Editing Bavarian language (section)

=== History and etymology ===
{{further|History of Bavaria}}

The word ''Bavarian'' is derived from the name of the people who settled Bavaria along with their tribal dialect.  The origin of the word is disputed.  The most common theory traces the word to ''Bajowarjōz'', meaning 'inhabitants of Bojer land'.  In turn, ''[[Boii|Bojer]]'' ({{langx|la|Boii}}, {{langx|de|Boier}}) originated as the name for former [[Celts|Celtic]] inhabitants of the area, with the name passing to the mixed population of Celts, [[Roman people|Romans]], and successive waves of German arrivals during the early medieval period.<ref name="barbrite">{{cite book |last=Hasenfratz |first=Hans-Peter |author-link= |date=2011 |title=Barbarian Rites: The Spiritual World of the Vikings and the Germanic Tribes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mAoDwAAQBAJ |location= |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page= |isbn=978-1594774218}}</ref>

The local population eventually established the [[Duchy of Bavaria]], forming the south-eastern part of the [[kingdom of Germany]]. The [[Old High German]] documents from the area of Bavaria are identified as {{lang|de|Altbairisch}} (Old Bavarian), even though at this early date there were few distinctive features that would divide it from [[Alemannic German]].

The dialectal separation of Upper German into East Upper German (Bavarian) and West Upper German (Alemannic) became more tangible in the [[Middle High German]] period, from about the 12th century.