Alemannic German
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Alemannic German (Alemannisch) is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in six different countries including southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, France and Italy. The name derives from the ancient German alliance of tribes known as the Alamanni.
Status
Alemannic itself comprises a dialect continuum, from the Highest Alemannic spoken in the mountainous south to Swabian in the relatively flat north, with more of the characteristics of Standard German the further north you go.
Some linguists and organisations that differentiate between languages and dialects primarily on the grounds of mutual intelligibility, such as SIL International and UNESCO, describe Alemannic German as one or several independent languages. ISO/DIS 639-3 distinguishes four languages: gsw "Alemannisch", swg "Swabian", wae "Walser" and gct "Colonia Tovar German" (spoken from 1843 in Venezuela).
At this level, the distinction between a language and a dialect is linguistically meaningless and constitutes a cultural and political question. Since Standard German is used in writing, and orally in formal contexts, throughout the Alemannic speaking regions (with the exception of Alsace), Alemannic is usually not considered a language separate from German, even by its speakers #redirect .
Variants
Alemannic comprises the following variants:- Swabian (mostly in Swabia, in Germany). Unlike most other Alemannic dialects, it does not retain the Middle High German monophthongs û, î but shifts them to [ou], [ei] (as opposed to Standard German [aʊ], [aɪ]). For this reason, "Swabian" is sometimes used in opposition to "Alemannic".
- Low Alemannic dialects. Retain German initial /k/ as [kʰ] (or [kx]) rather than fricativising to [x] as in High Alemannic. Subvariants:
- * Seealemannisch (in Southern Württemberg, Southeastern Baden, Northwestern Vorarlberg)
- * Alsatian (in Alsace, France)
- * Alemán Coloniero (in Venezuela)
- * Basel German (in Basel, Switzerland)
- High Alemannic (mostly in Switzerland, parts of Vorarlberg, and in the southern parts of the Black Forest in Germany). Complete the High German consonant shift by fricativising initial /k/ to [x]. Subvariants:
- * Bernese German
- * Zürich German
- * Vorarlbergisch
- Highest Alemannic (in the Canton of Wallis, in the Walser settlements, in the Bernese Oberland and in the German-speaking part of Fribourg). Do not have the hiatus diphthongisation of other dialects of German with [ʃniːə(n)], [buːə(n)] and not [ʃneijə bouwə]. Subvariants:
- * Walliser German
- ** Walser German.
Written Alemannic
The oldest known texts in Alemannic are brief Elder Futhark inscriptions dating to the 6th century. In the Old High German period, the first coherent texts are recorded in the St. Gall abbey, among them the 8th century paternoster,
- Fater unser, thu bist in himile
- uuihi namu dinan
- qhueme rihhi diin
- uuerde uuillo diin,
- so in himile, sosa in erdu
- prooth unseer emezzihic kip uns hiutu
- oblaz uns sculdi unsero
- so uuir oblazem uns skuldikem
- enti ni unsih firleit in khorunka
- uzzer losi unsih fona ubile
Johann Peter Hebel published his Alemannische Gedichte in 1803. Swiss authors often consciously employ Helvetisms within Standard German, notably Jeremias Gotthelf in his novels set in the Emmental, and more recently Tim Krohn in his Quatemberkinder.
Characteristics
- The diminutive is used frequently in all Alemannic dialects. Northern and eastern dialects use the suffix -le; southern dialects use the suffix -li (Standard German suffix -chen). Depending on dialect, thus, 'little house' could be Häusle, Hüüsle, Hüüsli or Hiisli.
- A significant difference between the high and low variants is the pronunciation of ch after the front vowels (i, e, ä, ö and ü) and consonants. In Standard German and the lower variants, this is a palatal [ç] (the Ich-Laut), whereas in the higher variants, a velar or uvular [χ] or [x] (the ach-Laut) is used.
- The verb to be is conjugated differently in the various dialects:
| The conjugation of the verb to be in Alemannic dialects | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English (standard German) | Low Swabian | Allgäuerisch | Lower Markgräflerland | Voralpenland | Eastern Swiss German | Western Swiss German | Sensler |
| I am (ich bin) | I ben | I bin | Ich bi | I bee | I bi | I(g) bi | I bû |
| You are (du bist) | du bisch | du bisch | du bisch | dou bisch | du bisch | du bisch | dù bûsch |
| He is (er ist) | er isch | är isch | är isch | är isch | är isch | är isch | är isch |
| We are (wir sind) | mir send | mir send/sönd | mir sin | mr send | m(i)r send/sön/sinn | mir sy | wier sy |
| You are (ihr seid) | ihr send | ihr send | ihr sin | ihr send | i(i)r sönd/sind | dihr syt | ier syt |
| They are (sie sind) | dui send | dui send | si sin | dia send | di sönd | si sy | si sy |
| I have been (ich bin ... gewesen) | i ben gwä | i bi gsi | ich bi gsi | i bee gsei | i bi gsi | i(g) bi gsi/gsy | i bû gsyy |
External links
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