Standard German is used in writing and in Germany orally in formal contexts throughout the Alemannic-speaking regions (with the exception ofAlsace, whereFrench or theAlsatian dialect of Alemannic is used instead).
Alemannic in the broad sense comprises the following variants:
Swabian (mostly inSwabia, inGermany, covering large parts ofWürttemberg and all ofBavarian Swabia). Unlike most other Alemannic dialects, it does not retain theMiddle High German monophthongsû, î but shifts them to[ou],[ei] (as opposed to Standard German[aʊ],[aɪ]). For this reason, "Swabian" is also used in opposition to "Alemannic".
Alemannic in the strict sense:
Low Alemannic dialects. Retain German initial/k/ as[kʰ] (or[kx]) rather than fricativising to[x] as in High Alemannic. Subvariants:
Lake Constance Alemannic (Bodenseealemannisch) (in SouthernWürttemberg, SoutheasternBaden, NorthwesternVorarlberg), a transitional dialect, close to High Alemannic, with some Swabian features in the vowel system.
Highest Alemannic (in theCanton of Valais, in theWalser settlements (e.g., in the canton ofGrisons), in theBernese Oberland and in the German-speaking part ofFribourg) does not have thehiatus diphthongisation of other dialects of German. For example:[ˈʃnei̯jə] ('to snow') instead of[ˈʃniː.ə(n)],[ˈb̥ou̯wə] ('to build') instead of[ˈb̥uː.ə(n)]. Subvariants:
Due to the importance of theCarolingian abbeys ofSt. Gall andReichenau Island, a considerable part of the Old High German corpus has Alemannic traits. AlemannicMiddle High German is less prominent, in spite of theCodex Manesse compiled by Johannes Hadlaub ofZürich. The rise of theOld Swiss Confederacy from the fourteenth century led to the creation of AlemannicSwiss chronicles.Huldrych Zwingli's Bible translation of the 1520s (the 1531Froschauer Bible) was in an Alemannic variant ofEarly Modern High German. From the seventeenth century, written Alemannic was displaced byStandard German, which emerged from sixteenth century Early Modern High German, in particular in the wake ofMartin Luther's Bible translation of the 1520s. The 1665 revision of the Froschauer Bible removed the Alemannic elements, approaching the language used by Luther. For this reason, no binding orthographical standard for writing modern Alemannic emerged, and orthographies in use usually compromise between a precise phonological notation, and proximity to the familiar Standard German orthography (in particular for loanwords).[citation needed]
Thediminutive is used frequently in all Alemannic dialects. Northern and eastern dialects use the suffix-le; western varieties (e.g. northern Alsace) uses the suffix-el /l̩/; southern dialects use the suffix-li (Standard German suffix-lein or-chen). As in standard German, these suffixes cause umlaut. Depending on dialect, 'little house' may beHeisle,Hiisel,Hüüsle,Hüüsli orHiisli (Standard GermanHäuslein orHäuschen). Some varieties have plural diminutives in-ler,-la or-lich.
Northern variants of Alemannic (Swabian and Low Alemannic), like standard German, pronouncech as a uvular or velar[χ] or[x] (Ach-Laut) after back vowels (a,o,u) and as a palatal[ç] consonant (Ich-Laut) elsewhere. High Alemannic, Lake Constance Alemannic and Highest Alemannic dialects exclusively use theAch-Laut.
In most Alemannic dialects, the past participle of the verb meaningto be (sein in standard German, with past participlegewesen) derives from a form akin togesein (gsi,gsìnn,gsei etc.).
