Griaßdi!

Using an app, this research project aims at documenting the present-day diversity of Bavarian-Austrian dialects. Citizen scientists answer questions about their dialect, can interview people in their local communities, and are invited to explore and analyse the collected data themselves.

How do Austrian dialects sound today – in cities and rural areas, in the west and the east, among younger and older speakers? The Austrian dialects of the Bavarian dialect group (spoken east of the Arlberg) display many linguistic features that are absent from Standard German and other German dialects. Yet we still know surprisingly little about where many of these features occur or who uses them. Together with dialect speakers as citizen scientists, we aim at documenting and better understanding dialect variation across Austria, Bavaria, South Tyrol, and Samnaun (Switzerland). By answering questions about your linguistic background and language use, and by contributing speech recordings, you will help create a detailed picture of present-day dialect diversity. Your participation will not only contribute to linguistic research but also help preserve these dialects as part of our intangible heritage.

You can download the Griaßdi! app free of charge from the app stores. After completing a short questionnaire about your linguistic background, you can begin by working through a range of tasks, including spoken and written translation tasks as well as multiple-choice questions. You can also upload up to 90 seconds of spontaneous dialect speech on a given topic. In addition, you may interview family members, friends, or acquaintances using the same tasks and questions. All data are stored and analysed in pseudonymised form, making sure that participants remain anonymous. The data are used exclusively for scientific research.