The nation of Österreich, which is what Austrians call “Austria,” appears at a glance to have a relatively narrow linguistic landscape. It is one of six German-speaking countries worldwide, with 98% of its population speaking German. Specifically, What language is spoken in Austria? They speak a dialect of German known as Österreichisches Hochdeutsch (Austrian High German).
Austriais rich in German dialects and subdialects that reflect the history of the nation’s growth and daily lives across its nine federal states. Less common languages are also recognized and protected by the government, including Slovene, Croatian, Slovak, and Hungarian.
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What is the official language of Austria?
According to Article Eight of the constitution, Austria recognizes the German language as its official language.
Though German has permeated the culture of Österreich (Austria) for hundreds of years, it was officially enshrined in the constitution in 1920. Other minority languages are recognized, but are not given the same national status as German enjoys in government.
How many languages are spoken in Austria?
Though the vast majority share a common tongue, there are 10 languages spoken in this nation, with some recognized by its government and others used daily by recent immigrant groups.
- Arabic
- Austrian High German
- Austrian Sign Language
- Croatian
- Czech
- Hungarian
- Romani
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Turkish
Recognized minority languages in Austria
Austria is largely homogenous in its use of the German language, but the nation also recognizes six minority languages among its people and seeks to protect their linguistic independence.
- Croatian
- Czech
- Hungarian
- Romani
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Austrian Sign Language
These smaller cultural groups of Austria have been cemented in their importance with the Volksgruppengesetz (Austrian Ethnic Groups Act) of 1976, which highlights what languages are spoken by Austrian minority populations.
Additionally, Austrian Sign Language is recognized as an independent language for the deaf and hearing-impaired of the nation.
Other imported languages
Recent immigration into the European Union has brought with it, in the later half of the 20th century, Austria’s two largest languages without officially recognized status in Austria:
- Turkish
- Arabic
The Turkish-speaking community of Austria represents the second largest language group in the nation, with 2.3% of Austrians speaking Turkish natively.
Arabic as a native language in Austria, though present, is a much smaller group at only 0.5% of the population.
Despite the size of these unrecognized languages rivaling that of recognized minority languages like Croatian and Czech, they are far more recent additions to the linguistic landscape of Austria. As such, they do not currently hold status as officially recognized language groups.
Most spoken languages in Austria
Dialects of Austrian and German languages are the standard for communication in Austria, but there are many cultural groups who make up the tapestry of Austria’s spoken languages. From official cadence to recognized minorities and new linguistic additions, learn about the most spoken languages in today’s Austria.
German
Second only to Germany in the sheer number of German speakers, Austria boasts a stunning 88.6% rate of native German speakers, which is around 7.1 million people.
However, with 98% of the total population speaking German, even those who don’t natively speak German opt to learn it as a second language for practicality in daily life.
Turkish
As a relative newcomer to the scene of Austria’s spoken languages, Turkish has exploded from the late 20th century into the second largest spoken language in the nation. Turkish workers migrated to Austria to support its growing post-war economy only a few short decades ago and now native Turkish speakers represent 2.3% of the Austrian people.
Then why isn’t Turkish recognized as an official language group like other, smaller cultural sects of the nation? The answer lies in its recent addition.
While other languages, Hungarian and Croatian, were annexed into Austria from separate nations whose culture had to be conserved for respect of its people, Turkish has only recently made footholds in Austria. As such, no legislation has currently passed which recognized Turkish as a minority Austrian language.
Hungarian
As a federally recognized minority language in Austria, Hungarian is spoken by 1.1% of the population as a native language.
Hungarian speakers call both Burgenland and Vienna home within Austria, though the majority reside in the nation’s capital. Their presence in Austria is thanks to Burgenland being under the rule of Hungary until its annexation to Austria in 1920.
Croatian
Austria has a population of around 50,000 speakers of Croatian. These speakers, known as “Croats,” reside for the most part in Burgenland, though 12,562 Croats reported living in the nation’s capital, Vienna, from the 2001 census.
Uniquely, Croatian remains a written language in Austria as well as a spoken one thanks to the strong Roman Catholic cultural background Croats share. In contrast to the secular Austrian government to which the people of Burgenland were annexed, preservation of the Croatian language was seen as a way to maintain their religious cultural roots for the Croatian-speaking Austrians.
Czech
Despite being only 1% of Austria’s population, speakers of the Czech language are a federally recognized and protected group.
Vienna, the capital of Austria, once had a massive Czech-speaking population thanks to a steady supply of workers immigrating from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Though Vienna remains the primary location of concentration for Czech speakers, the language has largely been replaced in favor of Austrian High German.
Slovak
At a mere 0.7% of the overall Austrian population, Slovak is a language spoken by a small, yet culturally rich community in Austria. You’ll primarily find this minority Austrian language spoken in Vienna, but also in Eastern Lower Austria, near the border of Austria and Slovakia.
Slovak is maintained in Austria thanks to the unusually close proximity of Vienna and Bratislava, which are the capital cities of Austria and Slovakia, respectively. Given that they’re only around 60 kilometers apart from each other, many Slovak speakers commute between these two cities on a daily basis. This makes Slovak unique as a minority language in that it is regularly reinforced in daily usage, rather than disappearing gradually in favor of linguistic homogeny.
Slovenian
Slovenian enjoys a federally recognized status as a minority language in Austria, but is only representative of 0.6% of all Austrians as a spoken language. One of Austria’s clearest, geographically anchored languages, Slovenian is spoken in Southern Carinthia and is generally not scattered throughout Austria the way other minority languages are.
The southern Austrian state of Carinthia was once an independent nation where Slovenian was spoken natively, rather than as an imported, migrant tongue. Following its annexation to Austria after World War I, Slovene-speaking communities became Austrian citizens, bringing with them their language and native culture.
Romani
The official estimation by Austria’s government places 10,000–20,000 Romani speakers within the nation today. Romani groups settled in Eastern Austria centuries ago, and continue to live in this region and the nation’s capital, Vienna, to this day.
Romani is among the most “displaced” languages in the world. That is, considering that its roots are found within Indian languages rather than Latin or Greek, as is often the case with European language systems. Through primarily an oral tradition, many grammatical systems of early Indian languages survive in modern spoken Romani.
Austrian Sign Language
Known as Österreichische Gebärdensprache, or “Austrian Sign Language,” this nonverbal form of communication helps 8,000 to 10,000 hearing-impaired Austrians convey their message. It is taught in some special-needs education institutions around the nation and is the most common form of sign language in the nation.
Until 1980, Austria actually banned sign language education in favor of what was known as “oralism.” Later developments saw an improvement in language education in hearing-impaired youth when using sign language over oralism, and Österreichische Gebärdensprache was made the official sign language of Austria in 2005.
Common Austrian German dialects
Austria is home to German, which is one of the most spoken languages in the world. While the overwhelming majority of the nation speaks Austrian High German, either natively or learned in school, there is a rich tapestry of German dialects found throughout the nation as well.
These dialects are shaped by borders formed from cultural progression, natural landscapes, and industrial factors of daily life in Austria.
| Austrian Dialect | Region | Linguistic Features |
| Viennese | Vienna | Monothongization, influences from Frankish. |
| Lower Austrian | Lower Austria | Clear annunciation of diphthongs. |
| Upper Austrian | Upper Austria | Open, rounded pronunciation and strong Bavarian influence. |
| Hianzisch | Burgenland | Flattened vowels, staccato cadence. |
| Styrian | Styria | Harsher consonants, sing-songy cadence. |
| Carinthian | Carinthia | Strong vowel sounds, “h” and “ch” transform into “t” and “c” sounds |
| Salzburg dialect | Salzburg | Weakened consonants |
| Tyrolean | Tyrol | Alemannic influences, more guttural sounds. |
| Vorarlberg Dialect | Voralberg | Swiss-German influence, sing-songy cadence. |
*Source: Österreich Institut, From Vorarlberg to Vienna: Austrian dialect explained
Frequently asked questions about the languages of Austria
Though the vast majority of Austrians share the same language, its minority and dialectal landscape is rich in history and variation.
The answer to what is the spoken language in Austria? has both a simple answer and a nuanced answer rooted in history. Here are the three most frequently asked questions about the languages spoken in Austria.
Is English spoken in Austria?
Yes, English is a common second language taught in Austrian schools, and 37.8% of the Austrian population speaks English. While you’re best learning some German if you’d like to visit and get around fine in daily travel, many Austrians speak English as a second language if you get into a bind. Outside major cities, knowledge of Austrian German becomes increasingly necessary.
Are federally recognized minority languages used by the Austrian government?
Minority languages in Austria are not used in the federal government, but are used commonly in governance for areas in which they’ve been identified and federally recognized. Administration, signage, and education utilize the minority language where they have been historically established.
Can I understand Austrian German if I speak Standard German?
Yes, depending on the severity of accent and dialect used, Austrian German is fully mutually intelligible with Standard High German.
In more rural areas, non-locals may find trouble with discerning terms in Austrian German, even if they are highly fluent in Standard High German. The most difficulty with mutual intelligibility is within Vorarlberg, where even native German speakers struggle to understand the dialect and local accent.
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