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| Swiss German | |
|---|---|
| Schwiizerdütsch | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈʃʋitsərˌd̥ytʃ] |
| Native to | Switzerland (asGerman),Liechtenstein,Vorarlberg (Austria),Piedmont &Aosta Valley (Italy) |
Native speakers | 4.93 million in Switzerland (2013)[1] Unknown number in Germany and Austria |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | gsw |
| ISO 639-3 | gsw (withAlsatian) |
| Glottolog | swis1247wals1238 |
| Linguasphere | (45 varieties: 52-ACB-faa to -fkb) 52-ACB-f (45 varieties: 52-ACB-faa to -fkb) |
| IETF | gsw-CH[2] |
 Swiss German is classified as Potentially Vulnerable by the UNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger[3] | |
| 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. | |
Swiss German (Standard German:Schweizerdeutsch,Alemannic German:Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,[note 1] and others;Romansh:Svizzers Tudestg) is any of theAlemannic dialects spoken in theGerman-speaking part ofSwitzerland, and in someAlpine communities inNorthern Italy bordering Switzerland. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects ofLiechtenstein and AustrianVorarlberg, which are closely associated to Switzerland's.[4][5]
Linguistically, Alemannic is divided intoLow,High andHighest Alemannic, varieties all of which are spoken both inside and outside Switzerland. The only exception within German-speaking Switzerland is the municipality ofSamnaun, where aBavarian dialect is spoken. The reason 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 other countries is restricted or even endangered.[6]
The dialects that comprise Swiss German must not be confused withSwiss Standard German, the variety ofStandard German used in Switzerland. Swiss Standard German is fully understandable to all speakers of Standard German, while many people in Germany – especially in the north – do not understand Swiss German. An interview with a Swiss German speaker, when shown on television in Germany, will require subtitles.[7] Although Swiss German is the native language in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, Swiss school students are taught Swiss Standard German from the age of six. They are thus capable of understanding, writing and speaking Standard German, with varying abilities.
Unlike most regional languages in modern Europe, Swiss German is the everyday spoken language for the majority of the population, in all social strata, from urban centers to the countryside. Using Swiss German conveys neither social nor educational inferiority and is done with pride.[8] There are a few settings where speaking Standard German is demanded or polite, e.g., in education (but not during breaks in school lessons, where the teachers will speak with students in Swiss German), in multilingual parliaments (the federal parliaments and a few cantonal and municipal ones), in the main news broadcast or in the presence of non-Alemannic speakers. This situation has been called a "medialdiglossia", since thespoken language is mainly Swiss German, whereas thewritten language is mainly(the Swiss variety of) Standard German.[9]
In 2014, about 87% of the people living in the German-speaking portion of Switzerland were using Swiss German in their everyday lives.[10]
Swiss German is intelligible to speakers of otherAlemannic dialects, but largely unintelligible to speakers of Standard German who lack adequate prior exposure. This is also a challenge for French- or Italian-speaking Swiss who learn Standard German at school. In the rare cases that Swiss German is heard on TV in Germany and Austria, the speaker is most likely to be dubbed or subtitled. More commonly, a Swiss speaker will speak Standard German on non-Swiss media.
"Dialect rock" is a music genre using the language;[11] manySwiss rock bands, however, sing in English instead.
TheSwiss Amish ofAdams County, Indiana, and their daughter settlements also use a form of Swiss German.[12]
Swiss German is a regional or politicalumbrella term, not a linguistic unity. For all Swiss-German dialects, there are idioms spoken outside Switzerland that are more closely related to them than to some other Swiss-German dialects. The main linguistic divisions within Swiss German are those ofLow,High andHighest Alemannic, and mutual intelligibility across those groups is almost fully seamless, despite some differences in vocabulary. Low Alemannic is only spoken in the northernmost parts of Switzerland, inBasel and aroundLake Constance. High Alemannic is spoken in most of theSwiss Plateau, and is divided into an eastern and a western group. Highest Alemannic is spoken in theAlps.
One can separate each dialect into numerous local subdialects, sometimes down to a resolution of individual villages. Speaking the dialect is an important part of regional,cantonal and national identities. In the more urban areas of theSwiss plateau, regional differences are fading due to increasing mobility and to a growing population of non-Alemannic background. Despite the varied dialects, the Swiss can still understand one another, but may particularly have trouble understandingWalliser dialects.
Most Swiss German dialects have completed theHigh German consonant shift; exceptions are allHighest Alemanic dialects. UnlikeStandard German, which has only shiftedt to[t͡s] or[s] andp to[p͡f] or[f], they have also shiftedk to[k͡x] or[x]; the dialects ofChur andBasel are exceptions to this particular difference. Basel German is aLow Alemannic dialect (mostly spoken in Germany near the Swiss border), and Chur German is basicallyHigh Alemannic without initial[x] or[k͡x].
Examples:
| High Alemannic | Low Alemannic | Standard German | Spelling | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ˈxaʃtə] | [ˈkʰaʃtə] | [ˈkastn] | 'Kasten' | 'box' |
| [k͡xaˈri(ː)b̥ik͡x] | [kʰaˈriːbikʰ] | [kaˈriːbɪk] | 'Karibik' | 'Caribbean' |
The High German consonant shift occurred between the 4th and 9th centuries south of theBenrath line, separating High German from Low German (wherehigh refers to areas of greater altitude). It combinesUpper German andCentral German varieties - also referring to their geographical locations.
TheWalser migration, which took place in the 12th and 13th centuries, spread varieties from upperValais to the east and south, intoGrisons and to modern western Austria and northern Italy. Informally, a distinction is made between the German-speaking people living in Valais, theWalliser, and those who have migrated, theWalsers. The latter can mainly be found in Grisons andTicino in Switzerland,Vorarlberg in Austria, south of theMonte Rosa mountain chain in Italy (e.g. inIssime inValle d'Aosta),South Tyrol in northern Italy, and theAllgäu in Bavaria).
Generally, the Walser communities were situated on higher alpine regions, so were able to stay independent of the ruling forces of those days, who did not or were not able to oversee them all the time in these hostile environments. Hence the Walsers were pioneers of the liberation fromserfdom andfeudalism. In addition, Walser villages are easily distinguishable from Grisonian ones, as Walser houses are made of wood rather than stone.
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m –mː | n –nː | ŋ | ||
| Stop | b̥ –p | d̥ –t | ɡ̊ –k | ||
| Affricate | p͡f | t͡s | t͡ʃ | k͡x | |
| Fricative | v̥ –f | z̥ –s | ʒ̊ –ʃ | ɣ̊ –x | h |
| Approximant | ʋ | l –lː | j | ||
| Rhotic | r |
Like most other Southern German dialects, Swiss German dialects have no voicedobstruents. The voiceless lenis obstruents are often marked with the IPA diacritic for voicelessness as/b̥d̥ɡ̊v̥z̥ɣ̊ʒ̊/.[13] Swiss German/p,t,k/ are not aspirated. Nonetheless, there is an opposition of consonant pairs such as[t] and[d] or[p] and[b]. Traditionally, it has been described as a distinction offortis and lenis in the original sense, that is, distinguished by articulatory strength ortenseness.[14] Alternatively, it has been claimed to be a distinction of quantity.[15]
Aspirated[pʰ,tʰ,kʰ] have secondarily developed by combinations of prefixes with word-initial/h/ or by borrowings from other languages (mainly Standard German):/ˈphaltə/ 'keep' (standard Germanbehalten[bəˈhaltn̩]);/ˈtheː/ 'tea' (standard GermanTee[ˈtʰeː]);/ˈkhalt/ 'salary' (standard GermanGehalt[ɡəˈhalt]). In the dialects of Basel and Chur, aspirated/kʰ/ is also present in native words, corresponding to the affricate/kx/ of the other dialects, which does not occur in Basel or Chur.
Swiss German keeps the fortis–lenis opposition at the end of words. There can be minimal pairs such asgraad[ɡ̊raːd̥] 'straight' andGraat[ɡ̊raːt] 'arête' orbis[b̥ɪz̥] 'be (imp.)' andBiss[b̥ɪs] 'bite'. That distinguishes Swiss German andSwiss Standard German fromGerman Standard German, whichneutralizes the fortis–lenis opposition at the ends of words. The phenomenon is usually calledfinal-obstruent devoicing even though, in the case of German,phonetic voice may not be involved.
Unlike Standard German, Swiss German/x/ does not have the allophone[ç] but is typically[x], with allophones[ʁ̥–χ]. The typical Swissshibboleth features this sound:Chuchichäschtli ('kitchen cupboard'), pronounced[ˈχuχːiˌχæʃtli].
Most Swiss German dialects have gone through the Alemannicn-apocope, which has led to the loss of final-n in words such asGarte 'garden' (standard GermanGarten) ormache 'to make' (standard Germanmachen). In some Highest Alemannic dialects, then-apocope has also been effective in consonant clusters, for instance inHore 'horn' (High AlemannicHorn) ordäiche 'to think' (High Alemannicdänke). Only the Highest Alemannic dialects of theLötschental and of theHaslital have preserved the -n.
Thephoneme/r/ is pronounced as analveolar trill[r] in many dialects, but some dialects, especially in the Northeast or in theBasel region, have auvular trill[ʀ], and other allophones resulting in fricatives and an approximant as [ʁʁ̥ʁ̞] like in many German varieties of Germany.
In many varieties of Bernese German and adjacent dialects, an/l/ at thesyllable coda and intervocalic/lː/ are pronounced as a[w] or[wː] respectively.
Alabiodental approximant[ʋ] is used instead of the Northern Standard German fricative[v] as the reflex of Middle High German/w/. In Walser German, the fricative is used instead.[16]
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||
| Close | i | y | u | |
| Near-close | ɪ | ʏ | ʊ | |
| Close-mid | e | ø | ə | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | œ | (ɔ) | |
| Open | æ | (a) | ɒ ~ɑ | |
Most Swiss German dialects have rounded front vowels, unlike other High German dialects.[17] Only in Low Alemannic dialects of northwestern Switzerland (mainly Basel) and in Walliser dialects have rounded front vowels been unrounded. In Basel, rounding is being reintroduced because of the influence of other Swiss German dialects.
LikeBavarian dialects, Swiss German dialects have preserved the openingdiphthongs ofMiddle High German:/iə̯,uə̯,yə̯/: in/liə̯b̥/ 'lovely' (standard Germanlieb but pronounced/liːp/);/huə̯t/ 'hat' (standard GermanHut/huːt/);/xyə̯l/ 'cool' (Standard Germankühl/kyːl/). Some diphthongs have become unrounded in several dialects. In the Zürich dialect, short pronunciations of /iyu/ are realized as [ɪʏʊ]. Sounds like the monophthong[ɒ] can frequently become unrounded to[ɑ] among many speakers of the Zürich dialect. Vowels such as a centralized [a] and an open-mid [ɔ] only occur in the Bernese dialect.[18]
Like inLow German, most Swiss German dialects have preserved the old West-Germanic monophthongs/iː,uː,yː/:/pfiːl/ 'arrow' (Standard GermanPfeil/pfaɪ̯l/);/b̥uːx/ 'belly' (Standard GermanBauch/baʊ̯x/);/z̥yːlə/ 'pillar' (Standard GermanSäule/zɔʏ̯lə/). A few Alpine dialects show diphthongization, like in Standard German, especially some dialects of Unterwalden and Schanfigg (Graubünden) and the dialect of Issime (Piedmont).
| Middle High German/many Swiss German dialects | Unterwalden dialect | Schanfigg and Issime dialects | Standard German | translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [huːs] | [huis] | [hous] | [haʊ̯s] | 'house' |
| [tsiːt] | [tseit] | [tseit] | [tsaɪ̯t] | 'time' |
Some Western Swiss German dialects like Bernese German have preserved the old diphthongs/ei̯,ou̯/, but the other dialects have/ai̯,au̯/ like Standard German or/æi̯,æu̯/.Zürich German, and some other dialects distinguish primary diphthongs from secondary ones that arose inhiatus: Zürich German/ai̯,au̯/ from Middle High German/ei̯,ou̯/ versus Zürich German/ei̯,ou̯/ from Middle High German/iː,uː/; Zürich German/bai̯,frau̯/ 'leg, woman' from Middle High Germanbein,vrouwe versus Zürich German/frei̯,bou̯/ 'free, building' from Middle High Germanfrī,būw.
In many Swiss German dialects,consonant length andvowel length are independent from each other, unlike other modern Germanic languages. Here are examples from Bernese German:
| short/a/ | long/aː/ | |
|---|---|---|
| short/f/ | /hafə/ 'bowl' | /d̥ib̥raːfə/ 'the honest ones' |
| long/fː/ | /afːə/ 'apes' | /ʃlaːfːə/ 'to sleep' |
Lexical stress is more often on the first syllable than in Standard German, even in French loans like[ˈmɛrsːi] or[ˈmersːi] 'thanks' (despite stress falling on the final syllablein French). However, there are many different stress patterns, even within dialects. Bernese German has many words that are stressed on the first syllable:[ˈkaz̥inɔ] 'casino' while Standard German has[kʰaˈziːno]. However, no Swiss German dialect is as consistent asIcelandic in that respect.
The grammar of Swiss dialects has some idiosyncratic features in comparison to Standard German:
In Swiss German, a small number of verbs reduplicate in a reduced infinitival form, i.e. unstressed shorter form, when used in theirfinite form governing theinfinitive of another verb. The reduced and reduplicated part of the verb in question is normally put in front of the infinitive of the second verb.[22] This is the case for the motion verbsgaa 'to go' andchoo 'to come' when used in the meaning of 'go (to) do something', 'come (to) do something', as well as the verbslaa 'to let' and in certain dialectsafaa 'to start, to begin' when used in the meaning of 'let do something', or 'start doing something'.[23] Most affected by this phenomenon is the verbgaa, followed bychoo. Bothlaa andafaa are less affected and only when used inpresent tensedeclarative main clauses.[24]
Declarative sentence examples:
| Swiss German | Ich | gang | jetzt | go | ässe |
| Gloss | I | go-1SG | now | go | eat-INF |
| Standard German | Ich | gehe | jetzt | Ø | essen |
| English | I'm going to eat now. / I'll go eat now. | ||||
| Swiss German | Er | chunnt | jetzt | cho | ässe |
| Gloss | He | comes | now | come | eat-INF |
| Standard German | Er | kommt | jetzt | Ø | essen |
| English | He's coming to eat now. | ||||
| Swiss German | Du | lahsch | mi | la | ässe |
| Gloss | You | let-2SG | me-ACC | let | eat-INF |
| Standard German | Du | lässt | mich | Ø | essen |
| English | You're letting me eat. / You let me eat. | ||||
| Swiss German | Mier | fanged | jetzt | a | fa | ässe |
| Gloss | We | start-1PL | now | start-PREF | start | eat-INF |
| Standard German | Wir | fangen | jetzt | an | zu | essen |
| English | We're starting to eat now. / We start eating now. | |||||
As the examples show, all verbs are reduplicated with a reduced infinitival form when used in a declarative main clause. This is especially interesting as it stands in contrast to the standard variety of German and other varieties of the same, where such doubling effects are not found as outlined in the examples.[25]
Reduplication effects are weaker in the verbslaa 'to let' andafaa 'to start, to begin' than they are ingaa 'to go' andchoo 'to come'. This means thatafaa is most likely to be used without its reduplicated and reduced form while retaining grammaticality, whereas utterances withgoo are least likely to remain grammatical without the reduplicated part.
Betweenlaa andafaa, these effects are weakest inafaa. This means that while reduplication is mandatory forlaa in declarative main clauses almost everywhere in the country, this is the case for fewer varieties of Swiss German withafaa.[26] The reason for this is unknown, but it has been hypothesized that the fact thatafaa hasa separable prefix (a-) might weaken its doubling capacity.[26] The presence of this separable prefix also makes the boundaries between the reduced infinitival reduplication form and the prefix hard if not impossible to determine.[26] Thus, in the example above forafaa, an argument could be made that the prefix a- is left off, while the full reduplicated form is used:
Meanwhile,afaa is not reduplicated when used in asubordinate clause or in the past tense. In such instances, doubling would result in ungrammaticality:
Past tense example withafaa:
The same is true for subordinate clauses and the verbafaa:
Subordinate clause examples withafaa:
Ich weiss dass sie jetzt afaat *afa ässe
I know-1SG that she now starts *start eat-INF
I know that she's starting to eat now. / I know that she starts eating now.
Whileafaa 'to start, to begin' is quite restricted when it comes toreduplication effects, the phenomenon is more permissive, but not mandatory in the verblaa 'to let'. While present tense declarative sentences are generally ungrammatical whenlaa remains unduplicated, this is not true forpast tense and subordinate clauses, where doubling effects are optional at best:
Past tense example withlaa:
Subordinate clause example withlaa:
Ich weiss dass er mi laat (la) ässe
I know-1SG that he me-ACC lets (let) eat-INF
I know that he lets me eat. / I know that he's letting me eat.
In the use of this form, there are both geographical and age differences.Reduplication is found more often in the western part of Switzerland than in the eastern part, while younger generations are much more inclined to leave out reduplication, which means that the phenomenon is more widespread in older generations.[27]
Ungrammaticality in reduplication ofafaa 'to start, to begin' in the past tense and in subordinate clauses as well as the somewhat more lenient use of reduplication withlaa 'to let' stand in contrast to doubling effects of the motion verbsgaa 'to go' andchoo 'to come'. When the latter two verbs are used in other utterances other than a declarative main clause, where the finite verb traditionally is in second position, their use might not be mandatory; however, it is correct and grammatical to double them both in the past tense and in subordinate clauses:
Past tense example withgaa andchoo:
As outlined in both examples, the reduplicated form of bothgaa andchoo can but does not have to be used in order for the past tense sentences to be grammatical.Notably, it is the reduced form of both verbs that is necessary, not the fullparticiple form.
Subordinate clause examples forgaa andchoo:
Ich
I
weiss
know-1SG
Ich weiss dass sie gaat go ässe
I know-1SG that she goes go eat-INF
I know that she'll go eat. / I know that she's going to eat.
Ich weiss dass sie chunnt cho ässe
I know-1SG that she comes come eat-INF
I know that she'll come to eat. / I know that she's coming to eat.
In subordinate clauses, the reduplicated part is needed as the sentence would otherwise be ungrammatical in bothgaa andchoo.[28]
The same is true for the past tense. Since there is only one past tense in Swiss German and since this is formed using an auxiliary verb –sii 'to be' orhaa 'to have', depending on the main verb – reduplication seems to be affected and therefore, less strictly enforced forgaa andchoo, while it is completely ungrammatical forafaa and optional forlaa respectively.
Questions behave a lot like their declarative counterparts, and reduplication is therefore mandatory for both motion verbsgaa 'to go' andchoo 'to come', whilelaa 'to let' andafaa 'to start, to begin' show weaker doubling effects and more optionality. Furthermore, this is the case for both open and close (yes/no) questions. Consider the following examples:
Afaa in open and close questions:
Just like in declarative forms,afaa could be reduced toa- and thus be considered the detachable prefix. In this case,afaa would no longer be a reduplicated verb, and that is where the language development seems to move towards.[26]
Laa in open and close questions:
Choo in open and close questions:
Gaa in open and close questions:
In theimperative mood, just like in questions,gaa 'to go' andchoo 'come' are very strict in their demand for doubling. The same is true forlaa 'to let'; it is ungrammatical to use it in imperative mood undoubled. On the other hand,afaa leaves a lot more room for the speaker to play with. Speakers accept both sentences with only the detachable prefix and no doubling, and sentences with the full doubled form.
Imperative mood:gaa
In the case of the verbchoo 'to come', there are situations when instead of it being reduplicated with its reduced formcho, the doubled short form ofgaa 'to go',go, is used instead. This is possible in almost all instances ofchoo, regardless of mood or tense.[28][29] The examples below outlinechoo reduplicated with both its reduced formcho and the reduced form ofgaa,go, in different sentence forms.
Declarative main clause, present tense
Declarative main clause past tense
Ich weiss dass er chunnt cho/go ässe
I know-1SG that he comes come/go eat-INF
I know that he's coming to eat. / I know that he comes to eat.
With the motion verbsgaa 'to go' andchoo 'to come', where reduplication effects are strongest, there is some variation regarding their reduplicated or reduced forms. Thus, in some Swiss German dialects,gaa will be doubled asgoge, whilechoo will be doubled aschoge. In some analyses, this is described as a multiple reduplication phenomenon in that the reduced infinitivesgo orcho part is repeated asge, providing the formsgoge andchoge.[30] However, these forms are used less frequently than their shorter counterparts and seem to be concentrated into a small geographic area of Switzerland.
The vocabulary is varied, especially in rural areas: many specialized terms have been retained, e.g., regarding cattle or weather. In the cities, much of the rural vocabulary has been lost. A Swiss German greeting isGrüezi, fromGott grüez-i (Standard GermanGottgrüsseEuch), loosely meaning 'God bless you'.[31][32]
Most word adoptions come from Standard German. Many of these are now so common that they have totally replaced the original Swiss German words, e.g. the wordsHügel 'hill' (instead ofEgg,Bühl),Lippe 'lip' (instead ofLëfzge). Others have replaced the original words only in parts of Switzerland, e.g.,Butter 'butter' (originally calledAnke in most 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 instanceFrühstück 'breakfast',niedlich 'cute' orzu hause 'at home'; instead, the native wordsZmorge,härzig anddehei are used.
Swiss dialects have quite a few words from French and Italian, which are perfectly assimilated.Glace (ice cream) for example is pronounced/ɡlas/ in French but[ˈɡ̊lasːeː] or[ˈɡ̊lasːə] in many Swiss German dialects. The French word for 'thank you',merci, is also used as inmerci vilmal (lit. 'thanks many times', cf. Standard German'sdanke vielmals andvielen Dank). Possibly, these words are not direct adoptions from French but survivors of the once more numerousFrench loanwords in Standard German, many of which have fallen out of use in Germany.
In recent years, Swiss dialects have also taken some English words which already sound very Swiss, e.g.,[ˈfuːd̥ə] ('to eat', from 'food'),[ɡ̊ei̯mə] ('to play computer games', fromgame) or[ˈz̥nœːb̥ə] or[ˈb̥oːrd̥ə] – ('to snowboard', fromsnowboard). These words are probably not direct loanwords from English but have been adopted through standard German intermediation. While most of those loanwords are of recent origin, some have been in use for decades, e.g.[ˈ(t)ʃutːə] ('to playfootball', fromshoot).
There are also a few English words which are modern adoptions from Swiss German. The dishesmüesli, andrösti have become English words, as didloess (fine grain),flysch (sandstone formation),kepi,landammann,kilch,schiffli, andputsch in a political sense. The termbivouac is sometimes explained as originating from Swiss German,[33] while printed etymological dictionaries (e.g. the GermanKluge orKnaurs Etymological Dictionary) derive it fromLow German instead.
| English | Swiss German (Bernese)[34] | Swiss Standard German |
|---|---|---|
| Hello! | Grüessech! | Hallo! |
| Good morning. | Guete Morge! | Guten Morgen! |
| Good evening. | Gueten Aabe! | Guten Abend! |
| Welcome! | Härzlech wiukomme! | Herzlich willkommen! |
| Goodbye. | Tschüss! | Ade! |
| Good night. | Guet Nacht! | Gute Nacht! |
| Yes! | Ja/Jo/Ieu/Iu! | Ja! |
| Yes, please! | Jo, gärn. | Ja, bitte! |
| Please! | Bitte! | Bitte! |
| Thank you! | Merci. | Danke! |
| Thank you very much! | Merci viu mau! | Merci vielmal! |
| You're welcome. | Gärn gscheh./Bitte. | Gern geschehen. |
| No! | Nei/Ä-ää! | Nein! |
| No thank you/no thanks. | Nei merci. | Nein, danke! |
| Excuse me. | Exgüsee. | Entschuldigung! |
| Of course not! Or, what did you mean? | Au-wä (allwäg)! | Selbstverständlich nicht! Oder was hast du gemeint? |
| What time is it? | Was isch für Ziit? | Wie spät ist es?oder Wie viel Uhr ist es? |
| Can you repeat that, please? | Chöiter das bitte wyderhole? | Könntet Ihr das bitte wiederholen? |
| Please, speak more slowly! | Red chli langsamer, bitte! | Sprich ein bisschen langsamer, bitte! |
| I don't understand! | Das verschtaani nid. | Das verstehe ich nicht. |
| I'm sorry! | Es tuet mer leid. | Es tut mir leid! |
| I'd like a coffee, please! | I hätti gärn es Kaffi. | Ich hätte gerne einen Kaffee. |
| Two beers, please! | Zwöi Bier, bitte! | Zwei Bier, bitte! |
| How much does this cost? | Was choschtet das? | Wie viel kostet das? |
| Where are the toilets? | Wo isch d'Toilette? | Wo ist das WC? |
Written forms that were mostly based on the local Alemannic varieties, thus similar toMiddle High German, were only gradually replaced by the forms ofNew High German. This replacement took from the 15th to 18th centuries to complete. In the 16th century, the Alemannic forms of writing were considered the original, truly Swiss forms, whereas the New High German forms were perceived as foreign innovations. The innovations were brought about by theprinting press and were also associated withLutheranism. An example of the language shift is theFroschauer Bible: Its first impressions after 1524 were largely written in an Alemannic language, but since 1527, the New High German forms were gradually adopted. The Alemannic forms were longest preserved in the chancelleries, with the chancellery ofBern being the last to adopt New High German in the second half of the 18th century.[35][36][37]
Today all formal writing, newspapers, books and much informal writing is done inSwiss Standard German, which is usually calledSchriftdeutsch (written German). Certain dialectal words are accepted regionalisms in Swiss Standard German and are also sanctioned by theDuden, e.g.,Zvieri (afternoon snack). Swiss Standard German is virtually identical to Standard German as used in Germany, with most differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and orthography. For example, Swiss Standard German always uses a double s (ss) instead of theeszett (ß).
There are no official rules of Swiss German orthography. The orthographies used in the Swiss-German literature can be roughly divided into 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. The so-calledSchwyzertütschi Dialäktschrift was developed byEugen Dieth, but knowledge of these guidelines is limited mostly to language experts. Furthermore, the spellings originally proposed by Dieth included some special signs not found on a normalkeyboard, such as⟨ʃ⟩ instead of⟨sch⟩ for[ʃ] or⟨ǜ⟩ instead of⟨ü⟩ for[ʏ]. In 1986, a revised version of theDieth-Schreibung was published, designed to be typed with a regular typewriter.[38]
A few letters are used differently from the Standard German rules:
Since the 19th century, a considerable body of Swiss German literature has accumulated. The earliest works were in Lucerne German (Jost Bernhard Häfliger, Josef Felix Ineichen), inBernese German (Gottlieb Jakob Kuhn), in Glarus German (Cosimus Freuler) and inZürich German (Johann Martin Usteri, Jakob Stutz); the works ofJeremias Gotthelf which were published at the same time are in Swiss Standard German, but use many expressions of Bernese German. Some of the more important dialect writing authors and their works are:
Parts of the Bible were translated in different Swiss German dialects, e.g.:[40]
Many films and TV series produced in German-speaking Switzerland are filmed in Swiss German, although these are sometimesre-dubbed into Standard German for broadcast or when shown in cinemas.[41][42] For instance,SwissTatort episodes are originally re-recorded with dialogue in dialects, usually various Swiss German dialects, or for example French or Italian, as required by the corresponding role, for broadcasting on German Swiss channels (SRF), and dubbed in Standard German spoken with a Swiss accent to preserve the local colour of the setting for broadcasting on German and Austrian channels.[42]
Zu Hause oder mit den Angehörigen sprechen 60,1% der betrachteten Bevölkerung hauptsächlich Schweizerdeutsch[At home or with relatives, 60.1% of the population considered mainly speak Swiss German]
Swiss German talks and interviews on the daily night news show 10vor10 by the major German Swiss channel SRF1 is consistently subtitled in German on 3sat
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