regionaler

Regionaler is the comparative form of the German adjective regional. It is used to express that something is more regional or more closely tied to a specific region in comparison with another thing. As a modifier, regionaler declines like other adjectives in German, with endings that depend on gender, number, and case. For example, ein regionaler Unterschied (singular, masculine, nominative), regionale Unterschiede (plural), or einen regionalen Unterschied (singular, masculine, accusative). In comparative constructions the form signals a higher degree of regionality, as in Der regionalere Fokus der Studie liegt auf ländlichen Gebieten; regionalere Unterschiede zeigen sich zwischen Stadt- und Landregionen.

In practice, regionaler is most common in formal or technical writing, where authors want to specify that one object is more regionally oriented than another. The phrase is frequently found in policy papers, market analyses, and academic texts dealing with geography, regional development, or cultural studies. Because German also allows periphrastic expressions, many speakers and writers prefer alternatives such as mehr regional to convey a similar meaning in everyday language.

Etymology and related terms: regional derives from the Latin regionem via French and other European languages, and the suffix -er marks the comparative in German. Related concepts include Regionalität (the quality of being regional) and Regionalisierung (the process of becoming more regionally oriented).

See also: regional, Regionalität, Regionalisierung, regionalism.