| Swabian | |
|---|---|
| Schwäbisch,[1]schwäbische Mundart[2] | |
| Native to | Germany[1] |
| Ethnicity | Swabians |
Native speakers | 820,000 (2006)[3] |
| Latin (German alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | swg |
| Glottolog | swab1242 |
| IETF | swg[4] |
 Areas where Alemannic dialects are spoken Swabian | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Swabian (German:Schwäbisch[ˈʃvɛːbɪʃ]ⓘ) is one of the dialect groups ofUpper German, sometimes one of the dialect groups ofAlemannic German (in the broad sense),[5] that belong to theHigh German dialect continuum. It is mainly spoken inSwabia, which is located in central and southeasternBaden-Württemberg (including its capitalStuttgart and theSwabian Jura region) and the southwest ofBavaria (Bavarian Swabia). Furthermore, Swabian German dialects are spoken byCaucasus Germans inTranscaucasia.[6] The dialects of theDanube Swabian population ofHungary, the formerYugoslavia andRomania are only nominally Swabian and can be traced back not only to Swabian but also toFranconian,Bavarian andHessian dialects, with locally varying degrees of influence of the initial dialects.[7]
Swabian can be difficult to understand for speakers ofStandard German due to its pronunciation and partly differing grammar and vocabulary.
In 2009, the wordMuggeseggele (a Swabianidiom), meaning thescrotum of ahousefly, was voted in a readers' survey byStuttgarter Nachrichten, the largest newspaper inStuttgart, asthe most beautiful Swabian word, well ahead of any other term.[8] The expression is used in an ironic way to describe a small unit of measure and is deemed appropriate to use in front of small children (compareBubenspitzle). German broadcasterSWR's children's website,Kindernetz, explained the meaning of Muggeseggele in theirSwabian dictionary in the Swabian-based TV seriesEin Fall für B.A.R.Z.[9]
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| "t" to "d" | "p" to "b" | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard High German (SHG) | Swabian | Standard High German (SHG) | Swabian |
| Tasche (bag) | Dasch | putzen (to clean) | butza |
| Tag (day) | Dag | Papa (dad) | Baba |
| SHG | Swabian |
|---|---|
| Zug (train) | Zigle |
| Haus (house) | Haisle |
| Kerl (guy) | Kerle |
| Mädchen (girl) | Mädle |
| Baum (tree) | Baimle |
| SHG | Swabian | Example (SHG = Swabian) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| shorta[a] | [a] | machen =macha | to make |
| longa[aː] | [ɔː] | schlafen =schlofa | to sleep |
| shorte[ɛ] | [e] | Mensch,fest =Mentsch,fescht | person, steady |
| [ɛ] | Fest =Fäscht | festival | |
| longe[eː] | [ɛa̯] | leben =läaba | to live |
| shorto[ɔ] | [ɔ] | Kopf =Kopf | head |
| longo[oː] | [aʊ̯] | hoch,schon =hau,schau | high, already |
| shortö[œ] | [e] | kennen,Köpfe =kenna,Kepf | to know, heads (pl) |
| longö[øː] | [eː] | schön =schee | beautiful |
| shorti[ɪ] | [e] | in =en | in |
| longi (ie)[iː] | [ia̯] | nie =nia | never |
| shortü[ʏ] | [ɪ] | über =iber | over |
| longü[yː] | [ia̯] | müde =miad | tired |
| shortu[ʊ] | [ɔ] | und =ond | and |
| longu[uː] | [ua̯] | gut =guat | good |
| ei[aɪ̯] | [ɔa̯],[ɔɪ̯][a] | Stein =Schdoa/Schdoi | stone |
| [a̯i][b] | mein =mei | my | |
| au[aʊ̯] | [aʊ̯][c] | laufen =laofa | to run |
| [a̯u][d] | Haus =Hous | house | |
| eu[ɔʏ̯] | [a̯i],[ui̯] | Feuer =Feijer/Fuijer | fire |
In many regions, the Swabian dialect is spoken with a uniqueintonation that is also present when native speakers speak in SHG. Similarly, there is only one alveolar fricative phoneme/s/, which is shared with most other southern dialects. Most Swabian-speakers are unaware of the difference between/s/ and/z/ and do not attempt to make it when they speak Standard German.
The voiced plosives, the post-alveolar fricative, and the frequent use of diminutives based on "l" suffixes gives the dialect a very "soft" or "mild" feel, often felt to be in sharp contrast to the harder varieties of German spoken in the North.
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal/ Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k ɡ | ||||
| Affricate | b̥f | d̥s | (d̥ʃ) | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||||
| Fricative | f v | s | ʃ | (ç) | x (ɣ) | ʁ | (ʕ) h |
| Approximant | l | j |
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| Close | ɪi | iː | u | uː | ||
| Close-mid | e | eː | ə | o | oː | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɛː | (ɐ) | ʌɔ | ɔː | |
| Open | a | aː | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | iə | uə,ui | |
| Mid | eə | əi | əu,ɔe |
| Open | ae | ao |
Swabian is categorized as anAlemannic dialect, which in turn is one of the two types ofUpper German dialects (the other beingBavarian).
The Swabian dialect is composed of numerous sub-dialects, each of which has its own variations. These sub-dialects can be categorized by the difference in the formation of the past participle of 'sein' (to be) intogwäa andgsei. The Gsei group is nearer to otherAlemannic dialects, such asSwiss German. It can be divided intoSouth-East Swabian,West Swabian andCentral Swabian.[12]
TheDanube Swabians from Hungary, Romania, and former Yugoslavia have been speaking several different Swabian dialects, called locallySchwowisch, some being similar to the original Swabian dialect, but also the Bavarian dialect, mostly with Palatine and Hesse mixed dialects.[13] In this regard, theBanat Swabians speak theBanat Swabian dialect.
TheBaden-WürttembergChamber of Commerce launched an advertising campaign with the slogan "Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch." which means "We can [do] everything. Except [speak] Standard German" to boost Swabian pride for their dialect and industrial achievements.[14] However, it failed to impress Northern Germans[15] and neighboring Baden.Dominik Kuhn (Dodokay) became famous in Germany with Swabianfandub videos,[16] dubbing among othersBarack Obama with German dialect vocals and revised text.[17] In the Germandubbing of the 2001 movieMonsters Inc., theAbominable Snowman, played byJohn Ratzenberger in the original English version andWalter von Hauff in the German version, speaks in the Swabian dialect.[18][19]
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| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
