"I gfrei mi scho": Youth uses Bavarian on WhatsApp - dialectologist explains phenomenon
Created: 08/04/2022 05:15
By: Cornelia Schramm
"I gfrei mi fei schoClean": Chiara uses her dialect in WhatsApp.
© Marcus sleep
In Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland, SMS and WhatsApp messages are written in dialect.
The dialectologist Konstantin Niehaus explains the phenomenon.
Munich – Writing in dialect conquers everyday life.
Especially in Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland, SMS and WhatsApp messages live from snappy dialect.
"It's totally normal for many young people," says Konstantin Niehaus (37).
As a dialectologist, he researches dialect and dialect in social media at the University of Salzburg.
How does the Bavarian chat?
In chats it is often i instead of me, ned/net instead of not, des instead of that and mi instead of me.
Contractions are common in the 1st person plural: go ma, sam ma, mach ma. We are too san and have to ham.
It is typed like it is spoken in everyday life.
How do you chat yourself?
Writing messages in dialect is a generational issue.
I'm 37 and probably no longer belong to the dialect faction.
I was brought up to write in written language at all costs - like many other over-30-year-olds.
What has changed?
WhatsApp and other chat options did not exist at the time.
None of us wrote letters in dialect.
I grew up near Schwabmünchen in the Augsburg district and remember that speaking dialect was not cool.
The prestige has changed.
Dialect is accepted - probably because it also appears in the media today.
For young people it is so normal that they even use it more or less consistently when chatting in everyday life.
Dialectologist Konstantin Niehaus on the chats of young Bavarians © Private
North-South divide in dialect, even in Bavaria
Apparently there is also a north-south divide?
The further south, the more dialect competence: In Switzerland it is the highest at over 90 percent.
Dialect is spoken more frequently in southern Germany and Austria than in central and northern Germany.
But there is also a north-south divide in Bavaria.
The closer to Austria's border, the more Bavarian - now also in chat.
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Why do you find typed dialect so interesting?
The WhatsApp chat is a hybrid of spoken and written communication.
The message is formally written, but the situation is a private conversation.
As a result, person A and B use the language they would use in everyday life if they were standing next to each other.
The chat is informal - and it can happen that A writes Bavarian and B High German.
Everyone chooses the language with which they identify.
Without any rules.
Does that mean advertising with dialect also works?
Dialect is always an identity issue.
In the 1990s, everything that had to do with regionality was uninteresting.
That has changed - as has the reputation of the dialect.
Suddenly there was even comedy in Bavarian - like "Der Schuh des Manitu" or Michael Mittermeier.
Because it was well received, more dialect was used in advertising.
The most important building blocks for a Bavarian SMS:
The correct form of address: Habadere;
Goodbye;
Grias di;
hello
Confirm appointments: Basst (with great agreement);
Basst scho (if it would actually fit better when else)
Anticipation: I gfrei mi scho;
It's going to be madness, it's going to be scorching
Arrive late: I'll be there soon;
I'm sleepy
Cancellations: I'll stay at home
Fling: You gfoist ma admiration: Schaug eam/sie ned o
Regret: I hoi my Schneizdiache out (not really serious);
Poor Deife (seriously)
Prompt: Go weida!
(e.g. clean up!: Go weida, dua dei Graffe auf d'Siitn!)
Last message after five masses: Leckomio
Holiday greetings to the parents: Schee is - and tastes duad's a
Farewell greeting: Servus
Break up: I just love you;
love me
There are also limits to the Bavarian dialect
Are there limits?
Where does Bavarian not work?
A supermarket once replaced the information signs above the shelves with Bavarian words.
This confused customers.
Information is conveyed more in Standard German, i.e. High German.
Dialect works for products that customers should identify with.
It conveys a sense of belonging and stands for familiarity, closeness and authenticity.
Dialect has the same effect when used while chatting.
Do you have an example?
My absolute favorite word in Bavarian chats is “fei” – the word is considered typically Bavarian even in Austria.
It's difficult to translate.
"By the way" is apt, but it doesn't have the same charm.
Otherwise, exclamations such as “go weida!”, an expression of disbelief, are also popular when chatting.
And servus as a universal word for greeting and farewell.
What's not working?
Anything goes in private chat with your best friends.
But not in public.
An example: During the Wiesn years ago, Aldi advertised in Bavarian on social media.
The discounter called itself "Oidi".
The gag didn't work because nobody says so.
There is often no dialect version for proper names.
The interview was conducted by Conny Schramm
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