Swiss German

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Swiss German
Schwyzerdütsch
Spoken in: Switzerland 
Region: Europe
Total speakers: 4,500,000
Language family: Indo-European
 Germanic
  West Germanic
   High German
    Upper German
     Alemannic
      Swiss German
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: gsw
ISO/FDIS 639-3: gsw
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch) is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in Switzerland. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are called Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein which are closely associated to Switzerland's.

Linguistically, Swiss German forms no unity. The linguistic division of Alemannic is rather into Low, High and Highest Alemannic, varieties of all of which are spoken both inside and outside of Switzerland. The reason why "Swiss German" dialects constitute a special group is their almost unrestricted use as a spoken language in practically all situations of daily life, whereas the use of the Alemannic dialects in the other countries is restricted or even endangered.

The dialects of Swiss German must not be confused with Swiss Standard German, the variety of standard German used in Switzerland. Even though Swiss Standard German is influenced by the Swiss German dialects to a certain degree, it is very distinct and any native speaker will immediately note the difference.

Contents

[edit] Use

Unlike most dialects in modern Europe, Swiss German is the spoken everyday language of all social levels in industrial cities as well as in the countryside. Using dialect conveys no social or educational inferiority[1]. There are only a few specific settings where speaking Standard German is demanded or polite, e.g. in education (but not during breaks), in multilingual parliaments (the federal parliaments and a few cantonal and municipal ones), in the main news broadcast or in the presence of German-speaking foreigners. This situation has been called a medial diglossia since the spoken language is mainly the dialect whereas the written language is mainly Standard German.

Swiss German is intelligible to speakers of other Alemannic dialects but is usually not intelligible to speakers of Standard German, including French- or Italian-speaking Swiss who learn Standard German at school. Swiss German speakers on TV or in movies are thus usually dubbed or subtitled if shown in Germany.

Dialect rock is a music genre using the language.

[edit] Variation and Distribution

Swiss German is a regional or political umbrella term, not a linguistic unity. For all dialects, there are idioms spoken outside Switzerland that are more closely related to them than some Swiss German dialects. The main linguistic divisions within Swiss German are those of Low, High and Highest Alemannic. Low Alemannic is only spoken in the northernmost parts of Switzerland, in Basel and around Lake Constance. High Alemannic is spoken in most of the Swiss plateau, and is divided in an eastern and a western group. Highest Alemannic is spoken in the Alps.

Distribution of languages in Switzerland
Enlarge
Distribution of languages in Switzerland

Each dialect is separable in numerous local sub-dialects, sometimes down to a resolution of individual villages. Speaking the dialect is an important part of regional, cantonal and national identity. In the more urban areas of the Swiss plateau, regional differences are fading due to increasing mobility, and a growing population of non-Alemannic descent.

[edit] History

Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for a pronunciation key.

As Alemannic dialects, Swiss German dialects did not participate in the second German vowel shift during medieval times - they use mostly the same vowels as Middle High German. As such, even though the Alemannic dialects belong to High German, their vowels are closer to Low Saxon than other High German dialects or standard German. An exception are certain central Swiss dialects, e.g. the Uri dialect.

Examples:

Zürich dialect Unterwalden dialect Standard German translation
[huːs] [huis] [haʊ̯s] house
[bruːn] [bruin] [braʊ̯n] brown

Most Swiss German dialects, being High-Alemannic dialects, have completed the High German consonant shift, that is, they have not only changed t to [t͡s] or [s] and p to [p͡f] or [f] but also k to [k͡x] or [x]. Most Swiss dialects have initial [x] or [k͡x] instead of k; there are however exceptions, namely the idioms of Chur and Basel. Basel German is a Low Alemannic dialect (like most, but not all, Alemannic dialects spoken in Germany), and Chur German is basically High Alemannic without initial [x] or [k͡x].

Examples:

High Alemannic Low Alemannic Standard German translation
[ˈxaʃtə] [ˈkʰaʃtə] [ˈkʰastən] chest or box
[k͡xaˈri(ː)b̥ik͡x] [kʰaˈriːbikʰ] [kʰaˈriːbɪk] Caribbean

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Consonants

Like in all Southern German dialects, Swiss German dialects have no voiced obstruents. Instead, there is a length distinction.

Swiss German /p, t, k/ are not aspirated. Aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] have (in most dialects) secondarily developed by contractions or by borrowings from other languages (mainly standard German), e.g. /ˈphaltə/ 'keep' (standard German behalten); /ˈtheː/ 'tea' (standard German Tee [ˈtʰeː]); /ˈkhalt/ 'salary' (standard German Gehalt).

In the dialects of Basel and Chur, aspirated /k/ is also present in native words.

Unlike Standard German, Swiss German /x/ does not have the allophone [ç], but is always [x], or in many dialects even [χ]. The typical Swiss shibboleth features this sound: Chuchichäschtli ('kitchen cupboard'), pronounced [ˈχuχːiˌχæʃtli].

Neither Swiss German nor the Swiss national variety of standard German exhibits final devoicing, unlike the German national variety of standard German.

[edit] Vowels

Most Swiss German dialects have rounded front vowels, unlike many German dialects. Only in the Low Alemannic dialects of northwest Switzerland (mainly Basel) and in the Walliser dialects, these have been unrounded. Due to influence from other Swiss German dialects, the roundening is spreading.

Like Bavarian dialects, Swiss German dialects have preserved the opening diphthongs of Middle High German: /iə̯, uə̯, yə̯/, e.g. in /liə̯b̥/ 'lovely' (standard German lieb, but pronounced /liːp/); /huə̯t/ 'hat' (standard German Hut /huːt/); /xyə̯l/ 'cool' (standard German kühl /kyːl/). Note that some of those diphthongs have been unrounded in several dialects.

Like Low Saxon dialects, Swiss German dialects have preserved the old monophthongs /iː, uː, yː/, e.g. /pfiːl/ 'arrow' (standard German Pfeil /pfaɪ̯l/); /b̥uːx/ 'belly' (standard German Bauch /baʊ̯x/); /z̥yːlə/ 'pillar' (standard German Säule /zɔʏ̯lə/).

Western Swiss German dialects (e.g. Bernese German) have preserved the old diphthongs /ei̯, ou̯/, whereas the other dialects have /ai̯, au̯/ like Standard German.

[edit] Suprasegmentals

In many Swiss German dialects, consonant length and vowel length are independent from each other, whereas they interdepend in the other Germanic languages. Examples from Bernese German:

short /a/ long /aː/
short /f/ /hafə/ 'bowl' /d̥i b̥raːfə/ 'the honest ones'
long /fː/ /afːə/ 'apes' /ʃlaːfːə/ 'to sleep'

Stress is more often on the first syllable than in standard German, even in French loans such as [ˈmɛrsːi] or [ˈmersːi] "thanks". Note that there are many different stress patterns even within dialects. Bernese German is one of the dialects where many words are stressed on the first syllable, e.g. [ˈkaz̥ino] 'casino', whereas standard German has [kʰaˈziːno]. However, no Swiss German dialect is as consistent as the Icelandic language in this respect.

[edit] Grammar

The grammar of Swiss dialects has some specialties compared to Standard German:

  • The order within verb groups may vary, e.g. wil du bisch cho/wil du cho bisch vs. standard German weil du gekommen bist "because you have come/came (literally: are come)".
  • All relative clauses are introduced by the relative particle wo (‘where’), never by the demonstrative particles der, die, das, welcher, welches as in Standard German, e.g. ds Bispil, wo si schrybt vs. Standard German das Beispiel, das sie schreibt (‘the example that she writes’); ds Bispil, wo si dra dänkt vs. Standard German das Beispiel, an das sie denkt (‘the example that she thinks of’).
  • In combinations with other verbs, the verbs gah or goh "go", cho "come", la or lo "let" and aafa or aafo "begin" reduplicate, prefixed to the main verb.
example: Si chunt üse Chrischtboum cho schmücke.
literal translation: she comes our Christmas tree come adorn
translation She comes to adorn our Christmas tree.
example: Si lat ne nid la schlafe.
literal translation: she lets him not let sleep
translation: She doesn't let him sleep.
This is probably a generalisation of a close association of these verbs with the following verb in perfect tense or modal verb constructions:
perfect tense: Si het ne nid la schlafe.
literal translation: she has him not let sleep
translation: She hasn't let/didn't let him sleep.
modal verb: Si wot ne nid la schlafe.
literal translation: she wants him not let sleep
translation: She doesn't want to let him sleep.

[edit] Writing

Swiss German dialects are usually not written, but only spoken. All formal writing, newspapers, books and much of informal writing is done in Swiss Standard German, which is usually called Schriftdeutsch (written German). Certain dialectal words are accepted regionalisms in Swiss Standard German and are also sanctioned by the Duden, e.g. Zvieri (afternoon snack). Note that Swiss Standard German is extremely similar to Standard German as used in Germany, but there are some slight orthographic differences. For example Swiss Standard German always uses a double s (ss) instead of the eszett (ß).

There exist relatively few written works in Swiss dialects. Today especially young people use the dialect more and more in informal written communication (e.g. e-mail or SMS). However, most write standard German more fluently than their dialect.

There is no standard language, so the writers use the dialect of the region they come from.

There are no official rules about writing Swiss German. The orthographies used in the Swiss German literature can be roughly divided in two systems: Those that try to stay as close to standard German spelling as possible and those that try to represent the sounds as well as possible.

A few letters are used differently from the Standard German rules:

  • The letter <k> (and <ck>) is used for the affricate /kx/.
  • The letter <gg> is used for the fortis /k/.
  • <y> (and sometimes <yy>) traditionally stands for the /iː/ that corresponds to Standard German /aɪ̯/, e.g. in Rys ‘rice’ (standard German Reis /raɪ̯s/) vs. Ris ‘giant’ (standard German /riːzə/). This usage goes back to an old ij-ligature. Many writers, however, don't use <y>, but <i(i)>, especially in the dialects that have no distinction between these sounds, compare Zürich German Riis /riːz̥/ ‘rice’ or 'giant' to Bernese German Rys /riːz̥/ 'rice' vs. Ris /rɪːz̥/ (‘giant’). Some use even <ie>, influenced by Standard German spelling, which leads to confusion with <ie> for /iə̯/.

[edit] Vocabulary

The vocabulary is rather rich - especially in rural areas there are many special terms retained, e.g. regarding cattle or weather. In the cities, much of the rural vocabulary has been lost.

Most borrowings come from Standard German. Many of these are now so common that they have totally replaced the original Swiss German words, e.g. the words Hügel 'hill' (instead of Egg, Bühl), Lippe 'lip' (instead of Lefzge). Others have replaced the original words only in parts of Switzerland, e.g. Butter 'butter' (originally called Anken in most parts of Switzerland). Virtually any Swiss Standard German word can be borrowed into Swiss German, always adapted to Swiss German phonology. However, certain Standard German words are never used in Swiss German, for instance Frühstück 'breakfast', niedlich 'cute' or zuhause 'at home'; instead, the native words Zmorge, härzig and dehei are used.

Swiss dialects have quite a few words from French, which are perfectly assimilated. Glace (ice cream) for example is pronounced /glas/ in French but [ˈɡ̊lasːeː] or [ˈɡ̊lasːə] in many Swiss German dialects. The French word for 'thank you', merci, is also used as in merci vilmal, literally "thanks many times". Maybe these words aren't direct borrowings from French but survivors of the once more numerous French loans in Standard German, many of which have fallen out of use in Germany.

In recent years, Swiss dialects have also borrowed some English words which already sound very Swiss, e.g. [ˈfuːd̥ə] ('to eat', from "food"), [ɡ̊ei̯mə] ('to play computer games') or [ˈz̥nœːb̥ə] - ('to snowboard', from "snowboard"). While most of those loanwords are of recent origin, some have been in use for decades, e.g. [ˈʃutːə] (to play football, from "shoot").

Interestingly, there are also a few English words which are modern borrowings from the Swiss German languages. The dishes muesli and rösti have become English words, as did loess (fine grain), flysch (sandstone formation), bivouac, kepi, landamman, kilch, schiffli, and the act of putsching in a political sense.

[edit] Literature

  • Schweizerisches Idiotikon Comprehensive 17-volume Dictionary of Swiss Dialects and historic language (in university libraries)

[edit] References

  1. ^ See for instance an Examination of Swiss German in and around Zürich, a paper that presents the differences between Swiss German and High-German.

[edit] External links

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