Swiss German Language

Swiss German language, German Schweizer Deutsch, Swiss German Schwyzertütsch, collective name for the great variety of Alemannic (Upper German) dialects spoken in Switzerland north of the boundary between the Romance and Germanic languages, in Liechtenstein, in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, and in parts of Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Alsace in France. A few isolated villages south of the Alps in Italy also speak Alemannic dialects. Most of the dialects, including the main dialectal varieties spoken in the cantons of Zürich and Bern in Switzerland, are classified as High Alemannic, while the dialect of Basel and that of northern Alsace are classified as Low Alemannic.

Swiss German differs from standard High German in phonology (e.g., Chind for standard High German Kind “child”), grammar, and vocabulary. No dialects of Swiss German indicate case inflections for nouns except for the dialect of Zürich, in which the noun has an ending for the dative plural. Verb forms often differ greatly from standard High German (e.g., gān “go” for standard High German gehen).

Although standard High German is used by most speakers of Swiss German dialects for writing and for sermons and public lectures, Swiss German dialects are used for other purposes by all Swiss Germans, regardless of occupation, education, or social class.