| Alemannic | |
| Also Known As: | Alemannish |
| Nativename: | Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: Alemannisch |
| Pronunciation: | in Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian pronounced as /alɛˈman(ː)ɪʃ/ |
| States: | Switzerland entire German-speaking part, except for the town of Samnaun. |
| Date: | 2004–2012 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Germanic |
| Fam3: | West Germanic |
| Fam4: | Elbe Germanic |
| Fam5: | High German |
| Fam6: | Upper German |
| Script: | Latin, Historically Elder Futhark |
| Iso2: | gsw |
| Glotto: | alem1243 |
| Glottorefname: | Alemannic |
| Lc1: | gct |
| Ld1: | Colonia Tovar |
| Lc2: | gsw |
| Ld2: | Alsatian & Swiss German |
| Lc3: | swg |
| Ld3: | Swabian |
| Lc4: | wae |
| Ld4: | Walser |
| Map: | Alemannic-Dialects-Map-English.svg |
| Mapcaption: | Blue indicates the traditional distribution area of Western Upper German (=Alemannic) dialects. |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Map2: | Lang Status 80-VU.svg |
Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (Alemannisch, in Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian pronounced as /alɛˈman(ː)ɪʃ/), is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alemanni ("all men").[1]
Alemannic dialects are spoken by approximately ten million people in several countries:
Alemannic comprises a dialect continuum from the Highest Alemannic spoken in the mountainous south to Swabian in the relatively flat north and more of the characteristics of Standard German the farther north one goes.
In Germany and other European countries, the abstand and ausbau language framework is used to decide what is a language and what is a dialect. According to this framework, Alemannic varieties of German form a dialect continuum and are clearly dialects. 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. While ISO 639-2 does not distinguish between dialects, ISO 639-3 distinguishes four of them:
gct Colonia Tovar, a dialect spoken since 1843 in Venezuela,gsw what ISO 639-2 only considers to be the Alemannic language, is recognised here as:swg Swabian German, mainly spoken in the central-southeastern Baden-Wuerttemberg,wae Walser German, mainly spoken in Swiss Upper Valais in the Alps.Standard German is used in writing and in Germany orally in formal contexts throughout the Alemannic-speaking regions (with the exception of Alsace, where French or the Alsatian dialect of Alemannic is used instead).
Alemannic in the broad sense comprises the following variants:
The Alemannic dialects of Switzerland are often called Swiss German or Schwiizerdütsch.
The oldest known texts in Alemannic are brief Elder Futhark inscriptions dating to the sixth 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 eighth-century Paternoster:[2]
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: Fater unser, thu bist in himile
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: uuihi namu dinan
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: qhueme rihhi di<sup>i</sup>n
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: uuerde uuillo diin,
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: so in himile, sosa in erdu
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: prooth unseer emezzihic kip uns hiutu
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: oblaz uns sculdi unsero
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: so uuir oblazem uns skuldikem
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: enti ni unsih firleit in khorunka
Swiss German; Alemannic; Alsatian: 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 fourteenth century led 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 seventeenth century, written Alemannic was displaced by Standard German, which emerged from sixteenth 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 German: Allemannische Gedichte in 1803. Swiss authors often consciously employ Helvetisms within Standard German, notably Jeremias Gotthelf in his novels set in the Emmental, Friedrich Glauser in his crime stories, and more recently Tim Krohn in his Quatemberkinder.
The poet Ida Ospelt-Amann wrote and published exclusively in the dialect of Vaduz.[3] [4]
| English (standard German) | Low Swabian | Alsatian Lower High Alsace | Lower Markgräflerland | Upper Swabian | Eastern Swiss German | Western Swiss German | Sensler | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am (ich bin) | I ben | Ìch bì | I bi | Ich bi | I bee | I bi | I(g) bi pronounced as /[ɪɡ̊ b̥ɪ]/ | I bü/bi | |
| you (sg.) are (du bist) | du bisch | dü bìsch | du bisch | du bisch | d(o)u bisch | du bisch | du bisch pronounced as /[d̥ʊ b̥ɪʒ̊]/ | du büsch/bisch | |
| he is (er ist) | er isch | är ìsch | är isch | är isch | är isch | är isch | är isch pronounced as /[æɾ ɪʒ̊]/ | är isch | |
| she is (sie ist) | sia isch | sa ìsch | sia isch | sie isch | si isch | si isch | si isch pronounced as /[sɪ ɪʒ̊]/ | sia isch | |
| it is (es ist) | es isch | äs ìsch | as isch | as isch | äs isch | äs isch | äs isch pronounced as /[æz̊ (əʒ̊) ɪʒ̊]/ | as isch | |
| we are (wir sind) | mr sen(d) | mìr sìn | mir send/sönd | mir sin | mr send | m(i)r send/sön/sinn | mir sy pronounced as /[mɪɾ si]/ | wier sy | |
| you (pl.) are (ihr seid) | ihr sen(d) | ìhr sìn | ihr send | ihr sin | ihr send | i(i)r sönd/sind | dir syt pronounced as /[d̥ɪɾ sit]/ | ier syt | |
| they are (sie sind) | se sen(d) | sa sìn | dia send | si sin | dia send | si sind/sönd | si sy pronounced as /[sɪ si]/ | si sy | |
| I have been (ich bin ... gewesen) | i ben gwäa | ìch bì gsìì | i bi gsi | ich bi gsi | i bee gsei | i bi gsi | i bi gsy pronounced as /[ɪ(ɡ̊) b̥ɪ ksiː]/ | i bü/bi gsy |