" and -ism) are a large group of words typical for Swiss Standard German

Swiss Standard German

Swiss Standard German, referred to by the Swiss as Schriftdeutsch, or Hochdeutsch, is one of four official languages in Switzerland, besides French, Italian and Romansh...

, which do not appear in either of Standard German

Standard German

Standard German is the standard variety of the German language used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas...

 or Standard German dialects. The most frequent characteristics of helvetisms are in vocabulary

Vocabulary

A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge...

 and pronunciation

Pronunciation

Pronunciation refers to the way a word or a language is spoken, or the manner in which someone utters a word. If one is said to have "correct pronunciation", then it refers to both within a particular dialect....

, but certain helvetisms denote themselves as special in syntax

Syntax

In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....

 and orthography

Orthography

The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...

 likewise.

The definitive work for German orthography, the Duden

Duden

The Duden is a German dictionary, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880.Currently the Duden is in its 25th edition and published in 12 volumes, each covering different aspects like loan words, etymology, pronunciation, synonyms, etc...

, explicitly declares a number of helvetisms as correct Standard German - albeit with the [schweiz.] annotation, denoting that the usage of the word is limited to Swiss territory. But yet not each and every word may be considered part of the "Swiss standard language"/"Swiss standard German" category, because its frequency of usage must be evaluated as well; if this does not apply, or if its use is known to span one or more certain dialectal regions only, they must be categorized "dialectal" (German: mundartlich, often abbreviated mdal.)

In orthographical terms, the most significant difference
to Standard German outside Switzerland is the absence of ß

ß

In the German alphabet, ß is a letter that originated as a ligature of ss or sz. Like double "s", it is pronounced as an , but in standard spelling, it is only used after long vowels and diphthongs, while ss is used after short vowels...

. (After having been officially abandoned in the Canton of Zürich

Canton of Zürich

The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...

 in 1935, this character gradually fell into disuse, until it was eventually dropped by the NZZ in 1974.)

In everyday language, Helvetisms may both be used consciously and unconsciously by a Swiss German native speaker. Classic examples of Helvetism usage throughout the whole literary work are found in a great part of Swiss literature, notably Jeremias Gotthelf

Jeremias Gotthelf

Albert Bitzius , Swiss novelist, best known by his pen name of Jeremias Gotthelf, was born at Murten, where his father was pastor.In 1804 the home was moved to Utzenstorf, a village in the Bernese Emmental...

's novels located in the Emmental

Emmental

For the cheese made in the region, see Emmental .The Emmental is a region in west central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the Emme and Ilfis rivers. The region is mostly devoted to farming, particularly dairy farming...

; a contemporary example would be Tim Krohn

Tim Krohn

Tim Krohn is an author of Swiss literature, recipient of the 1994 Conrad-Ferdinand-Meyer-Preis.Born in Wiedenbrück, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Krohn grew up in Glarus...

 in his Quatemberkinder. Another group, the most notable of whom is Peter Bichsel, deliberately use helvetisms to arouse a sort of emotional attachment to the readers' home country: Bichsel is notorious for using dialectal words like "Beiz" (instead of "Kneipe" [English: pub]), or "Kasten" (instead of "Schrank" [English: cupboard/cabinet/closet]) in his "San Salvador" short story. Lastly, there is yet another group of authors whose book readers' are known to be located all over the German-speaking territory (Germany, Austria, Switzerland as well as some smaller minorities in other European countries) and thus traditionally refrain from using any helvetisms in their literary works.

Also words which are used outside Switzerland, but which originate from Swiss German may be called "Helvetisms."

Analogously to "Helvetisms", there are also Austricisms and Germanisms

Germanism (linguistics)

A Germanism is a loan word or other loan element borrowed from German for use in some other language.- Linguistic domains :* The military or public administration...

 (also Teutonicisms).

Abbreviations used in following word list

• inf. used in informal situations
• dial. dialect
• aust. Austrian
• TM. trademark

After the helvetism, you see the German word followed by the English translation.

Figures of Speech

• mit abgesägten Hosen dastehen (den kürzeren gezogen haben=being in an unlucky and hopeless situation)
• aus Abschied und Traktanden (fallen) (ausser Betracht fallen=when a thing doesn't matter anymore)
• es macht den Anschein (es hat den Anschein=it seems)
• in den Ausgang gehen (ausgehen=going out)
• von Auge (mit blossem Auge=by naked eye)
• ausjassen (aushandeln=bargaining something, negotiating)
• von Beginn weg (von Beginn an=from the beginnings)
• ab Blatt (spielen) (vom Blatt spielen, ohne Übung=not playing by heart, not having practised)
• Bach ab schicken (etw. verwerfen=refusing or dismiss something, e.g. a project)
• Einsitz nehmen (Mitglied in einem Gremium werden=becoming a member of a gremium)
• dastehen wie der Esel am Berg (dastehen wie der Ochse vorm Berg=getting stuck and perplexed by an unexpected situation)
• die Faust im Sack machen (die Faust in der Tasche ballen=holding back/hiding aggression)
• innert nützlicher Frist (angemessen schnell=in a quick way)
• das Fuder überladen (des Guten zuviel tun=doing too much)
• handkehrum (andererseits=on the other hand)
• Hans was Heiri (Jacke wie Hose=when two things result in the same or are the same; either way)
• es hat (es gibt=there are)
• sein Heu nicht auf derselben Bühne haben mit (nicht dieselben Ansichten haben wie=don't like someone, having other interests)
• jemandem geht der Knopf auf (jemandem geht ein Licht auf=suddenly getting an idea to solve a problem; "a light bulb goes up")
• den Rank finden (eine Lösung finden=finding a solution)
• zu reden geben (für Gesprächsstoff sorgen=a thing being controversial, being much discussed)
• kein Schleck (kein Honigschlecken=no picnic)
• neben den Schuhen stehen (falsch liegen; sich nicht wohl fühlen in seiner Haut=don't feeling well in a situation)
• es streng haben (viel zu tun haben=having a lot of work)
• in Tat und Wahrheit (in Wirklichkeit=the truth is that...)
• einen Tolggen im Reinheft haben (einen (Schönheits-) Fehler haben=having one single flashy mistake)
• gut tönen (gut klingen, vielsprechend sein=sounding well/interesting)
• gut schmecken (gut riechen = smelling good; the literal translation would be tasting good)
• keinen Wank tun/machen (sich nicht rühren=being still, not moving)
• es wird sich weisen (es wird sich zeigen=future will show it)
• werweissen (hin und her raten=thinking about sth., more like guessing)
• Jetzt ist genug Heu unten (Jetzt reicht es!=enough!)
• (etwas) versorgen (einräumen=put s.th. into [e. g. a cupboard or a cabinet]; in Standard German, versorgen means to attend to s.o.)

Swiss Specifics

In the areas kitchen, local culture and politics, there are numerous peculiarities, that are not well known outside of Switzerland and which are missing a German expression.

• Kitchen: Älplermagronen (Meal with cut potatoes, Hörnli (Pippete Rigate), cream and melte cheese, Basler Läckerli
  Basler Läckerli
  The Basler Läckerli is a traditional hard spice biscuit originating from Basel, Switzerland. It is made of honey, hazelnuts, candied peel, and Kirsch....
  
  , Gnagi, Kaffee fertig (Coffee with Schnaps), Quorn
  Quorn
  Quorn is the leading brand of mycoprotein food product in the UK and Ireland. The mycoprotein used to produce Quorn is extracted from a fungus, Fusarium venenatum, which is grown in large vats....
  
  
• Local Culture: Hornussen (a native throwing game, esp. in Kanton Bern), der/das Nouss ("Dish" used in Hornussen), Schwingen
  Schwingen
  ' , also known as Swiss wrestling and natively as , is a style of folk wrestling native to Switzerland, more specifically the pre-alpine parts of German-speaking Switzerland.Wrestlers wear with belts that are used for taking holds...
  
   (a kind of ring fight), Schwinget (tournament for said ring fight)
• State: Gemeindeversammlung (Gathering of the voting community), Halbkanton (Half canton), Initiative
  Initiative
  In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
  
  , Landsgemeinde
  Landsgemeinde
  The Landsgemeinde or "cantonal assembly" is one of the oldest forms of direct democracy. The first historically documented assembly took place in 1294...
  
  , Ständerat, Ständemehr, Vernehmlassung

Pronunciation

Because of their characteristic of helvetisms in pronunciation, speakers of Swiss Standard German will be instantly recognized by other German speakers in most cases.

In general, the pronunciation of Swiss Standard German is influenced by the respective Swiss German dialect of every speaker. The degree of that influence may vary according to the education.

Differing Pronunciation

In Switzerland, some words are stressed on other syllables than in the rest of the German-speaking area (Here marked with an accent):

• Family names that have a preposition are always accentuated on the preposition, even when those names are written with a space (blank character) between preposition and the rest of the name. E.g. in Michael vón Grünigen
  Michael von Grünigen
  Michael von Grünigen is a Swiss former alpine skier. In 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2003, he won the World Cup in Giant Slalom. In 1997 and 2001, he was World Champion in Giant Slalom.-World Cups:-Individual races:-External links:*...
  
  
• Acronyms like CD, WC, FDP etc. are not accentuated on the last, but on the first letter. (like this: CéDe, WéZe, 'éffdeepee)
• A lot of foreign words from different languages are accentuated on the first syllable, e.g. Ásphalt, Ápostroph, Bíllet, Búdget, Fílet, Gárage, Lábor, Pápagei, Pénalty, Pórtemonnaie.

Consonants

• /b d g z/ are voiceless lenes [b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ z̥]
• There is no final obstruent devoicing
  Final obstruent devoicing
  Final obstruent devoicing or terminal devoicing is a systematic phonological process occurring in languages such as German, Dutch, Polish, and Russian, among others...
  
  .
• /v/ is pronounced as an approximant [ʋ]; in some words, it is replaced by a voiceless lenis [v̥], e.g. in Möve oder Advent.
• Double consonants are often geminated
  Gemination
  In phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short consonant. Gemination is distinct from stress and may appear independently of it....
  
  , e.g. immer as [ˈɪmːər].
• Initial is pronounced as a [x], for instance in local names like Chur
  Chur
  Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....
  
   and Cham or in foreign words like China or Chemie, Chirurgie etc.
• The ending <-ig> is pronounced [-ɪɡ̊], not [-ɪç], e.g. König [køːnɪɡ̊] 'king'
• is pronounced [xs] or [çs], not [ks], e.g. Dachs as [daxs] or sechs as [z̥ɛçs] 'six'.
• The is not vocalized. In Switzerland, Vater 'father' is pronounced [ˈfaːtər] and not [ˈfaːtɐ].
• In Switzerland (except the eastern part and Basel-Stadt) the alveolar [r] is more usual than the uvular [ʀ].
• There is often no glottal stop
  Glottal stop
  The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
  
  .
• Sometimes, /x/ is always pronounced as [x], and not differentiated into [x] and [ç], e.g. in nicht [nɪxt] instead of [nɪçt] 'not'.
• Sometimes, /k/ is pronounced as velar affricate [k͡x], e.g. Kunst [k͡xʊnst].
• Seldom /st sp/ are pronounced [ʃt ʃp] instead of [st sp] in all positions, not only at the beginning of a word stem, e.g. Ast as [aʃt] 'branch'.

Vowels

• Unstressed /ɛ/ is often not pronounced as schwa
  Schwa
  In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
  
  , but as [e] or [ɛ], e.g. Gedanke [ɡ̊ɛˈd̥aŋkɛ] or [ɡ̊eˈd̥aŋke] 'thought'.
• The /ä/ is usually pronounced as an open [æ] like in English "hat", "patch".
• Depending on the dialect, /a/ may be pronounced as a back [ɑ]).
• Depending on the dialect, short vowels may be pronounced more closed, e.g. Bett [b̥et] instead of [b̥ɛt] 'bed', offen [ˈofən] instead of [ˈɔfən] 'open', Hölle [hølːe] instead of [ˈhœlːe] 'hell'.
• Depending on the dialect, long vowels may be pronounced more open, e.g. See [z̥ɛː] instead of [ˈz̥eː] 'lake', schon [ʃɔːn] instead of [ʃoːn] 'already', schön [ʃœːn] instead of [ʃøːn] 'beautiful'.

Prosody

A special feature of the Swiss standard German, is a somewhat "singing" cadence. That means: Each word's accentuated syllable isn't only marked through the higher voice volume, but even through a hearable modification of the voice's sound. In general, the pitch of the accentuated syllable sinks.

• On the word Merci ("thanks!"), the first syllable is spoken louder and deeper than the second.
• On the calling Profitieren Sie! (Benefit!) in the shopping malls' transmissions, the pitch sinks from pro- to -fi-, until it has reached the deepest point at -tie-; at -ren and Sie the voice approx. reaches its original pitch again.

Orthography

In orthography, the most visible difference from Standard German usage outside Switzerland is the absence of ß

ß

In the German alphabet, ß is a letter that originated as a ligature of ss or sz. Like double "s", it is pronounced as an , but in standard spelling, it is only used after long vowels and diphthongs, while ss is used after short vowels...

 (officially abolished in the Canton of Zürich

Canton of Zürich

The Canton of Zurich has a population of . The canton is located in the northeast of Switzerland and the city of Zurich is its capital. The official language is German, but people speak the local Swiss German dialect called Züritüütsch...

 in 1935; the sign fell gradually out of use and was dropped by the NZZ in 1974).

French and Italian Loanword

Loanword

A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...

s are written in their original forms - despite the reformation of German language's spelling rules. Majonäse stays Mayonnaise, and Spagetti stays Spaghetti. The newspaper NZZ has even chosen the word placieren, to not have to write platzieren.

Geographic names, like streets, are mostly written together: Baslerstrasse, Genfersee, Zugerberg etc., but also Schweizergrenze, Schweizervolk (very often)

Umlaut

Umlaut (diacritic)

The diaeresis and the umlaut are diacritics that consist of two dots placed over a letter, most commonly a vowel. When that letter is an i or a j, the diacritic replaces the tittle: ï....

s at Swiss proper names's beginning are written as , and : Aebi

Aebi

AEBI is a Switzerland based manufacturer of municipal and agriculture machineryAebi is a surname. It is a Swiss German pet name for the personal name Adalbert .People with this surname include:...

, Oerlikon, Uetliberg

Uetliberg

The Üetliberg is a mountain in the Swiss plateau, part of the Albis chain, rising to 873 m . The Uetliberg offers a panoramic view of the entire city of Zurich and the Lake of Zurich. There is also a hotel in the name of "Uto Kulm" on this small mountain...

 (= Üetliberg, not Ütliberg!).

Finally, there are specialities like e.g.

• Bretzel instead of Brezel

Some of the above mentioned specialities are due to the general introduction of the typewriter

Typewriter

A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...

 in economy and administration. Because a Swiss typewriter must be able not to write only German texts, but also French and Italian texts, the limited number of characters wasn't enough for all those languages' special characters. So, the "Eszett" and the high-case Umlauts (Ä, Ö and Ü), but also the high-case accentuated vocals (e.g. À or É) were skipped.

Syntax

The Swiss German differs from Standard German in e.g. the gender (das E-Mail, das Tram und das SMS statt die) or in verbs' valence -the preposition they require- (jemanden anfragen instead of bei jmdm. anfragen).

In general, more often than in Germany or Austria, the Swiss use female descriptions of professions instead of using a generic masculine (e.g. Bundesrätin Ruth Metzler

Ruth Metzler

Ruth Metzler-Arnold is a Swiss politician and former member of the Swiss Federal Council .She was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on 11 March 1999, as a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party from the Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden. During her time in office she has headed the...

, Frieda U. wurde zur Primarschullehrerin gewählt). The "Binnen-I" isn't only used by the "politically correct" people.

Relative pronouns: The relative pronoun "welche(r)", that is clumsy and antiquated in Standard German is used without hesitation, e.g. in Damit wurde in der Schweiz ein Kompetenzzentrum für Klimafragen geschaffen, welches verstärkt die Bedürfnisse der Bevölkerung in den Mittelpunkt ihrer Forschung stellt. (from Jahresbericht 2001, Annual report of the ETH Zürich).

Grammatical case

Rabatt is used in Dative; in Standard German in Accusative. Example: "20% Rabatt auf allen Artikeln"

Sentence structure

The syntax has a lot of constructions with a shortened main clause and a following subordinate clause, which is only marked by the initial position of a verb, e.g.

• Gut, gibt es Schweizer Bauern. instead of Es ist gut, dass es Schweizer Bauern gibt.
• Schön, haben Sie heute Zeit. instead of (Es ist) schön, dass Sie heute Zeit haben.
• Schade, bist du gestern nicht hier gewesen. instead of (Es ist) schade, dass du gestern nicht hier gewesen bist.

Grammatical gender

In his book "Zündels Abgang

Zündels Abgang

Zündels Abgang is the first novel of Swiss writer Markus Werner , that was published in 1984 and became a bestseller and enjoys the status of cult novel for a lot of readers.-Plot summary:...

", author Markus Werner

Markus Werner

Markus Werner is a German-speaking Swiss writer, the author of Zündels Abgang .-Life:...

 uses "Tram" ("streetcar") - which would normally take the female article, "die" - with the typically Swiss neuter article "das".

Swiss expressions loaned into Standard German

The word Putsch is one of those widely used in political context even in notable Standard German newspapers. The word Müsli, however, is a special case: in Swiss German (and only there), Müsli is the diminutive

Diminutive

In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...

 of Mus ("mouse") and stands for "little mouse". To describe the food, the Swiss would use a special spelling, which is nowhere used abroad: Müesli.

• Nature:
  • Gletscher (A glacier, in the Western Alps; in the East Alps a glacier is called a Ferner or Kees)
  • Gülle
    Gulle
    A gulle is a type of sseugae , Korean traditional headgear, worn by children aged one year to five years old during the late Joseon period. It was mostly worn by young girls in the upper class for warmth and style. Gullae was usually made with silk and in summer, it was made with sa , a type of...
    
     (Liquid manure)
  • Lärche (Larch)
  • Lawine (Avalanche)
  • Murmeltier(Marmot)
  • Senn(Swiss alps farmer)
• Politics:
  • Putsch (Putsch, or Coup d'état)
  • Reichsdeutsche (Germans living in the German Empire; this term was coined in 1871 by Swiss German-speaking people.)
  • Überfremdung
    Überfremdung
    Überfremdung , literally "over-foreignization", is a German-language term used in politics to suggest an excess of immigration. The word is compounded from über meaning "over" or "overly" and fremd meaning "foreign".-Political uses:...
    
     (So-called "over-alienation" of the country)
• conventions and customs:
  • Heimweh (Homesickness; first described among Swiss soldiers who missed their homes in the Alps)
  • Vignette
    Vignette (road tax)
    A road tax vignette is a form of tax on vehicles, used in several non-English speaking European countries. The term is of French origin, and is now used throughout Central Europe....
    
     (Automobile sticker verifying payment of a road tax)
• kitchen:
  • Müsli (Muesli, a breakfast food)
  • Cordon bleu
    Cordon Bleu
    Cordon Bleu may refer to:* Le Cordon Bleu, international group of hospitality management and cooking schools teaching French cuisine* Cordon Bleu, A thinly pounded piece of meat stuffed with ham and cheese, then breaded and fried.* Cordon Bleu * Order of the Holy Spirit, also known and subtitled...
    
     (Cordon bleu, a chicken dish)
  • Fondue
    Fondue
    Fondue is a Swiss dish of melted cheese served in a communal pot over a spirit lamp , and eaten by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese...
    
     (Fondue, a melted cheese dish)
  • Raclette
    Raclette
    Raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss and French dish based on heating the cheese and scraping off the melted part.-Cheese:Raclette is a semi-firm, cow's milk cheese - most commonly used for melting...
    
     (Raclette, a melted cheese dish)
  • Bündnerfleisch
    Bindenfleisch
    Bindenfleisch, also known as Bündnerfleisch or Viande des Grisons, is an air-dried meat that is produced in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland.-Production:...
    
    (A seasoned, dried meat, also called Bindenfleisch or Viande des Grisons.)
• other:
  • unentwegt (Steadfast)

External links

• Helvetismen in the German "Universalwörterbuch": "Der schweizerische Wortschatz des Deutschen" von Maria Grazia Chiaro.
• Dictionary project about Helvetisms and other variants of German language: "Wörterbuch der nationalen und regionalen Varianten der deutschen Standardsprache"
• Blog about it: blogwiese.ch

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.