Zipser German
Zipser German is a dialect of the German language which developed in the Upper Zips region of what is now northeastern Slovakia among people who settled there from present-day central Germany and the northern Lower Rhine river beginning in the 13th century.
These German settlers are collectively known as Zipser Germans in Central and Eastern Europe and part of the Carpathian Germans in their native Slovakia. The Lower Zips was inhabited by other Germans who spoke a different dialect called "Gründlerisch". The Upper Zipser German dialect is also close or related to the Transylvanian Saxon dialect of the Transylvanian Saxons.
The Zipser German dialect has been spoken for centuries in present-day Slovakia and Romania. In Romania, the dialect has been spoken in the historical regions of Bukovina and Maramureș, northern Transylvania. Nowadays there are a few Zipser German-speaking communities in southern Bukovina as well as Maramureș County. In addition, there are several differences between the forms of the Zipser German dialect which had developed on the territory of present-day Romania and the main Zipser German dialect from Zips, Slovakia. In Maramureș, the main community of Zipser Germans still lives in Vișeu de Sus and Baia Mare. Smaller communities of Zipser Germans are also found in the mountainous Banat or Caraș-Severin County. There are also sparse communities of Zipser Germans across Carpathian Ruthenia, Ukraine.
The Zipser German dialect as spoken in Romania
Beginning in at least the 18th century, many Zipsers migrated to contemporary northern Romania, including to southern Bukovina, then part of the Habsburg-ruled lands and a newly acquired land following the Russo-Turkish War, where several other German dialects were also spoken by the local Bukovina German community.Throughout the passing of time, the speech of the Zipsers in present-day Romania was heavily influenced by that of people from Upper Austria who settled among them and were ultimately assimilated into the Zipser ethnic community. During and after the Second World War, most Zipsers evacuated or were expelled to Germany, but a community of speakers remains in Hopgarten ; their distinctive dialect is called "Outzäpsersch".