Swiss German

Template:Short description Template:About Template:More citations needed Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other Template:Main other Swiss German (Standard German: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Template:Langx,<ref group=note>Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found.</ref> and others; Template:Langx) 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.<ref name="AsherMoseley2018">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="GorterMarten2011">Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 fully intelligible to all speakers of Standard German, it is one of three major standards of German today.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While Swiss Standard German is internationally easily intelligible, many people in Germany – especially in the north – do not understand non-standard Swiss German.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An interview with a Swiss German speaker, when shown on television in Germany, generally requires subtitles.<ref name=3sat>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.

UseEdit

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>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."</ref> This situation has been called a "medial diglossia", since the spoken language is mainly Swiss German, whereas the written language is mainly (the Swiss variety of) Standard German.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In 2014, about 87% of the people living in the German-speaking portion of Switzerland were using Swiss German in their everyday lives.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Variation and distributionEdit

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, 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, 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.

File:Swiss languages 1.png

Language distribution in Switzerland

Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend

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)
  - Template:AnchorDialects 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 a resolution of 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 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 understanding Walliser dialects.

HistoryEdit

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 {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and p to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, they have also shifted k to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; 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 {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

Examples:

High Alemannic	Low Alemannic	Standard German	Spelling	Translation
main}}	main}}	main}}	'Kasten'	'box'
main}}	main}}	main}}	'Karibik'	'Caribbean'

The High German consonant shift occurred between the 4th and 9th centuries 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, south of the Monte Rosa mountain chain in Italy (e.g. in Issime in Valle d'Aosta), South Tyrol in northern Italy, and the Allgäu 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 from serfdom and feudalism. In addition, Walser villages are easily distinguishable from Grisonian ones, as Walser houses are made of wood rather than stone.

PhonologyEdit

ConsonantsEdit

Bernese German consonant system
	Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Stop	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link
Affricate	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Approximant	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link – Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Rhotic		main}}

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 {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Swiss German {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are not aspirated. Nonetheless, there is an opposition of consonant pairs such as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Traditionally, it has been described as a distinction of fortis and lenis in the original sense, that is, distinguished by articulatory strength or tenseness.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Alternatively, it has been claimed to be a distinction of quantity.<ref>Astrid Krähenmann: Quantity and prosodic asymmetries in Alemannic. Synchronic and diachronic perspectives. de Gruyter, Berlin 2003. Template:ISBN</ref>

Aspirated {{#invoke:IPA|main}} have secondarily developed by combinations of prefixes with word-initial {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or by borrowings from other languages (mainly Standard German): {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'keep' (standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}); {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'tea' (standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}); {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'salary' (standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}). In the dialects of Basel and Chur, aspirated {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is also present in native words, corresponding to the affricate {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'straight' and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'arête' or bis {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'be (imp.)' and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} '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 {{#invoke:IPA|main}} does not have the allophone {{#invoke:IPA|main}} but is typically {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, with allophones {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. The typical Swiss shibboleth features this sound: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('kitchen cupboard'), pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

Most Swiss German dialects have gone through the Alemannic n-apocope, which has led to the loss of final -n in words such as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'garden' (standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to make' (standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). In some Highest Alemannic dialects, the n-apocope has also been effective in consonant clusters, for instance in {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'horn' (High Alemannic {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to think' (High Alemannic {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). Only the Highest Alemannic dialects of the Lötschental and of the Haslital have preserved the -n.

The phoneme {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is pronounced as an alveolar trill {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in many dialects, but some dialects, especially in the Northeast or in the Basel region, have a uvular trill {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, and other allophones resulting in fricatives and an approximant as [{{#invoke:IPA|main}}] like in many German varieties of Germany.

In many varieties of Bernese German and adjacent dialects, an {{#invoke:IPA|main}} at the syllable coda and intervocalic {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are pronounced as a {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}} respectively.

A labiodental approximant {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is used instead of the Northern Standard German fricative {{#invoke:IPA|main}} as the reflex of Middle High German {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. In Walser German, the fricative is used instead.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

VowelsEdit

Zürich & Bernese dialect vowel system
	Front		Central	Back
	unrounded	rounded	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Near-close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Close-mid	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Open-mid	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		(Template:IPA link)
Open	Template:IPA link		(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link

File:Zürich German monophthongs chart.svg

Monophthongs of the Zürich dialect, from Template:Harvcoltxt

Most Swiss German dialects have rounded front vowels, unlike other High German dialects.<ref>Werner König: dtv-Atlas zur deutschen Sprache. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1989. Template:ISBN</ref> 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.

Like Bavarian dialects, Swiss German dialects have preserved the opening diphthongs of Middle High German: {{#invoke:IPA|main}}: in {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'lovely' (standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} but pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}); {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'hat' (standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}); {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'cool' (Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}). Some diphthongs have become unrounded in several dialects. In the Zürich dialect, short pronunciations of /{{#invoke:IPA|main}}/ are realized as [{{#invoke:IPA|main}}]. Sounds like the monophthong {{#invoke:IPA|main}} can frequently become unrounded to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} among many speakers of the Zürich dialect. Vowels such as a centralized [{{#invoke:IPA|main}}] and an open-mid [{{#invoke:IPA|main}}] only occur in the Bernese dialect.<ref>Marti, Werner (1985), Berndeutsch-Grammatik, Bern: Francke</ref>

Like in Low German, most Swiss German dialects have preserved the old West-Germanic monophthongs {{#invoke:IPA|main}}: {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'arrow' (Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}); {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'belly' (Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}); {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'pillar' (Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}). A few Alpine dialects show diphthongization, like in Standard German, especially some dialects of Unterwalden and Schanfigg (Graubünden) and the dialect of Issime (Piedmont).

Diphthongization in some dialects
Middle High German/many Swiss German dialects	Unterwalden dialect	Schanfigg and Issime dialects	Standard German	translation
main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	'house'
main}}	main}}	main}}	main}}	'time'

Some Western Swiss German dialects like Bernese German have preserved the old diphthongs {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, but the other dialects have {{#invoke:IPA|main}} like Standard German or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Zürich German, and some other dialects distinguish primary diphthongs from secondary ones that arose in hiatus: Zürich German {{#invoke:IPA|main}} from Middle High German {{#invoke:IPA|main}} versus Zürich German {{#invoke:IPA|main}} from Middle High German {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Zürich German {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'leg, woman' from Middle High German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} versus Zürich German {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'free, building' from Middle High German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.

SuprasegmentalsEdit

In many Swiss German dialects, consonant length and vowel length are independent from each other, unlike other modern Germanic languages. Here are examples from Bernese German:

	main}}	main}}
main}}	main}} 'bowl'	main}} 'the honest ones'
main}}	main}} 'apes'	main}} 'to sleep'

Lexical stress is more often on the first syllable than in Standard German, even in French loans like {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'thanks' (despite stress falling on the final syllable in French). However, there are many different stress patterns, even within dialects. Bernese German has many words that are stressed on the first syllable: {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'casino' while Standard German has {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. However, no Swiss German dialect is as consistent as Icelandic in that respect.

GrammarEdit

The grammar of Swiss dialects has some idiosyncratic features in comparison to Standard German:

There is no preterite indicative (yet there is a preterite subjunctive).
The preterite is replaced by perfect constructs (this also happens in spoken Standard German, particularly in Southern Germany and Austria).
It is still possible to form pluperfect phrases, by applying the perfect construct twice to the same sentence.
There is no genitive case, though certain dialects have preserved a possessive genitive (for instance in rural Bernese German). The genitive case is replaced by two constructions: The first of these is often acceptable in Standard German as well: possession + Prp. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Std. German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) + possessor: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} vs. Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('a book of a professor'), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} vs. Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('the professor's book'). The second is still frowned on where it appears in Standard German (from dialects and spoken language): dative of the possessor + the possessive pronoun referring to the possessor + possession: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('the professor his book').<ref name="AL">Andreas Lötscher: Schweizerdeutsch – Geschichte, Dialekte, Gebrauch. Huber, Frauenfeld/Stuttgart 1983 Template:ISBN</ref>
The order within verb groups may vary, e.g. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} vs. Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'when you have come/came'.<ref>See Rudolf Hotzenköcherle, Rudolf Trüb (eds.) (1975): Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz II 261s.</ref> In fact, dependencies can be arbitrarily cross-serial, making Swiss German one of the few known non-context-free natural languages.<ref name="shieber1985">Template:Citation.</ref>
All relative clauses are introduced by the relative particle {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('where'), never by the relative pronouns {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} as in Standard German, e.g. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} vs. Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('the example that she writes'); {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} vs. Standard German {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('the example that she thinks of'). Whereas the relative particle {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} replaces the Standard German relative pronouns in the Nom. (subject) and Acc. (direct object) without further complications, in phrases where {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} plays the role of an indirect object, a prepositional object, a possessor or an adverbial adjunct it has to be taken up later in the relative clause by reference of (prp. +) the personal pronoun (if {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} refers to a person) or the pronominal adverb (if {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} refers to a thing). E.g. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('the professor whose book I showed you'), {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('the mountain that we were upon').<ref name=AL/>

Reduplication verbsEdit

OverviewEdit

In Swiss German, a small number of verbs reduplicate in a reduced infinitival form, i.e. unstressed shorter form, when used in their finite form governing the infinitive 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This is the case for the motion verbs {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to go' and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to come' when used in the meaning of 'go (to) do something', 'come (to) do something', as well as the verbs {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to let' and in certain dialects {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to start, to begin' when used in the meaning of 'let do something', or 'start doing something'.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Most affected by this phenomenon is the verb {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, followed by {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. Both {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} are less affected and only when used in present tense declarative main clauses.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Declarative sentence examples:

Swiss German	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
Gloss	I	go-1_SG	now	go	eat-INF
Standard German	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	Ø	lang}}
English	I'm going to eat now. / I'll go eat now.

Swiss German	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
Gloss	He	comes	now	come	eat-INF
Standard German	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	Ø	lang}}
English	He's coming to eat now.

Swiss German	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
Gloss	You	let-2_SG	me-ACC	let	eat-INF
Standard German	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	Ø	lang}}
English	You're letting me eat. / You let me eat.

Swiss German	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
Gloss	We	start-1_PL	now	start-PREF	start	eat-INF
Standard German	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}	lang}}
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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: weakest doubling effectsEdit

Reduplication effects are weaker in the verbs {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to let' and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to start, to begin' than they are in {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to go' and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'to come'. This means that {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is most likely to be used without its reduplicated and reduced form while retaining grammaticality, whereas utterances with goo are least likely to remain grammatical without the reduplicated part.

Between {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, these effects are weakest in {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. This means that while reduplication is mandatory for {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in declarative main clauses almost everywhere in the country, this is the case for fewer varieties of Swiss German with {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> The reason for this is unknown, but it has been hypothesized that the fact that afaa has a separable prefix (a-) might weaken its doubling capacity.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> Thus, in the example above for {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, an argument could be made that the prefix a- is left off, while the full reduplicated form is used:

English	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	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/Merci!
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! or Was hast du gemeint?
What time is it?	Was isch für Ziit?	Wie spät ist es? or 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?

Swiss German

UseEdit

Variation and distributionEdit

HistoryEdit

PhonologyEdit

ConsonantsEdit

VowelsEdit

SuprasegmentalsEdit

GrammarEdit

Reduplication verbsEdit

OverviewEdit

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: weakest doubling effectsEdit

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and optionality of reduplicationEdit

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}: stronger reduplicationEdit

QuestionsEdit

Imperative moodEdit

Cross-doubling with {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}Edit

Multiple reduplication with {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}Edit

VocabularyEdit

Sample phrasesEdit

OrthographyEdit

HistoryEdit

ConventionsEdit

LiteratureEdit

Cinema and televisionEdit

See alsoEdit

NotesEdit

ReferencesEdit

BibliographyEdit

External linksEdit