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Group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish (Alemannisch, [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").[3][better source needed]
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2012) |
Alemannic | |
---|---|
Alemannish | |
Alemannisch | |
Pronunciation | [alɛˈman(ː)ɪʃ] |
Native to | Switzerland: entire German-speaking part, except for the town of Samnaun. Germany: most of Baden-Württemberg and Bavarian Swabia. Austria: Vorarlberg and some parts of Tyrol. Liechtenstein: entire country. France: most of Alsace. Italy: some parts of Aosta Valley and northern Piedmont United States: Amish in Allen, Switzerland and Daviess Counties in Indiana. Venezuela: Alemán Coloniero |
Native speakers | 7,162,000 (2004–2012)[1] |
Latin, Historically Elder Futhark | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-2 | gsw |
ISO 639-3 | Variously:gct – Colonia Tovargsw – Alsatian & Swiss Germanswg – Swabianwae – Walser |
Glottolog | alem1243 |
IETF | gsw[2] |
Blue indicates the traditional distribution area of Western Upper German (=Alemannic) dialects. | |
Alemannic is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Alemannic dialects are spoken by approximately ten million people in several countries:
This section possibly contains original research. (October 2023) |
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.[citation needed] According to this framework, Alemannic varieties of German form a dialect continuum and are clearly dialects.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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:[4]
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).[citation needed]
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, Friedrich Glauser in his crime stories, and more recently Tim Krohn in his Quatemberkinder.[citation needed]
The poet Ida Ospelt-Amann wrote and published exclusively in the dialect of Vaduz.[5][6]
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: "Allgäuerisch" – compare de:Allgäuerisch, it's not a single dialect, so something more is needed (a further specification if it is Alemannic proper or Swabian, or of the location, ...). (October 2021) |
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 | Ìch bì | I bi | Ich bi | I bee | I bi | I(g) bi [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 [d̥ʊ b̥ɪʒ̊] | 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 | sa 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) | mìr sìn | mir send/sönd | mir sin | mr send | m(i)r send/sön/sinn | mir sy [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 [d̥ɪɾ sit] | ier syt |
they are (sie sind) |
se sen(d) | sa sìn | dia send | si sin | dia send | si sind/sönd | si sy [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 [ɪ(ɡ̊) b̥ɪ ksiː] | i bü/bi gsy |
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