Bavarian dialect app: DaBay goes with you everywhere

Let us begin with a corrective statement: There is not just one Bavarian dialect. Dialect research does indeed recognize Bairisch, which derives its name from the medieval Duchy of Baiern, as it was then known. However, there are marked differences between the dialects heard in Upper and Lower Bavaria, Swabia, the Upper Palatinate and Franconia.

“It is rather surprising that there has never yet been a dialect app in Bavaria, which is very proud of its traditions and linguistic traits,” says Dr. Philip Vergeiner, who developed the app in collaboration with Professor Lars Bülow at the Chair of German Linguistics.

Say cheese! But is it Kaas, Kääs or Kees?

The aim of the Bavarian dialect app, or DaBay for short, is to explore which dialects are spoken where and in what variants in modern-day Bavaria. Designed as a web app, DaBay can be used either on smartphones or on desktop devices. For the time being, the app centers around 12 rounds of questions in a variety of categories, including “Food”, “Social interaction” and “On the farm”. Users can, for example, choose how they themselves pronounce the specified terms in their given dialect: Do they pronounce Käse (cheese) as Kaas or Kääs?

“Barriers to entry have deliberately been kept very low in order to appeal to as many speakers of dialects in Bavaria as possible,” Professor Bülow points out. Accordingly, some questions are linked to a dictation function that can be used to record sentences in the given dialect. Other questions can be answered or completed in writing. Two more rounds of questions are to be added every week.

Studying how language changes

For users, DaBay is both highly instructive, containing lots of fascinating information relating to the various dialects, and entertaining. On the other hand, it also gives researchers a way to survey the status of language and track the processes via which language changes over time. Vergeiner acknowledges that Bavarian dialects have already been the object of substantial research. But he is also aware that academic work to date has focused primarily on the historical perspective: “We have looked at dialects that are no longer spoken in the forms addressed.”

“What we want to know now is how dialects and registers have changed. Our assumption is that change is moving toward standard or default language, that the tendency is for less and less dialects to be spoken.” Having said that, Vergeiner concedes that the geographical distribution varies: Whereas the use of dialect is still relatively widespread in the Fichtel mountain range and in the Bavarian Forest, that is no longer the case in Munich.

The researchers’ work also takes social characteristics into account, such as the speaker’s gender, their educational background and whether standard language or dialect is used in their occupational context. They also want to critically assess whether certain assumptions or prejudices are indeed valid. Examples include the belief that women take the lead in changing language, that speaking a dialect is a matter of educational background, and that dialects in Upper Bavaria are continuing to spread to Lower Bavaria. “There have never been good empirical studies of these issues,” Vergeiner asserts.

Low-cost survey method

Conducting traditional surveys involving interviews is a lot of work and is, above all, very expensive. The linguistic researchers have therefore opted for a digital approach. “This kind of tool provides a low-cost solution,” Professor Bülow says. He accepts that it is less easy to control who takes part, and also that this method relies heavily on written language. Notwithstanding, the linguists hope that the expected large volume of participants will paint a meaningful, useful picture.
“We are focusing mainly on vocabulary, because that is the most accessible element and the most interesting one for the users.

Prizes to be won

Participants are awarded points for each round of questions that they answer. The number of points determines their place in the rankings of all participants. For the first six months of the initial phase, prizes will also be awarded to the best participants: Philip Vergeiner was even able to acquire a grant for this purpose from the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

DaBay, the new dialect app, is online now. Go here to access the dialect app (in German only)