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Neither Swiss nor Austrians see themselves as Germans. Same for Luxembourgers, Liechtensteiners and Belgians. Fact is, the history of these countries diverge greatly and they all have their unique culture.
Why is it that people seem to deny the Austrian nation? National socialism? That was a mere 7 years in history and the first time Austria and Germany were truly united. The Holy Roman Empire? That can hardly be a uniting factor given that it was politically irrelevant and a constant reason for conflict.
That leaves language. But why does no one call the US or Canada British. Who'd call Brazil Portuguese?
This ^^^^^ the common thing is they all speak German, most of them have blue eyes and are blondish, more or less. The cuisine is VERY similar, too!
If you tell an Austrian that he is an Austrian German, this will make him "fuchsteufelswild" = livid!
He will not see it as a compliment, and it will remind him of the WWII what was a catastrophe. Austria was the first country to be "annexed" by Hitler.
Austrians see themselves culturally above the Germans, but they leave the technology to them.
Austrians are easygoing, mellow, a bit nostalgic, romantic, but can also be a bit pessimistic and "nagging."
Last edited by rent.in.nyc; 08-13-2016 at 12:16 PM..
There is German, Swiss and Austrian Standard German. There are differences in vocabulary, grammar, spelling and pronunciation. Changes of the language are usually decided on by a joint commission of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. That's mostly done to keep the language interchangeable. They try to keep regional variations alive, though.
In terms of vocabulary, we use different culinary terms, our administrative/legal language is quite different and then there are some other random words that are different from German Standard German.
Examples:
Faschiertes, Kren and Marille instead of Hackfleisch, Meerrettich and Aprikose.
Legat, Jänner and bedingte Haft instead of Vermächtnis, Januar and (Haft auf) Bewährung.
Heuer, Polster, Sackerl and Gewand instead of dieses Jahr, Kissen, Tüte and Kleidung.
As for Grammar, there are also some quirks unique to Austrian German.
Examples:
The Fugen-S: We use Schweinsbraten, Adventkalender and Schadenersatz instead of Schweinebraten, Adventskalender and Schadensersatz.
Past simple: We don't really use preterite, but prefer perfect when speaking in past tense. "Ich bin gegangen" instead of "ich ging".
Konjunktiv 1: Expresses mistrust. "Er sagte, dass er in der Stadt gewesen ist." instead of "Er sagte, dass er in der Stadt gewesen sei."
Articles: We sometimes use different articles.
That said, the differences aren't that big. Germans might have troubles to understand some details of a menu at a restaurant, but that's about it. I guess that Austrians are more aware of the German variant than vice versa because of TV. We still prefer to use our variant in everyday life.
That said, Austrian Standard German is a fiction and varies a lot from spoken dialect.
All Germans write in (the same) standard German, dialects are only spoken not written. I don't know if there is a difference in the written language in Austria and Switzerland, I rather doubt it.
Tempobolzerei is my favorite Austrian word
Mine is: "fuchsteufelswild" that means "livid"......lol
But there are some "Austrians" saying there is no such thing as Austrian, they're basically Germans.
Very interesting!
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