Austro-Bavarian

Austro-Bavarian is an Upper Germanic language spoken in Southern Bavaria, the major part of Austria (outside of Vorarlberg, where an Alemannic dialect is spoken), and South Tyrol (politically a part of Italy). Like Standard German, Austro-Bavarian is a High German language, but they are not the same. However, Austro-Bavarian and Standard German have influenced each other and the vast majority of Austro-Bavarian speakers speak Standard German as well.

There are three main dialect groups in Austro-Bavarian:

• Northern Austro-Bavarian[?] (so-called "Upper-Palatinate dialect");
• Central Austro-Bavarian[?] (along the main rivers Isar and Danube, including the dialects around Vienna and Munich);
• Southern Austro-Bavarian[?] (in Tyrol, Carinthia, and South Tyrol).

In addition, Cimbrian, Hutterite German, and Mócheno[?] are closely related and are sometimes considered dialects of Austro-Bavarian.

Although there exist grammars, vocabularies, and a translation of the Bible, there is no common standard for how to write the language. Although Austro-Bavarian as a spoken language is in daily use in its region, Standard German is preferred in the mass media.

External link Ethnologue report for Austro-Bavarian (http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=BAR)