Open Access

Alexander Augustin

• Although there are many dialect speakers in Bavaria, the dialect - mainly because of its non-standardized spelling - is usually not used in common print media or on nationwide television. Nevertheless, the Bavarian dialect appears on Bavarian television (BR) and in cinema films. However, the Bavarian used on television or in films is frequently not a genuine dialect; instead it is a synthetic language which resembles the German standard and merely refers to the dialect. This is mainly due to the needs of non-dialect speakers, who would definitely have comprehension problems with the genuine dialect. Furthermore, the Bavarian dialect is often used on online platforms, such as Facebook or YouTube. In these conversational situations, face-to-face communication is replaced by written texts. In the case of dialect speakers, these texts can appear as written dialect; due to the non-standardized spelling, the texts are strongly individualized.