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!]
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