Zipser German

Zipser German (German: Zipserisch or Zipserdeutsch; Hungarian: szepességi szász nyelv or cipszer nyelv; Romanian: dialectul țipțer) is a dialect of the German language which developed in the Upper Zips region (Slovak: Spiš, Hungarian: Szepes) of what is now northeastern Slovakia among people who settled there from present-day central Germany and the northern Lower Rhine river (e.g. contemporary Flanders and Luxembourg) beginning in the 13th century (or during the High Middle Ages as part of the Ostsiedlung).

In Romania, the dialect has been spoken in the historical regions of Bukovina and Maramureș, northern Transylvania.

Beginning in at least the 18th century, many Zipsers migrated to contemporary northern Romania, including to southern Bukovina (present-day Suceava County),[2][3] then part of the Habsburg-ruled lands and a newly acquired land following the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), where several other German dialects were also spoken by the local Bukovina German community (such as Swabian, for example).

[4] Throughout the passing of time, the speech of the Zipsers in present-day Romania (such as those who migrated to Maramureș, present-day Maramureș County) was heavily influenced by that of people from Upper Austria (German: Oberösterreich) who settled among them and were ultimately assimilated into the Zipser ethnic community.

[5][6] During and after the Second World War, most Zipsers evacuated or were expelled to Germany, but a community of speakers remains in Hopgarten (Slovak: Chmeľnica); their distinctive dialect is called "Outzäpsersch" (German: "Altzipserisch", literally "Old Zipserish").