Talk:Lower Austria

Protectorate of Bohemia/Moravia

How much of the modern Czech republic (in km2 and mi2) was annexed to Lower Austria? --JamesR1701E (talk) 13:06, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Official names

The official name of the Bundesland is (in German): Niederösterreich. Since this is the English language Wikipedia we are talking about the translation "Lower Austria" is needed; that goes without saying. There is, however, no room for "Nyada-Østarëich" and other such nonsense, certainly not cluttering up the main article. This is neither a spoken nor written language that I recognize. The only official language spoken in Lower Austria is German. Local pronunciation issues notwithstanding, there is no need for anything else.

I have reverted your edit for now. Please do not redo unless discussing it first. Thanks. --IGreil (talk) 08:38, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

The official name is indeed Niederösterreich, and it is presented as the official name and its translation into English. However, per WP:Naming conventions (geographic names),

"2. The lead: The title can be followed in the first line by a list of alternative names in parentheses, eg: Gulf of Finland ( Estonian: Soome laht; Finnish: Suomenlahti; Russian: Финский залив, Finskiy zaliv; Swedish: Finska viken) is a large bay in the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea..."

"Relevant foreign language names (one used by at least 10% of sources in the English language or is used by a group of people which used to inhabit this geographical place) are permitted and should be listed in alphabetic order of their respective languages, i.e., (Finnish: Suomenlahti; Russian: Финский залив, Finskiy zaliv; Swedish: Finska viken; Estonian: Soome laht). or (ar: name1, be: name2, cs: name3). As an exception to alphabetical order, the local official name should be listed before other alternate names if it differs from a widely accepted English name."

My reinsertion of the Austro-Bavarian name into the lead (which, you'll note, is the only place I reinserted it) follows exactly these principles. The local official name is listed first (Standard German), followed by names in relevant foreign languages. Austro-Bavarian is certainly relevant, since it is a minority language spoken throughout Austria, including Lower Austria. This is not an issue of "local pronunciation", which sounds like you are demoting Austro-Bavarian to just pronunciation differences, rather than an actual language as documented by linguists (it's listed on the Ethnologue, for example). Nor does a language's official status (a political designation) have any bearing on whether that language's name is included in the lead. The deciding factor for the inclusion of a foreign name is the one listed in the above guidelines: "one used by at least 10% of sources in the English language or is used by a group of people which used to inhabit this geographical place." Speakers of Austro-Bavarian inhabit this geographical place, so the inclusion of their name in the lead is thoroughly justified. -Krasnoludek (talk) 09:05, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

You make it sound as though "Austro-Bavarian" is a relevant foreign language. It is not, above all, a written language. It is a regiolect, a local variety, if you will, but it has no place in an encyclopedia (apart, perhaps, from an entry of its own). "Nyada-Østarëich" is not a legitimate alternative spelling or version. Nowhere that I am aware of is Lower Austria referred to as such in writing. Please provide a reliable source that actually uses that spelling. "Austro-Bavarian", if it is a language (no need to go into that here) certainly is not a written one. —Preceding unsigned comment added by IGreil (talk • contribs) 09:43, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

Since I noticed you have removed the alternate language names on several Austria-related pages, I have moved this discussion to the existing talk page on Talk:Austria, since that is the most prominent location to discuss this issue. -Krasnoludek (talk) 09:44, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

Austro-Bavarian is not a legitimate "alternate language", but we can certainly discuss this on Talk:Austria as well. IGreil (talk) 10:14, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

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Pronunciation

Actually, also in standard German "er" is pronounced as "a" within words. So, as a native speaker of German and an Austro-Bavarian dialect, I don't see any difference in the pronounciatin of "Niederösterreich" and "Niedaöstarreich" 🤔 Temptos (talk) 12:55, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

I would like to hear a second opinion on this matter before I make the change. As you have contributed in Wikipedia_talk:German-speaking_Wikipedians'_notice_board#Is_Austrian_a_language? I would love to hear your opinion here, User:Trigaranus. --Temptos (talk) 23:53, 20 January 2026 (UTC)

Given that we talk about common realisations of phonology in everyday speech, I would say that any realisation that approximates an [ɐ] or [ə] sound is perfectly normal. But that is about pronunciation, not orthography. I'm not familiar with Bavarian spelling given how little you see it written. Dialect spelling conventions will often go a little extra way to represent their own pronunciation more clearly, precisely to contrast it with the standard variety's orthographic prescriptions. According to Bavarian's own page on orthography, writing an /a/ for [ɐ] seems perfectly conventional when writing out the way Bavarian "says" something. So, while we may quibble with what the smartest way to write dialect actually is, there appears to be a convention to have the a-coloured schwa of "Nieder-" represented by an /a/ in Bavarian. I'd leave it as is, personally. Trigaranus (talk) 14:51, 21 January 2026 (UTC)

Thank you. Maybe you are right and looks odd because the Bavarian language is hardly ever written, apart from some songs, poems and - oddly - WhatsApp chats (as they approximate the oral language). I will leave it then. Temptos (talk) 18:47, 21 January 2026 (UTC)