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For UK there is Received Pronunciation, for the US there is General American. How can I find the most used version of a language, especially German? I don't know what to search exactly.

Is it "Hochdeutsch"?

Hubert Schölnast
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Christelle Augustin
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    I deleted the comments, because they are obsolete now. The last comment of yours was also unfriendly. Please make sure to maintain a friendly tone. Everybody here is volunteering and trying to be helpful. Nobody comes here particularly to bother you. Please take that into account when interacting with others here. – Jonathan Scholbach Sep 23 '22 at 19:54
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    As an English speaker I'd have to disagree with the first part of the question. Most people in England speak with regional accents and RP is used by BBC presenters and Oxbridge alumni. Similarly, General American is a kind of blend of different American accents that's used by actors and newscasters. Perhaps a better question is if there is a non-regional German spoken by DW presenters, and if so then what is it called. Don't forget that like English, German is a pluricentric language, so you might get different answers for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. – RDBury Sep 24 '22 at 02:28
  • For another question about an equivalent to RP, see here. I find it hard to answer the question: 1. Is it merely about pronunciation or other features (vocabulary, grammar) as well? 2. What should the answer talk about, besides the trivial the language used in official communications, in newspapers and books, taught in schools, etc.? – David Vogt Sep 24 '22 at 08:22

1 Answers1

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Short answer:

The most used version of German is:

Deutsches Standarddeutsch (German standard German)

This is also the version you will learn when you learn German as a foreign language.

In more detail:

The term Hochdeutsch term has two different meanings. It can be:

  • German dialects that are not Niederdeutsch

    Dialects spoken in the flat and low regions north of the Benrath line are called Niederdeutsch (Low German). Dialects spoken in the higher reagions south of this line are called Hochdeutsch (High German)

    The High German dialects again are subdivided at the Speyer line in:

    • Mitteldeutsch (Middle German)
    • Oberdeutsch (Upper German)

    And each of these main dialect regions is subdivided further into dialects like Alemannic, High Franconian and Bavarian who all three belong to Upper German.

    If you have this meaning in mind, you better say: Hochdeutsche Dialekte.

  • Standardized German (German that is not a dialect)

    This is what you usually mean when you say Hochdeutsch. To be standardized means:

    • Laws and other official texts are written in these version of the language
    • Local and regional newspapers and magazines are printed in this version of the language
    • National TV and radio stations broadcast their program in this version of the language.
    • This version is taught in schools as distinct subject, and it is the language in which other subjects at schools and universities are taught.
    • The rules of this version are written down in textbooks and are therefore well defined.

    Non of these items is true for dialects.

    If you have this meaning in mind, you better say: Standarddeutsch

    There are three standards that differ from each other!

    Be careful! German is spoken not only in Germany. It is the main official language also in Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. And it is an official language (but not the main official language) also in Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy (only in South Tyrol), France (Alsace and Lorraine) and Denmark (Northern Schleswig).

    The three biggest countries where German is spoken are Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and these three countries do not share the same standard. So there are three standard variations of German:

    • Deutsches Deutsch (German Standard German)
      This the standard language used in Germany. Germany has about 83.2 million residents, about 73 of them speak German as their first language.
      The German standard variation of German is also an official language in Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark (Norther Schleswig) and France (Alsace and Lorraine).
    • Österreichisches Deutsch (Austrian Standard German)
      Standard language of Austria. Austria surpassed the 9 million population mark a few months ago, about 7.9 million of them use German as their first language.
      The Austrian standard variation of German is also an official language in Italy (South Tyrol).
    • Schweizerisches Deutsch (Swiss Standard German)
      Switzerland has 8.6 million residents, about 5.8 million speaking German as first language.
      The Swiss standard variation of German is also an official language in Liechtenstein. (Btw: Liechtenstein is the only country on this planet, that has no other official language than German. Germany and Austria also have additional other official languages, spoken by minorities.)

Orthography (how to spell a written word) is equal in all three standards, but grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation are different.1

People in Austria and Switzerland watch their own TV stations, but also, via satellite or cable-TV, stations from Germany. But the main TV stations of Austria and Switzerland are not available in Germany, so German people don't watch Swiss or Austrian TV. (Also Swiss people do not watch Austrian TV and vice versa.)

All Books printed in German are printed in German German, even those published in Austria and Switzerland, because when you want to sell books, to need to sell them in Germany too, where about 85% of all German native speakers live.2

As a result almost all people in Austria and Switzerland are bilingual. They speak their own version of German language and in addition, as a second language, they speak German German. They at least understand it as easily as their own version, but most of them still have difficulties to produce German German perfectly. On the other hand, people in Germany speak only their own version. They get in contact with Austrian or Swiss German only when they travel to these countries. All German people know, that Austrian and Swiss German is somehow different, but most people in German are not aware, that these are not funny dialects, but standardized versions of Germany.3

When German native speakers talk to their relatives, friends and colleagues, they speak dialect or colloquial speech, and these dialects differ strongly over geographic regions, but also between social groups. But every German native speaker has learned Standard German in School, which is a roof-langauge that makes it possible, that people from Chemnitz can chat with people in Cologne, or that people from Vienna are able to talk to people from Hamburg.

So, when you are learning German as a foreign language, you do best when you learn German standard German, and do not care too much about small differences in pronunciation. We native speakers are used to hear different versions of pronunciation all the time.

1 There are two exceptions, both of them apply to the letter ß: 1. The letter ß, that is so typical for German, does not exist in Switzerland. It is consequently replaced by ss there. 2. In actual orthography (valid since 1996) the letter ß is used after vowels that are spoken long, while after short vowels you have to write ss instead. But there are some words like Geschoss (short o in Germany) / Geschoß (long o in Austria) where the pronunciation is different in the two standards, and therefore also the spelling. The letter ß also has different names in the two countries that use it: It is called »Eszett« (like the German names to the two letters S and Z) in Germany, but »scharfes S« (sharp S) in Austria.

2 Exceptions exist, but they are very rare. Only some crime stories that are produced exclusively for the Austrian market are written in Austrian German.

3 The situation in Switzerland is even more complex but out of the scope of this question. Search for "Schweizerdeutsch", "schweizerisches Deutsch" and "Swiss German" here on German.stackexchange.

Hubert Schölnast
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    This is a good answer, however not every German switches between standard German and a local dialect. I may be a bit more careful with my pronunciation when I am further from home, but I speak the same language as always, which I would classify as standard German with of course since local influences. – Carsten S Sep 24 '22 at 21:05
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    This answers the question, but it contains a number of inaccuracies: The orthography is not equal in all varieties of standard German. There are minor differences – like for grammar. Not all books are printed in German German. I guess most books printed in Switzerland and Austria are in the national varieties (if the difference can be told at all). At least in Switzerland, there is no bilinguialism with Swiss and German standard German. There is bilingualism with Swiss dialect and Swiss standard German. – mach Sep 25 '22 at 10:32
  • Um @machs Aussage zu unterstreichen: Das Schweizer Deutsch kennt beispielsweise kein scharfes S und benutzt stattdessen (n.m.W.) immer ein Doppel-S. Ohne Beispiele nennen zu können vermute ich auch, dass es in Österreich und der Schweiz prozentual sehr viel Bücher gibt, die den dortigen Wortschatz pflegen (Obers, Trafik), insbes. solche der Literatur - weniger bei Kochbüchern - als es beispielsweise in Bayern Bücher gibt, die die lokalen Eigenheiten pflegen. Gerade Romane, die in Österreich/Schweiz spielen würden merkwürdig anmuten, würden die Protagonisten dt. Deutsch sprechen. – user unknown Sep 25 '22 at 11:28
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    @userunknown: Wenn man als österreichischer Autor ein Manuskript bei einem österreichischem Verlag abgibt (z.B. für ein Fachbuch), und damit nicht ausdrücklich ausschließlich auf den relativ kleinen österreichischen Markt abzielt, werden Vokalen, Phrasen, grammatische Eigenheiten usw., die zum österreichischen Standard gehören, sehr konsequent durch die Gegenstücke des deutschen Deutsch ersetzt. Aus »Jänner«, »Beistrich«, »Karfiol«, »es geht mir ab«, »das* Joghurt«, »sie ist gesessen«, »er hat gewunken«* usw. wird dann »Januar«, »Komma«, »Blumenkohl«, »es fehlt mir«, ... – Hubert Schölnast Sep 25 '22 at 13:33
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    ... »der* Joghurt«, »sie hat gesessen«, »er hat gewinkt«* usw. Die österreichischen Verlage wissen ganz genau, dass Leser aus Deutschland in einem Buch über z.B. die Aufzucht von Katzen oder über die Geschichte der amerikanischen Eisenbahn, österreichisches Deutsch als fehlerhaft wahrnehmen würden, und den Verlag dann mit vermeintlichen Korrekturvorschlägen überhäufen würden, während dieselben Verlage aus langjähriger Erfahrung wissen, dass Leser aus Österreich deutsches Deutsch sogar dann tolerieren, wenn das Buch von einem Österreicher geschrieben und in Österreich verlegt wurde. – Hubert Schölnast Sep 25 '22 at 13:33
  • @HubertSchölnast: Du weißt, was Literatur und Romane sind? – user unknown Sep 25 '22 at 16:14
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    @userunknown: Ja. Das nennt man auch Belletristik und hatte auf dem deutschen Buchmarkt 2020 einen Marktanteil von 31,1% und 2021 31,9%. Quelle: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/71155/umfrage/umsatzanteile-im-buchhandel-im-jahr-2008-nach-genre/ Bei nur einem sehr kleinen Teil dieser Warengruppe (ich schätze mal weniger als 10%, also weniger als 3% vom ganzen Kuchen) handelt es sich um Geschichten, die in Österreich spielen. Und nur in diesem sehr kleinen Segment würden ... – Hubert Schölnast Sep 26 '22 at 07:41
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    ... Leser, die in Deutschland leben, österreichisches Deutsch akzeptieren. Aber selbst dann ist das, was man den Deutschen als österreichisches Deutsch verkauft, eine für die Bedürfnisse des deutschen Konsumenten glattgebügelte Version unserer Sprache, so wie auch bei allen Fernsehkrimis, die in Österreich spielen und im ZDF und ARD gezeigt werden. (SOKO Wien, SOKO Kitzbühel, Wien-Tatort) Immerhin werden diese Krimis vom ZDF bzw. ARD co-produziert. – Hubert Schölnast Sep 26 '22 at 07:42
  • Die Ausnahme zur TV-Regel ist der Sender 3Sat, der die Nachrichtensendungen ZIB2 (Österreich) und 10 nach 10 (Schweiz, mit standarddeutschen Untertiteln, was dazu führt, dass sie erst um Mitternacht gesendet wird...) übernimmt und auch in Deutschland ausstrahlt. Das hat keine großen Marktanteile, aber immerhin. – ccprog Sep 27 '22 at 14:56
  • @ccprog: Ja, das stimmt. Der Marktanteil von 3Sat lag laut statista.com 2021 bei 1,4%. Leider fehlt dabei die Angabe, ob das der Marktanteil im gesamten Sendegebiet, oder nur in Deutschland ist (oder in einem anderen Land, was ich aber eher ausschließe). In den Nachrichtensendungen des ORF wird der Ausstieg aus der 3Sat-Kopplung immer mit diesen oder ähnlichen Worten angekündigt: »Wir verabschieden uns nun von unseren Zusehern auf 3Sat.« Wegen des geringen ... – Hubert Schölnast Sep 28 '22 at 06:56
  • ... Marktanteils von 3Sat haben mehrere österreichische Kabarettisten daraus folgendes gemacht: »Wir verabschieden uns nun von unseren beiden Zusehern auf 3Sat.« – Hubert Schölnast Sep 28 '22 at 06:56