Swiss English

Hello together!

The Swiss are fortunate enough to have a linguistic situation which very much encourages the learning of multiple languages. English included. Indeed, the Swiss tend to speak a very high standard of English. However, English is often viewed as a cool, trendy language – this leads to the peppering of Swiss German with random English words which tend to be used, shall we say, creatively.

Image source: Deccon Bewes

For example in the special board above. 'Tages' is German for 'of the day', however the unfortunate juxtapositioning of the English 'hit' leads one to look onwards, perhaps to a restaurant that isn't offering excrement of the day...

The English used is often strange, and can often be completely made up. Consider the following: the Swiss often go wellnessing or enjoy wellness weekends in order to aufpowern ('power up?') after a stressful week of work. 'Wellness' actually refers to spa therapy – inventive in itself, before reflecting on the point that I'm not even sure if 'wellness' is even an English word?

Flumserberg: a nice but unrelated photograph.

When you do happen to find an English word in use in Swiss German, being able to speak English is no guarantee of understanding its meaning in Switzerland! We all know what a car is right? Err, a car is a car. Well, not in Switzerland. A Swiss Car is actually a coach or bus. So if you see a car-lane on a Swiss road, you should probably avoid driving down it...

Mega easy, gäll? Schönes Weekend!

Funny related youtube clip

'Humor Sapiens'

It was my birthday earlier this week and my flatmates very generously gave me tickets to go and see a comedy show in Zurich. The host comedian, Marco Rima, is relatively well-known and successful in Switzerland I'm told. The show – entitled Humor Sapiens – was held in Das Zelt, a new venue in Zurich which has already been visited by a fair number of Swiss celebrities (including Miss Switzerland and singer, Baschi).

Marco Rima's comedy: Humor Sapiens (image source: Das Zelt)

It was my first time at a professional comedy gig, so I wasn't sure what to expect. A world of difference to the amateur – often cringeworthy if not awkward – Comedy Club nights in Aberdeen! Of course, being a Swiss comedian, the show was conducted in Swiss German – so I understood perhaps three quarters of the jokes told. Luckily Rima managed to cram in a joke a second, which meant that even considering my poor Swiss German, I was able to laugh right the way through it all!

Das Zelt – or The Tent – is new to Zurich. Das Zelt can also be found elsewhere in Switzerland.

I can see why Rima is so successful in Switzerland, he doesn't just tell jokes, he entertains. Either by singing with his backing band, 'dancing' (for lack of a more suitable word) or simply keeping the audience in stitches throughout the whole show.

An audience of around one thousand take their seats.

A very enjoyable evening indeed and a fantastic birthday present. Huge thanks to my flatmates!

(Miss)understanding the Swiss Germans

Following on from the following post: A Dummy's Guide to Swiss German

I received a book that I had ordered through the post this week, Kleiner Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz (small, linguistic map of German-speaking Switzerland). This will serve as my research material in preparation for the presentation I have to give about Swiss German soon. It's going to be a challenging to sound as if I know what I'm talking about to a predominantly Swiss audience!

Züritüütsch is the variant spoken in Zurich, and therefore the variant I am learning – or at least attempting to learn.

Unlike High German, Swiss German isn't a single language, rather a group of loosely related Alemannic dialects. The Zurich variant, Züritüütsch, doesn't sound anything like the slower paced Bärnerdüütsch of Bern, which in turn bears no resemblance to the seemingly incomprehensible alpine dialects of canton Wallis, Walliserdiitsch. Even the Swiss find that too much. Because of these huge variations from canton to canton, town to town and valley to valley, Swiss German appears to be very free to outsiders. A language without grammatical rules to worry about – something ideal for backward,rural farmers...

Well, that's not exactly true.

There is of course grammar, it just differs depending on where you happen to find yourself on the East side of the Röstigraben (imaginary French / German speaking boundary through Switzerland). Word order for example tends to be something that isn't uniform. This makes learning Swiss German quite a headache to start with, but it's worth it – the trick is to find one variant relevant to you – and focus on learning that particular dialect. So long as it's not Walliserdiitsch, you should be able to understand enough of what others say, and vice versa.

For example, “When I was a little kid...”:

Als iech es chlii Chind gsii bin...

Als ig bin es chlii Chind gsii...

Als iich bin gsii es chlii Chind...

Als i es chlii Kchind gsii bin...

All four forms are correct in their respective dialects. Good luck selecting the right one for you!!!

Swiss German differs from valley to valley, so it's best to stick to the variants spoken in the larger cities. Photo: Kerns, canton Lucerne.

Whilst leafing through my Sprachatlas, these differences become quite clear. Take the High German word 'Butter' for example (same in English), whilst an Appenzeller would ask you for some 'Schmaalz' for his toast, a Zürcher would say 'Anke' – both of whom would probably have to ignore the polite request from the Walliser in the corner who'd ask for 'Öichu'. And they're not the only examples of such radical differences in Alemannic.

In the meantime, you can always use the following Swiss German phrase, no matter where you find yourself in the Alemannic lands!

,,Wiä bitte? Ich verstoh kei Schwiitzerdüütsch!'”

[I'm sorry, I don't understand Swiss German!]

A Dummy's Guide to Swiss German

Grüezi mitenand! [Hello everyone!]

Anyone flying into Switzerland and expecting to be greeted in German by a customs officer may at first think they've ended up in the wrong country upon hearing the local language. We're told that Switzerland has four official languages: German (64%), French (21%), Italian (7%) and Romansh (<1%), but this isn't quite the case. What people actually speak here is Swiss German (a range of Alemannic dialects), rather than German German (or 'High German') and they differ quite a lot.

The variant of Swiss German spoken in Zurich is called Züritüütsch.

Swiss German differs from city to city - and from valley to valley - too. One of the noticeable differences between High German and Swiss German is in pronunciation. For example the High German 'ung' is pronounced as 'ig', 'ei' as 'ie', 'n's are often omitted and if you seem to hear people with throat infections, you're probably just mistaking it for the throaty 'ch' which the Swiss say instead of 'k'! As can be seen in these common examples:

High German: __________Swiss German: __________English:

Kuchenkasten __________Chüchichäschtli _________Kitchen cupboard

Verzweigung ___________Verzwiegig _____________Intersection

Lebensgefährlich _______Läbesgföhrlech __________Deadly

Not only does Swiss German have it's own pronunciation, but it also has it's own vocabulary and grammar – for instance, there is no simple past tense or genitive case in Swiss German, although it does have it's own set of articles etc..

Of course, despite the difficulty of picking up Swiss German, I really am quite enthusiastic about learning it properly. Swiss German sounds very pleasing to the ear and somehow more 'natural' than High German, perhaps due to the sing-song nature of the dialect's intonation.

Thankfully - for those of us more familiar with High German – Swiss German tends to be just a spoken language. All university lectures and written communications are in High German (excluding informal text messages or emails etc.). Or more accurately – Swiss Standard German – which is pretty much the same as High German, except for a few peculiarities.

Bicycles – or Fahrräder in High German- are given a different name here in Switzerland: Velos. The same is true for motorcycles; the Germans call them Motorräder, whereas the Swiss Töffs.

Although Swiss Standard German is supposed to be like High German, there are quite a few interesting differences. The Swiss tend to like to make themselves different to their German neighbours in any way possible, and this is especially true with their written language. Where perfectly adequate words exist in High German, the Swiss tend towards their French influences, saying quirky hybrids such as 'Merci vielmal', (thanks very much).

You won't find any Fahrräder (bicycles) in Switzerland for example, rather the Swiss cycle on Velos – which originates from French (except with it's own unique Swiss German pronunciation). Even where French words are used in High German, the Swiss opt to be awkward and choose another French synonym to use! A Friseur is what you'd ask for when you'd like a haircut in Germany, but in Switzerland you'd ask for a Coiffure.

I'm gradually getting used to the language(s) here; the mental 'hangover' of speaking, hearing and having to understand High German & Swiss German the whole time is exhausting – although it is becoming a little easier every day...

For those of you who would like to learn more about Swiss German, I can recommend some online resources that may help:

Learning resources:

http://www.eldrid.ch/swgerman.htm (Highly recommended)

Swiss German media:

www.wilmaa.com (TV and Radio within Switzerland)

www.drs3.ch (Radio)

www.videoportal.sf.tv (Swiss TV)