Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg, which are closely associated to Switzerland's.
Linguistically, Alemannic is divided into Low, High and Highest Alemannic varieties, all of which are spoken both inside and outside Switzerland. The only exception within German-speaking Switzerland is the municipality of Samnaun, where a Bavarian 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.
The dialects that comprise Swiss German must not be confused with Swiss Standard German, the variety of Standard German used in Switzerland. Swiss Standard German is one of the three national standard varieties of German, alongside those of Germany and Austria, and is readily intelligible to speakers of Standard German. While Swiss Standard German is internationally easily intelligible, many people in Germany – especially in the north – do not understand non-standard Swiss German. An interview with a Swiss German speaker, when shown on television in Germany, generally requires subtitles. 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.
Use 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 centres to the countryside. Using Swiss German conveys neither social nor educational inferiority and is used with pride. There are a few settings where speaking Standard German is demanded or polite, such as in education, 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.Schmidlin, Regula. 2011. Die Vielfalt des Deutschen: Standard und Variation: Gebrauch, Einschätzung und Kodifizierung einer plurizentrischen Sprache. Berlin: de Gruyter, p. 102. "[Die] Funktionsbreite der Standardsprache in der Schweiz viel schmaler ist als in den anderen deutschsprachigen Gebieten." This situation has been called a "medial diglossia", since the spoken language is mainly Swiss German, whereas the written language is mainly Swiss Standard German.
In 2014, about 87% of the people living in the German-speaking portion of Switzerland used Swiss German in their everyday lives.
Swiss German is intelligible to speakers of other Alemannic 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; many Swiss rock bands, however, sing in English instead.
The Swiss Amish of Adams County, Indiana, and their daughter settlements also use a form of Swiss German.
Variation and distribution Swiss German is a regional or political umbrella 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 of Low, High and Highest Alemannic. The dialects are generally mutually intelligible, though not always fully so. 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 into an eastern and a western group. Highest Alemannic is spoken in the Alps.
Low Alemannic: Basel German in Basel-Stadt (BS), closely related to Alsatian High Alemannic: Western: Bernese German, in the Swiss Plateau parts of Bern (BE) Dialects of Basel-Landschaft (BL) Dialects of Solothurn (SO) Dialects of the western part of Aargau (AG) In a middle position between eastern and western: Dialects in the eastern part of Aargau (AG) Dialects of Lucerne (LU) Dialects of Zug (ZG) Zürich German, in Zürich (ZH) Eastern: Dialects of St. Gallen (SG) Dialects of Appenzell (AR & AI) Dialects of Thurgau (TG) Dialects of Schaffhausen (SH) Dialects in parts of Graubünden (GR) Highest Alemannic: Dialects in parts of Canton of Fribourg (FR) Dialects of the Bernese Oberland (BE) Dialects of Unterwalden (OW & NW) and Uri (UR) Dialects of Schwyz (SZ) Dialects of Glarus (GL) Walliser German in parts of the Valais (VS) Walser German: due to the medieval migration of the Walser, Highest Alemannic spread to pockets of what are now parts of northern Italy (Piedmont), the north-west of Ticino (TI), parts of Graubünden (GR), Liechtenstein and Vorarlberg.
One can separate each dialect into numerous local subdialects, sometimes down to individual villages. Speaking the dialect is an important part of regional, cantonal and national identities. In the more urban areas of the Swiss Plateau, regional differences are levelling because of increasing mobility and a growing population of non-Alemannic background. The Walliser and Walser dialects, both Highest Alemannic, are among the most divergent.
History Most Swiss German dialects have completed the High German consonant shift; exceptions are all Highest Alemanic dialects. Unlike Standard German, which has only shifted t to or and p to or , they have also shifted k to or ; the dialects of Chur and Basel are exceptions to this particular difference. Basel German is a Low Alemannic dialect (mostly spoken in Germany near the Swiss border), and Chur German is basically High Alemannic without initial or .
Examples: High Alemannic Low Alemannic Standard German Spelling Translation 'Kasten' 'box' 'Karibik' 'Caribbean'
The High German consonant shift began around the 6th century and was largely complete by the 9th, in the areas south of the Benrath line, separating High German from Low German (where high refers to areas of greater altitude). It combines Upper German and Central German varieties - also referring to their geographical locations.
The Walser migration, which took place in the 12th and 13th centuries, spread varieties from upper Valais to the east and south, into Grisons and to modern western Austria and northern Italy. Informally, a distinction is made between the German-speaking people living in Valais, the Walliser, and those who have migrated, the Walsers. The latter can mainly be found in Grisons and Ticino in Switzerland, Vorarlberg in Austria, and south of the Monte Rosa mountain chain in Italy, for example in Issime in Valle d'Aosta and in Piedmont.
Walser settlers commonly received favourable terms under so-called Walser law, including personal freedom and free hereditary tenure, and their high-alpine communities remained largely independent of local feudal lords. Walser houses were traditionally built largely of timber, unlike the stone houses of neighbouring Grisonian villages.
Phonology Consonants +Bernese German consonant system LabialAlveolarPostalveolarVelarGlottalNasal – – Stop – – – Affricate Fricative – – – – Approximant – Rhotic
Like most other Southern German dialects, Swiss German dialects have no voiced obstruents. The voiceless lenis obstruents are often marked with the IPA diacritic for voicelessness as . Swiss German are not aspirated. Nonetheless, there is an opposition of consonant pairs such as and or and . Traditionally, it has been described as a distinction of fortis and lenis in the original sense, that is, distinguished by articulatory strength or tenseness. Alternatively, it has been claimed to be a distinction of quantity.Astrid Krähenmann: Quantity and prosodic asymmetries in Alemannic. Synchronic and diachronic perspectives. de Gruyter, Berlin 2003.
Aspirated have secondarily developed by combinations of prefixes with word-initial or by borrowings from other languages (mainly Standard German): 'keep' (standard German ); 'tea' (standard German ); 'salary' (standard German ). In the dialects of Basel and Chur, aspirated is also present in native words, corresponding to the affricate 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 as 'straight' and 'arête' or bis 'be (imp.)' and 'bite'. That distinguishes Swiss German and Swiss Standard German from German Standard German, which neutralizes the fortis–lenis opposition at the ends of words. The phenomenon is usually called final-obstruent devoicing even though, in the case of German, phonetic voice may not be involved.
Unlike Standard German, Swiss German does not have the allophone but is typically , with allophones . The typical Swiss shibboleth features this sound: ('kitchen cupboard'), pronounced .
Most Swiss German dialects have gone through the Alemannic n-apocope, which has led to the loss of final -n in words such as 'garden' (standard German ) or 'to make' (standard German ). In some Highest Alemannic dialects, the n-apocope has also been effective in consonant clusters, for instance in 'horn' (High Alemannic ) or 'to think' (High Alemannic ). Only the Highest Alemannic dialects of the Lötschental and of the Haslital have preserved the -n.
The phoneme is pronounced as an alveolar trill in many dialects, but some dialects, especially in the Northeast or in the Basel region, have a uvular trill , and other allophones resulting in fricatives and an approximant as [] like in many German varieties of Germany.
In many varieties of Bernese German and adjacent dialects, an at the syllable coda and intervocalic are pronounced as a or respectively.
A labiodental approximant is used instead of the Northern Standard German fricative as the reflex of Middle High German .
Vowels +Zürich & Bernese dialect vowel system Front CentralBack unrounded roundedshortlongshortlongshortlongshortlong CloseNear-close Close-mid Open-mid Open()() ~ ~
Most Swiss German dialects have rounded front vowels, unlike other High German dialects.Werner König: dtv-Atlas zur deutschen Sprache. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1989. 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.