Alemannic | |
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Alemannisch | |
Pronunciation | [alɛˈman(ː)ɪʃ] |
Native to | Switzerland: entire German-speaking part. Germany: most of Baden-Württemberg and Bavarian Swabia. Austria: Vorarlberg and some parts of Tyrol. Liechtenstein: entire country. France: Alsace. Italy: some parts of Aosta Valley and northern Piedmont Venezuela: Alemán Coloniero |
Native speakers
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7,162,000 (2004–2012)[1] |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 | gsw |
ISO 639-3 | Variously: gct – Colonia Tovar gsw – Swiss German and Alsatian swg – Swabian wae – Walser |
Glottolog | alem1243 [2] |
![]() The traditional distribution area of Western Upper German (=Alemannic) dialect features in the 19th and 20th century
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Alemannic (German: Alemannisch (help·info)) is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in eight countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France, Italy, Venezuela (Colonia Tovar dialect), and the US (by some Amish groups). The name derives from the ancient Germanic alliance of tribes known as the Alamanni ("all men").
Contents
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 farther north one goes.
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 as one of several independent languages. ISO 639-3 distinguishes four languages: gsw (Swiss German), swg (Swabian German), wae (Walser German) and gct (Alemán Coloniero, spoken since 1843 in Venezuela).
At this level, the distinction between a language and a dialect is frequently considered a cultural and political question, in part because linguists have failed to agree on a clear standard. Standard German is used in writing, and orally in formal contexts, throughout the Alemannic-speaking regions (with the exception of Alsace, where French or the Alsatian dialect of Alemmanic are used), and Alemannic varieties are generally considered German dialects (more precisely, a dialect group within Upper German) rather than separate languages.[dubious ][citation needed]
Variants
The following variants comprise Alemannic:
- 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:
- Lake Constance Alemannic (in Southern Württemberg, Southeastern Baden, Northwestern Vorarlberg)
- Upper-Rhine Alemannic in Southwestern Baden and its variant 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
- Liechtensteinisch
- Highest Alemannic (in the Canton of Wallis, in the Walser settlements (e.g., in the canton of Grisons), in the Bernese Oberland and in the German-speaking part of Fribourg) does not have the hiatus diphthongisation of other dialects of German. For example: [ˈʃnei̯jə] ('to snow') instead of [ˈʃniː.ə(n)], [ˈb̥ou̯wə] ('to build') instead of [ˈb̥uː.ə(n)]. Subvariants:
Note that the Alemannic dialects of Switzerland are often called Swiss German or Schwyzerdütsch.
Written Alemannic
The oldest known texts in Alemannic are brief Elder Futhark inscriptions dating to the 6th century (Bülach fibula, Pforzen buckle, Nordendorf fibula). 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
Due to the importance of the Carolingian abbeys of St. Gall and Reichenau Island, a considerable part of the Old High German corpus has Alemannic traits. Alemannic Middle High German is less prominent, in spite of the Codex Manesse compiled by Johannes Hadlaub of Zürich. The rise of the Old Swiss Confederacy from the 14th century leads to the creation of Alemannic Swiss chronicles. Huldrych Zwingli's bible translation of the 1520s (the 1531 Froschauer Bible) was in an Alemannic variant of Early Modern High German. From the 17th century, written Alemannic was displaced by Standard German, which emerged from 16th century Early Modern High German, in particular in the wake of Martin Luther's bible translation of the 1520s. The 1665 revision of the Froschauer Bible removed the Alemannic elements, approaching the language used by Luther. For this reason, no binding orthographical standard for writing modern Alemannic emerged, and orthographies in use usually compromise between a precise phonological notation, and proximity to the familiar Standard German orthography (in particular for loanwords).
Johann Peter Hebel published his Allemannische 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 -lein or -chen). Depending on dialect, thus, 'little house' could be Heisle, Hüüsle, Hüüsli or Hiisli (Standard German Häuslein or Häuschen).
- 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 uvular or velar [χ] or [x] (the Ach-Laut) is used.
- The verb to be is conjugated differently in the various dialects:
(The common gs*-forms do historically derive from words akin to ge-sein, not found in modern standard German.)
The conjugation of the verb to be in Alemannic dialects | ||||||||
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English (standard German) |
Low Swabian | Alsatian Lower High Alsace |
Allgäuerisch | Lower Markgräflerland |
Upper Swabian | Eastern Swiss German | Western Swiss German | Sensler |
I am (ich bin) |
I ben | Ich bìn [eç]~[ex] [ben] |
I bi | Ich bi | I bee | I bi | I(g) bi [ɪ(g̊) b̥ɪ] | I bü/bi |
thou art (du bist) |
du bisch | dü bìsch | du bisch | du bisch | d(o)u bisch | du bisch | du bisch [d̥ʊ bɪʒ̊] | du büsch/bisch |
he is (er ist) |
er isch | är ìsch | är isch | är isch | är isch | är isch | är isch [æɾ ɪʒ̊] | är isch |
she is (sie ist) |
sia isch | sie ìsch | sia isch | sie isch | si isch | si isch | si isch [sɪ ɪʒ̊] | sia isch |
it is (es ist) |
es isch | äs ìsch | as isch | as isch | äs isch | äs isch | äs isch [æz̊ (əʒ̊) ɪʒ̊] | as isch |
we are (wir sind) |
mr sen(d) | mir sìnn | mir send/sönd | mir sin | mr send | m(i)r send/sön/sinn | mir sy [mɪɾ si] | wier sy |
ye are (ihr seid) |
ihr sen(d) | ihr sìnn | ihr send | ihr sin | ihr send | i(i)r sönd/sind | dir syt [d̥ɪɾ sit] | ier syt |
they are (sie sind) |
se sen(d) | sie sìnn | dia send | si sin | dia send | di sönd | si sy [sɪ si] | si sy |
I have been (ich bin ... gewesen) |
i ben gwäa | ich bìn gsìnn [eç]~[ex] [ben] [gsenn] |
i bi gsi | ich bi gsi | i bee gsei | i bi gsi | i bi gsy [ɪ(g̊) b̥ɪ ksiː] | i bü/bi gsy |
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See also
- Alemannic separatism
- German dialects
- Muettersproch-Gsellschaft
- Muggeseggele
- Pennsylvania German language
- Swiss German
References
- ^ Colonia Tovar at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Swiss German and Alsatian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Swabian at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Walser at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) - ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Alemannic". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
External links
Media related to Alemannic at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of alemannic german at Wiktionary
- Alemanni poems and Alemanni encyclopedia -German-