Southern Y'alls and New York Accents: the German Edition

We know about it here in the States. Down south are the wide Southern accents, the "y'alls" and the wide syllables. I live in Chicago, and a few months ago, at a debate tournament, people from Kentucky commented on my Chicago accent--the narrower words, the nasal tone. There's also the New York accent--the cute curl at the tip of each word, the soft, crisp edges of each sharp syllable.

It's the same in Germany, and in the German-speaking parts of Europe. One from northern Germany may not perfectly understand someone from southern Germany, and someone from east Germany may not understand another from Switzerland.

This video might offer a bit of insight into the different dialects:

Basically, there are three kinds of German spoken in Germany:

Source: Link

Source: Link

Hochdeutsch: Known as "High German", this is what is generally accepted as the standard German, and the German that is taught to foreigners. It is the language spoken in Southern Germany, around the Alps. Dialects include the Bavarian dialect and parts of the Austrian dialect. S consonants are pronounced like "sch" and Rs are rolled.

Mittledeutsch: Known as "Middle German", this is the dialect that is spoken in central German, around cities like Frankfurt, Cologne, or Dresden.

Niederdeutsch/Plattdeutsch: Known as "Low German", this dialect is usually spoken in northern Germany. (Though Berlin is included, the city is known to speak a form of Hochdeutsch or standard German). S consonants are pronounced like "ss-", instead of "sch-", and Rs may or may not be rolled. "Platt" here refers to the lowlands (which are flat), but I would assume that the dialect here also sounds slightly flatter than Hochdeutsch. Sometimes, the Plattdeutsch dialect has a connotation of being improper, but in most cases it refers to the dialect spoken in Northern Germany.


This interests me-here in the States, usually a Southern accent is noted as being "improper", while the way of speaking in the north is the standard "American English" taught to foreigners. Exactly the opposite of Germany! However, America is not very much known for its diversity of dialects--other than the prominent Southern dialects, the differences between the other American dialects are not quite noticeable. It's almost guaranteed that someone from opposite ends of the country would be able to understand each other perfectly. It also is quite interesting to see how clearly the dialect divides are lined; if only America could be so organized!