If you speak some German and think you’ll be able to understand the locals when you visit Switzerland – think again!
Despite having a population smaller than that of New York, Switzerland is a country with four official languages: French, Italian, Romansh, and German. Ironically, however, the language used in everyday life by most Swiss is none of these. That’s because officially, German is the dominant language, spoken in 21 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons – but in reality, the people of these cantons use a form of the language which is German in name only. It sounds so different from Standard German that German visitors to Switzerland can find it almost impossible to understand. To complicate matters even further, there are big differences between the local versions of “Swiss German”, and people from the canton of Valais, for example, are sometimes almost unintelligible even to their compatriots from Zurich.
Use of Swiss German and Standard German
At school, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, children only learn and speak Standard German. They learn Swiss German from their parents and friends. This is because Swiss German is considered a spoken rather than a written language. The Swiss converse in Swiss German but switch to Standard German for more formal purposes, such as school or debates in Parliament. This is because Standard German is considered more professional, and people from different cantons all understand the language – and because, unlike Swiss German, it exists in written form. Foreign visitors watching the television news may be surprised when, after the day events have been reported in Standard German, the language abruptly changes to Swiss German for the sports and weather bulletins.
Many Swiss people consider Standard German a foreign language because they do not use it as often as Swiss German. At a political level, however, it is seen as vital that Swiss people can use Standard German when necessary – for example to communicate with people from other cantons or the rest of the German-speaking world, as well as in writing. The use of Swiss German is often considered exclusive or overbearing by French and Italian speakers, who can follow Standard German but not dialect. The use of Standard German – the official form of the language – is therefore mandatory at schools and universities throughout the German-speaking part of the country.
The main differences between Swiss German and Standard German
There are three main differences between these languages. These are the pronunciation, the grammatical cases, and the tenses. The Swiss speak more slowly, stretching out the vowel sounds, and tend to speak in a higher tone than the Germans. However, there are a lot of words in Swiss German that are pronounced differently altogether. For example, the letter “k” in German is pronounced “ch” in Swiss German. Standard German has four different cases compared to Swiss German, which only has three. And while Standard German has six tenses, Swiss German uses only two. No wonder Birgit Müller, a German who moved to Switzerland when her husband got a new job in Zurich, says that when she first arrived, “I didn’t understand a single word!” This is the problem for many German citizens.
If you would like to hear the differences for yourself, click to listen to examples of words and sentences in both languages including their English translation.
There are also differences in the vocabulary itself. Because Switzerland has more national languages and is such a small country, the languages have a lot of influence on each other. Over the years the influence has become much stronger. Many words come from French, in particular: the Swiss say “Merci” instead of “Danke”, and they walk on the “Trottoir” (sidewalk), not the “Gehsteig”. Interestingly, the same is not true the other way around: the French spoken in Switzerland, says Andrea Jud, a French teacher at a Zurich high school (the Realgymnasium Rämibühl), does differ from the French spoken in France – but it doesn’t include many German words. The reason, she explains, is a historical one: Napoleon occupied much of Switzerland in the nineteenth century, with the result that French became the language of power, rubbing off on the local version of German. That influence has survived to this day.
Karina Frick, a professional linguist at the university of Zurich, says: “Some people see Swiss German as a combination of Swiss dialects rather than a language. But that is in many ways incorrect. Swiss German has its own pronunciation, its own grammar and its own vocabulary.”
She also says that using dialect is an affirmation of “Swissness”, an audible difference between Switzerland and its much bigger neighbour to the North: “The German-speaking Swiss are proud of their language. They have Swiss German in their hearts. It is a big part of their national identity.”
As well as not being able to follow what the locals are saying, Germans who move to Switzerland or visit the country face another problem. Even if they do eventually learn to understand it, trying to speak it themselves can be a linguistic minefield. The Swiss often feel that Germans look down on their version of the language. When Merle Grobbel, a German who has lived in Switzerland for many years after moving there for a career opportunity, tried speaking the language herself, she says: “With my German accent it sounded as if I was mocking the Swiss.”
