User:Silltrane/Hianzisch

Hianzisch (hungarian Hiénc) is a dialect, that is spoken in the easternmost part of Austria. It belongs to the central Bavarian dialects.

Many of the original bavarian settlers from the region came from the Fichtel Mountains and the Upper Palatinate, therefore Hianzisch exhibits northern Bavarian elements. The northern Bavarian dialects have been superimposed by the local central and southern Bavarian dialects over time. Hianzisch is also very closely related to the eastern Styrian dialects.

Name origin
The origin of the name Hianzisch is disputed. The first references for the term date to the 18th century. In "Almanach von Ungarn auf das Jahr 1778" (the Hungarian Almanach for the year 1778) it says, that Hienzey is "a region 6 miles long and wide, in the region around Grüns. The inhabitants are remainders from the old Goths with their own language and local dress. The women wear most often black gowns with many pleats. The man most white skirts and a round lowered hat." It could derive from "Followers of Heinrich" (either from duke Heinrich II. or from Count Heinrich of Güssing) or from „hianz“ (std. germ. jetzt, en. now). In 1921 the new Austrian state was almost called "Heinzenland" instead of Burgenland.

Characteristics of the language
Hianzisch is part of the ui-dialects, because the ui-diphthong is the most distinctive feature that replaces the ua from most other Bavarian dialects.

Examples for the ui-diphthong: example sentence: „Di Muida und da Bui tuin gmui Fuida fia d’Kui in dej tuife Trui“. (The mother and the boy put enough fodder for the cow into the trough)

A special characteristic is the diphthongisation of the standard German e-sounds. For example in: „gwejn“ (gewesen), „Lejda“ (Leder) oda „sej“ (sie). The 'n-sound' often leads to nasalisation after vowels (e.g. the 'n' in „hianzisch“ or „hianz“ is silent, a becoming nasalised).

Another peculiarity of Hianzisch is the substitution of the third person neuter pronoun 'es' with the feminine pronoun 'si(e)' as impersonal verb in constructions like 'si rejgnt' (literally 'she rains' for 'it rains') or 'si duit wejh' (literally 'she does woe' for 'it hurts')

Online sources

 * Hianzenvarein
 * Heigeign (Liadtexte auf hianzisch, krowodisch, ungarisch und roman)
 * Hianzn dictionary (hianzisch - deitsch - englisch)