Siebenbürgisch
Encyclopedia
The Transylvanian Saxon (Saxon: Siwweberjesch Såksesch or just Såksesch, or Siebenbürgisch-Sächsische Sprache, ) is the dialect of the Transylvanian Saxons
Transylvanian Saxons
The Transylvanian Saxons are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.The colonization of Transylvania by Germans was begun by King Géza II of Hungary . For decades, the main task of the German settlers was to defend the southeastern border of the...

. It belongs to the West Central German
West Central German
West Central German belongs to the Central, High German dialect family in the German language. Its dialects are thoroughly Franconian including the following sub-families:* Central Franconian...

 group of High German dialects.

The language was mainly spoken in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...

, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 (prior 1918, Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...

) by persons of German origin who settled there in the 12th century. The majority of the speakers have emigrated in several waves to Germany, Austria, USA, Canada and other Western countries, and preserved (at least temporarily) their specific language there. Before the revolution of 1989 in Romania, the majority of the Transylvanian Saxons were still living in Transylvania. In 1990 and few years after, the vast majority emigrated to Germany, leaving just a minority of about 15,000 Transylvanian Saxon persons in Romania. The number of Transylvanian Saxon speakers today is estimated to be 200,000 persons.

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