The Linguist

FEATURES The opening diphthongs of Middle High German have also been preserved, unlike in Standard German: German lieb [liːp], Swiss liäb [ˈlɩεb] ('kind'); German Hut [hu:t]; Swiss huet [ˈhuεt] ('hat'). In Swiss German, 'p', 't' and 'k' are usually unaspirated, in contrast with Standard German: German Post [p h ɔst]; Swiss poscht [pɔʃt] ('post office'); German Tasche [ˈt h aʃə]; Swiss täsche [ˈtεʃε] ('bag'). Moving on to some specialities of Swiss grammar, the definite article is essentially as follows: German der Mann, die Frau, das Kind; Swiss de maa, d'frau, s'chind. However, before feminine nouns, d' is often assimilated into the following consonant, or even transformed into a new sound: die Burg > bburg ('the castle'); die Gabel > ggable ('the fork'); die Frau > pfrau ('the woman'); die Seite > tsyte ('the page'). To make matters worse, Swiss German pronouns always have two forms, depending on whether they are stressed or not: Du kannst es mir geben ('You can give it to me') becomes Du chasch es mir ge, and Du kannst es mir morgen geben ('You can give it to me tomorrow') becomes Du chasch mo's morn ge. In other ways, Swiss German is simpler than German. It only distinguishes between three cases: nominative, accusative and dative. There is no genitive case to show possession. Instead, it uses the dative: der Sohn des Arztes > em dokter syn soon ('the doctor's son'). The tense system has no past simple form, you simply use the present perfect (ich habe gemacht; 'I have made') for past events. There is no future simple form. To express the future, you use the present, and to express the future perfect, you use the present perfect: Er wird im Sommer in die USA fliegen > Er flüügt im sommer uf Amerika ('He will fly to the USA in the summer'); Im Herbst werden wir unser Haus endlich fertig gebaut haben > Im härbscht hemo üsers huus entloch färtig bbaut ('In autumn we will finally have finished building our house'). Continuing to flourish The reason for the persistence of Swiss German can be seen as political as well as cultural. By the end of the 18th century, the New High German forms had been largely accepted by the Swiss authorities. Dialects were consequently neglected and remained on the decline until the First World War. Before the Second World War, the Swiss wanted to distance themselves from the dominance of the much more powerful surrounding states. Small regions joined together to preserve their freedom, and Swiss German became an important means of creating identity and maintaining independence. Nowadays, Switzerland fills a similar niche with its peculiar position in the centre of a powerful EU. In what is still an agrarian and self-sufficient society at heart, its quadrilingualism is as much a symbol of independence and freedom as it is of diversity and multiculturalism. In German-speaking Switzerland, dialect is not a marker of low social class, as it is in many other countries. It is more a question of formality, and there are signs that the use of dialect is on the increase. With the strong influence and informality of social media, more and more private messaging is being conducted in Swiss German. Add to the mix increased mobility and an ever-growing number of people with international backgrounds, and Swiss dialects are beginning to level out. You can write as your dialect sounds, but most people avoid an extreme phonetic approach and follow some Standard German spelling conventions for the sake of readability. For example, Swiss täsche (German Tasche) retains 'e' at the end instead of the phonetically more faithful täschä. At the same time, new conventions are starting to appear, such as simplifying 'sch' to 'sh'. Some see this as the first stage in the standardisation of Swiss German. Whether or not Switzerland decides to take such a step, Swiss German is not going to disappear anytime soon. * Translation: 'Come on, Swiss Dutch!' Notes 1 Dornbierer-Stuart, J (2020) Complete Grammar Guide to Swiss German: A practical guide for English speakers with a basic knowledge of German; ASIN: B08F6JZ4PK CULTURALLY DISTINCT Luzern in German-speaking Switzerland

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