South Tyrolean dialect

South Tyrolean dialects (Standard German: Südtiroler Dialekte; Italian: dialetti Altoatesini) are a set of dialects spoken in the northern Italian province of South Tyrol. They are part of the larger group of Southern Bavarian,¹ with which they share many similarities.

What differentiates South Tyrolean dialects from other Bavarian varieties is primarily the influence of Italian and Ladin on its lexicon.

69.15% of the inhabitants of South Tyrol speak German as their mother tongue.² South Tyrolean tends to be used at home or in informal situations, while standard German in its Austrian variant prevails at school, work and for official purposes. As such, this is a medial diglossia, since the spoken language is mainly the dialect, whereas the written language is mainly the Austrian German variety of Standard German.¹

The South Tyrolean dialects are related to Bavarian. They preserve their specific traits and are basically homogeneous with Northern Tyrolean dialects. However they have absorbed some Italian terms, especially for administrative purposes.