.<ref name="LIZ_2011"/>

In the [[Middle Ages]], a variety of Upper Saxon called ''[[Meißen|Meißner]] Kanzleisächsisch'' developed as the "[[Chancery (medieval office)|chancery]] language" of Saxony. This was the official, literary language of the Margravate of Meissen (respectively the [[Electorate of Saxony]] after 1423), replacing [[Latin]] as the language of administrators during the period of [[Renaissance humanism in Northern Europe|Renaissance humanism]] (15th to 16th century). It was less influenced by Upper German features than the [[Habsburg Monarchymonarchy|Habsburg]] chancery language, and thus intelligible to speakers of both Upper and Low German dialects. In the context of the [[Bible translations into German|Bible translation]] by [[Martin Luther]], it played a large part in the development of the [[Early New High German]] language as a [[Standard German|standard]] variety.<ref name="Siebenhaar2011">{{Cite book |first=Beat |last=Siebenhaar |title=Der sächsische Dialekt |editor1=Matthias Donath |editor2=André Thieme |workseries=Sächsische Mythen |publisher=[[Edition Leipzig]] |year=2011 |pages=91–99}}</ref>

With Saxony's loss of political power after the [[Seven Years' War]] (1756–63), its dialect lost prestige as well. Standard German phonology was then increasingly based on that of [[East Franconian]] dialects afterwards. In 1783, philosopher [[Johann Erich Biester]], residing in the [[Prussia]]n capital of [[Berlin]], rated the "unpleasant singsong" and "highly peculiar confusion of b and p, of d and t"—even among upper-class speakers—"very crude".<ref name="Siebenhaar2011"/>

Spoken by leading communists descending from the [[Central Germany (cultural area)|Central German]] industrial area likesuch as [[Walter Ulbricht]], the Upper Saxon dialect was commonly perceived as the colloquial languagespeech of [[East Germany]] by [[West Germany|West German]] citizens and up to today is a subject of numerous [[stereotypestereotypical]] jokes.<ref name="Siebenhaar2011"/> The mildly derogatory verb ''sächseln'' means ''to speak with a Saxon accent''.

Like many other German dialectslanguages, Upper Saxon features the unrounding of vowel sounds descended from [[Middle High German]] (/öø/, /öːøː/, /üy/, /üːyː/, and /üeyə̯/ to /e/, /eː/, /i/, and /iː/). This results in words such as ''bäse'' for Standard German ''böse'' (wicked) and ''Biehne'' for Standard German ''Bühne'' (stage). In common with other East Central German varieties is the weakening of consonants, resulting in words such as ''Kardoffeln'' for Standard German "Kartoffeln" (potatoes) and ''Babba'' for Standard German ''Papa'' (dad). Additionally, /ë/ is reduced to /a/, resulting in Standard German ''Schwester'' (sister) becoming ''Schwaster'' in Upper Saxon.

The most notable distinguishing feature of the dialect is that the letters ''o'' and ''u'' are pronounced as centralized vowels ({{IPA|[ɞ]}} and {{IPA|[ɵ]}}, respectively, when short; {{IPA|[ɵː]}} and {{IPA|[ʉː]}}, respectively, when long). Speakers of other German dialects that do not have these sounds tend to perceive these sounds as being ''ö'' {{IPA|[øː]}} and ''ü'' {{IPA|[yː]}} respectively. For example, they hear {{IPA|[ˈɵːma]}} 'grandma' as if written ''Öma'' (Standard ''Oma'' {{IPA|[ˈoːma]}}). Front [[Roundedness|rounded]] vowels are pronounced as non-rounded (''ö'' = {{IPA|[eː]}}, ''ü'' = {{IPA|[iː]}}). Final ''-er'' is pronounced {{IPA|[oˤ]}} (or similarly, depending on the subdialect), which speakers of other German dialects tend to hear as {{IPA|[oː]}}; e.g. {{IPA|[ˈheːo̯ˤ]}} 'higher' (Standard {{IPA|[ˈhøːɐ̯]}} ''höher'') is misheard as if written ''hä(h)er''.{{citation needed||date=October 2023}}

The Upper Saxon dialectsvarieties ''outside'' the Ore Mountains can be easily recognized by the supposed "softening" ([[lenition]]) of the voiceless stop consonants {{IPA|/p/, /t/}} and {{IPA|/k/}}. Speakers of other dialects hear these as if they were "b", "d" and "g" respectively. In reality, these are merely non-aspirated versions of the same {{IPA|/p/, /t/}} and {{IPA|/k/}}, a widespread feature among Central German dialects, as opposed to strongly aspirated {{IPA|[pʰ]}}, {{IPA|[tʰ]}} and {{IPA|[kʰ]}} in dominant German dialects.

In contrast to neighboring Thuringian, Upper Saxon infinitives end in -en as in Standard German rather than -e .

The degree of [[Accent (dialect)|accent]] varies from place to place, from a relatively mild accent in the larger cities such as [[Dresden]], [[Chemnitz]] or [[Leipzig]] to a stronger form in rural areas, depending on the grade of the [[High German consonant shift]]:

*[[Erzgebirgisch]], a distinct dialect, is spoken in the villages of the Central [[Ore Mountains]]. Until the post-war [[Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia|expulsions]] it also included the "Northwestern [[Bohemia]]n" language in the adjacent ''[[Sudetenland]]'' territories to the south, today part of the [[Czech Republic]].<ref>Ludwig Erich Schmitt (editor): ''Germanische Dialektologie''. Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden 1968, p. 143</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.uni-marburg.de/sprache-in-hessen/flash/dt.swf |title=Archived copydt.swf |access-date=2010-03-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610230611/http://web.uni-marburg.de/sprache-in-hessen/flash/dt.swf |archive-date=2007-06-10 }}</ref> It is also found in [[Lower Saxony]] in the [[Upper Harz]], to where [[mining|miners]] from the Ore Mountains moved in the 16th century (see [[Mining in the Upper Harz]]).