Editing Colognian dialect (section)

==Features in comparison to Standard German==
This list shows only the most important differences. Most of these are not uniquely Kölsch, but true for all [[Ripuarian dialects]].

* Kölsch uses {{IPA|[ɕ]}}, {{IPA|[ɧ]}}{{dubious|reason=despite the Akademie's usage of this symbol their description of the sound matches [ɕ]|date=July 2023}} or even {{IPA|[ʃ]}} instead of standard {{IPA|[ç]}}, so when Colonians say ''"ich"'', it sounds more like ''"isch"''.
* The Standard German {{IPA|/ɡ/}} phoneme is pronounced {{IPA|[j]}} in the beginning of a word, and {{IPA|[j]}}, {{IPA|[ʁ]}}, {{IPA|[ɕ]}} or {{IPA|[x]}} in other positions, depending on the syllable structure. This gives rise to the erroneous belief that ''"im Kölschen jibbet kein Je"'' (Rheinlander regiolect German: "In Colognian there is no "G"); in fact Colognian does have the phoneme /g/, just not where Standard German speakers expect: ''rigge'' "to ride" (German: ''reiten'')
* Kölsch has three [[diphthong]]s pronounced {{IPA|[ei]}}, {{IPA|[ou]}} and {{IPA|[øy]}}, which are equivalent to but less frequent than {{IPA|[aɪ]}}, {{IPA|[aʊ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔʏ]}} in the standard.
* Voiceless stops are not [[aspirated consonant|aspirated]], in contrast to Standard German and most varieties of English (although there are some dialects in Scotland and Northern England where voiceless stops are not aspirated).
* The {{IPA|[l]}} sound is "darker" than in Standard German, and is replaced by {{IPA|[ɫ(ː)]}} throughout (''"Kölsch"'': (Colognian) {{IPA|/ˈkœɫːʃ/}}; (Standard German) {{IPA|/ˈkʰœlʃ/}})
* Words with an initial vowel are not separated from the preceding word by a [[glottal stop]].
* Kölsch has a larger vowel system than Standard German. In Standard German {{IPA|[ɔ]}} and {{IPA|[œ]}} are always short, {{IPA|[e]}}, {{IPA|[o]}} and {{IPA|[ø]}} always long. In Kölsch all of these occur long and short, and the difference is [[phonem]]ic.
* Vowel quality often differs between standard words and Kölsch words. Sometimes the standard has the more original form, sometimes Kölsch does. Standard {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, {{IPA|[ʊ]}}, {{IPA|[ʏ]}} often correspond to Kölsch {{IPA|[e]}}, {{IPA|[o]}}, {{IPA|[ø]}}, and {{IPA|[iː]}}, {{IPA|[uː]}}, {{IPA|[yː]}} often correspond to {{IPA|[eː]}}, {{IPA|[oː]}}, {{IPA|[øː]}}. Standard {{IPA|[aɪ]}}, {{IPA|[aʊ]}}, {{IPA|[ɔʏ]}} often correspond to Kölsch {{IPA|[iː]}}, {{IPA|[uː]}} and {{IPA|[yː]}}, and {{IPA|[aː]}}, {{IPA|[ɛː]}} often correspond to {{IPA|[ɔː]}} and {{IPA|[œː]}}. All of these patterns (and others to be found), however, have many exceptions and cannot be used to build Kölsch words blindly.
* Kölsch is even more [[non-rhotic]] than the standard. It often vocalizes "r" completely so that any hint of it is lost, e.g. std. ''"kurz"'', ksh. ''"koot"''.
** When it does not vocalize an "r", it will often be pronounced more strongly than in German: ''Sport'' [ɕpɔxt] (often humorously spelled "Spocht"). This carries over into the Cologne accent of German.
* Being a [[Central German]] dialect, Kölsch has undergone some stages of the [[High German sound shift]], but not all. Where the standard has "pf", Kölsch uses "p", as do [[Lower German]] and English. Compare: Standard German: ''"Apfel, Pfanne"''; Kölsch: ''"Appel, Pann"'', English: ''"apple, pan"''. Moreover, where the standard has "t", Kölsch usually keeps the older "d": Standard German: ''"Tag, tun"''; Kölsch: ''"Daach, donn"''; English: ''"day, do"''.
* Kölsch has shifted stem-internal {{IPA|[b]}} and {{IPA|[f]}} to {{IPA|[v]}}. Again, this sound change is shared by Lower German and English. Compare: Standard German: ''"leben, Ofen"''; Kölsch: ''"levve, Ovve"''; English: ''"live, oven"'' (note that this does not affect {{IPA|[f]}} shifted from older {{IPA|[p]}}, e.g. Kölsch ''"schlofe"'', English ''"to sleep"'').
* As a typically Ripuarian phenomenon, {{IPA|[d]}} and {{IPA|[n]}} have changed into {{IPA|[ɡ]}} and {{IPA|[ŋ]}} in some cases, e.g. std. ''"schneiden, Wein"'', ksh. ''"schnigge, Wing"''.
** Specifically, Middle High German ''ît, îd, în'' {{IPA|/iːt iːd iːn/}}, ''ût, ûd, ûn'' {{IPA|/uːt uːd uːn/}}, ''iut, iud, iun'' {{IPA|/yːt yːd, yːn/}} > Colognian ''igg, ugg, ügg; ing, ung, üng'' {{IPA|/ɪɡ ʊɡ ʏɡ, ɪŋ ʊŋ ʏŋ/}}. The similar change {{IPA|/nd/}} to {{IPA|/ŋɡ/}} was originally near-universal,<ref name="GdrfM">''Grammatik der ripuarisch-fränkischen Mundart von Ferdinand Münch.'' Bonn, 1904, p.97</ref> but has been lost in several words, most likely due to Standard German influence. (Münch gives for examples ''fryŋ̄k'', ''kiŋ̄k'' "friend", "child", where modern Kölsch has ''Fründ'', ''Kind''. (German: ''Freund'', ''Kind'')
** The word "dütsch" (German), compare German ''deutsch'', has also been influenced by surrounding dialects and the standard, and the fully Kölsch form *''düksch'' is unheard of.
* In Kölsch, the  final "t" after is dropped at the end of words followed by another consonant (except ''l, m, n, ng''). When a vowel is added, a lost "t" can reoccur.
* In Kölsch the word-final [[schwa]] is dropped and the standard ending "-en" is often shortened to schwa. Therefore, Kölsch plurals often resemble Standard German singulars, e.g., std. ''"Gasse" > "Gassen"'', ksh. ''"Jass" > "Jasse"'' (alley, alleys).
* Kölsch has a reduced case system, where the [[genitive]] is lost. The [[accusative]] and [[nominative]] are merged (except with personal pronouns), in most cases taking the form of the nominative; Standard German '''''Der''' Mann läuft die Straße entlang; ich sehe '''den''' Mann'', Kölsch '''''Der''' Mann läuf de Stroß elans, ich sinn '''der''' Mann.''. In the case of adjectives, including possessive pronouns, determiners and indefinite articles, Kölsch takes the form of the accusative; compare Standard German: ''"mein Mann, mein'''e''' Frau"''; to Kölsch: ''"ming'''e''' Mann, ming Frau"'', originally *''ming'''en''' Mann, ming'''e''' Frau'', cf. the German accusative ''meinen Mann, meine Frau''; English: ''"my husband, my wife"''.<ref name = "Herrwegen">Herrwegen, Alice, ''De kölsche Sproch: Grammatik der kölschen Sprache''</ref>
* Many regular verbs of Standard German have an irregular present tense form [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] in Kölsch, e.g. the verb ''"stonn"'' (= std. ''"stehen"'' and English ''"to stand"'') is conjugated as follows: ''"ich stonn, du steihs, hä steiht, mir stonn, ehr stoht, se stonn"''.<ref name = "Herrwegen" />

=== Phonology ===
{{Main|Colognian phonology}}