The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Swabian, Low Alemannic, High Alemannic and Highest Alemannic German pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

Notes:

  • No Alemannic dialect uses all of the sounds described in this guide.
  • Each example word is tagged with the name of the dialect from which it comes.
  • The majority of the example words are from the Zurich dialect.
  • Most Alemannic dialects are not written very often, and thus do not have official spellings. For the sake of consistency, this guide uses the Swiss German spelling convention proposed by Dieth & Schmid-Cadalbert (1986).[1]

See Bernese German phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of one of the Alemannic dialects.

Consonants
IPA Examples Closest equivalent
Huube [ˈhuːb̥ə] 'bonnet' (ZH)[2] bare
ç Kicha [ˈkʰɪça] 'kitchen' (Upper Swabian) hew[3]
Lade [ˈlɒd̥ə] 'store' (ZH)[2] dart
f offe [ˈofə] 'open' (VS) foot
offe [ˈofːə] 'open' (BE) staff function
ɡ̊ haage [ˈhɒːɡ̊ə] 'fence in' (ZH)[2] go
ɣ̊ mache [ˈmɒɣ̊ə] 'to make' (ZH)[2][4] Scottish loch
ʁ̥ mache [ˈmɒʁ̥ə] 'to make' (ZH)[2][4]
h Hand [hɒnd̥] 'hand' (ZH) hat
j Jaar [jɒːr] 'year' (ZH) you
k Egge [ˈekə] 'edge' (BS) scan
Egge [ˈɛkːə] 'edge' (BE) scan
Kind [kʰind̥] 'child' (BS)[5] cone
kx hocke [ˈhokxə] 'sit' (ZH)[4] Broad cockney cake
hocke [ˈhoqχə] 'sit' (ZH)[4]
l maale [ˈmɒːlə] 'to paint' (ZH) lover
ller [ˈmylːər] 'miller' (ZH) real life
ɫ lt [ˈʋæɫt] 'world' (Saanenland) build
ɫː alli [ˈaɫːi] 'all' (Saanenland) real life
m zaame [ˈtsɒːmə] 'tame' (ZH) mood
Hammer [ˈhamːər] 'hammer' (BE) film-maker
n zaane [ˈtsɒːnə] 'to teethe' (ZH) noon
Sunne [ˈz̥ʊnːə] 'sun' (BE) cleanness
ŋ Zange [ˈtsɒŋə] 'pliers' (ZH) ring
ŋː Zange [ˈtsaŋːə] 'pliers' (BE) ring, but longer
p huupe [ˈhuːpə] 'to hoot' (BS) span
öppe [ˈœpːə] 'around' (BE) span
Pack [pʰɒkx] 'parcel' (ZH)[5] pole
pf Soipfe [ˈz̥oi̯pfə] 'soap' (ZH) cupfull
r faare [ˈv̥ɒːrə] 'to drive' (ZH)[6] American water
cheerren [ˈxeːrːən] 'to sweep' (Haslital)[6] Italian burro
ʀ faare [ˈv̥ɒːʀə] 'to drive' (ZH)[6] French frere or Northumbrian burr
ʁ faare [ˈv̥ɒːʁə] 'to drive' (ZH)[6]
ʁ̥ besser [ˈb̥esʁ̥] 'better' (BS)[6] Scottish loch
ʕ ändard [ˈend̥aʕd̥] 'changes' (SWG)[7] RP ahead, but with pharynx constricted
s hasse [ˈhɑsə] 'to hate' (VS) soon
hasse [ˈhasːə] 'to hate' (BE) class size
ʃ tüüsche [ˈtyːʃə] 'to exchange' (VS) ship
ʃː Äsche [ˈæʃːə] 'ash' (BE) cash shortage
t Latte [ˈlɑtə] 'lath' (BS) stand
Latte [ˈlatːə] 'lath' (BE) stand
Thee [tʰeː] 'tea' (ZH)[5] too
ts butze [ˈb̥utsə] 'to clean' (ZH) cats
tsche [ˈtætʃə] 'to clap' (ZH) chip
Ofe [ˈov̥ə] 'oven' (ZH)[2] foot
ʋ Wand [ʋɒnd̥] 'wall' (ZH) between wine and vine
ʋː niww [niʋː] 'new' (Haslital) between wine and vine
w Giel [ɡ̊iə̯w] 'boy' (BE)[8] wine
Balle [ˈb̥awːə] 'ball' (BE)[9] roughly like bowwow
x Chatz [ˈxɑts] 'cat' (Simmental)[4] Scottish loch
lache [ˈlaxːə] 'to laugh' (Simmental)[4] Scottish loch, but longer
χ Chatz [ˈχɑts] 'cat' (BE)[4] Scottish loch
χː lache [ˈlaχːə] 'to laugh' (BE)[4] Scottish loch, but longer
Hase [ˈhɒz̥ə] 'hares' (ZH)[2] soon
ʒ̊ nuusche [ˈnuːʒ̊ə] 'to rummage' (ZH)[2] ship
Vowels
IPA Examples Closest equivalent
a Affe [ˈafːə] 'apes' (SG)[10] between bat and art
schlaaffe [ˈʒ̊laːfə] 'to sleep' (SG)[10] between bad and father
ɑ Affe [ˈɑfːə] 'apes' (BE)[10] art
ɑː schlaaffe [ˈʒ̊lɑːfə] 'to sleep' (BE)[10] father
ɒ Mane [ˈmɒnə] 'men' (ZH)[10] Somewhat like art, but with the lips rounded
ɒː maane [ˈmɒːnə] 'to remind' (ZH)[10] Somewhat like father, but with the lips rounded
æ gäll [ɡ̊æl] 'isn't it?' (ZH) bat
æː gääl [ɡ̊æːl] 'yellow' (ZH) bad
e Bett [ˈb̥et] 'bed' (ZH) Scottish late
deene [ˈd̥eːnə] 'stretch' (ZH) Scottish day
ɛ Hèr [hɛr] 'mister' (ZH) bet
ɛː hèèr [hɛːr] 'from' (ZH) fairy
ə schwèche [ˈʒ̊ʋɛxə] 'to weaken' (ZH)[11] about
i sibe [ˈz̥ib̥ə] 'seven' (ZH) leaf
siibe [ˈz̥iːb̥ə] 'to sieve' (ZH) leave
ɪ Rìtter [ˈrɪtər] 'knight' (BE) kit
ɪː Rììs [rɪːz̥] 'giant' (BE) kid
ɔ Òfe [ˈɔv̥ə] 'oven' (BE) off
ɔː Gòòfe [ˈɡ̊ɔːv̥ə] 'kids' (BE) dog
o hole [ˈholə] 'to fetch' (ZH) story (short)
hool [hoːl] 'hollow' (ZH) more (long)
ø Böge [ˈb̥øɡ̊ə] 'sheets of paper' (ZH) Somewhat like nurse
œ Blö̀ff [b̥lœf] 'bluff' (ZH)
øː Böögge [ˈb̥øːkə] 'fools' (ZH) Somewhat like fur
œː tö̀ö̀rfe [ˈtœːrfə] 'to be allowed to' (ZH)
u Bruch [b̥rux] 'break' (ZH) pool (short)
Bruuch [b̥ruːɣ̊] 'custom' (ZH) pool (long)
ʉː Muus [mʉːs] 'mouse' (BS)[12] snooze (some dialects)[13]
ʊ Schùtt [ʒ̊ʊt] 'debris' (BE) foot
ʊː Brùùch [b̥rʊːɣ̊] 'break' (BE) good
y Füli [ˈv̥yli] 'pen' (ZH) Somewhat like cute
ʏ hǜtt [hʏt] 'today' (BE)
Füüli [ˈv̥yːli] 'laziness' (ZH) Somewhat like feud
ʏː Tǜǜre [ˈtʏːrə] 'door' (BE)
Diphthong offsets
IPA Examples English approximation
nia [nia̯] 'never' (SWG) roughly like ear
æ̯ niä [niæ̯] 'never' (UR)
ə̯ nie [niə̯] 'never' (ZH)
frei [v̥rei̯] 'free' (ZH) The y-like ending in day
Chüo [xyo̯] 'cow' (VS) The w-like ending in go
äu [æu̯] 'also' (ZH)
vlöüge [ˈv̥lœy̑ɡ̊ə] 'to fly' (Saanenland) Roughly like the w-like ending in go
Suprasegmentals
IPA Examples Explanation
ˈ deene [ˈd̥eːnə] 'stretch' (ZH) Primary stress, as in deer /ˈdɪər/
ˌ Hèrdöpfel [ˈhɛrˌd̥øpfəl] 'potato' (ZH) Secondary stress, as in commandeer /ˌkɒmənˈdɪər/

Notes

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  1. ^ Cited in Fleischer & Schmid (2006:251)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Some scholars choose to transcribe the lenis obstruents with the symbols ⟨p, t, k, x, s, ʃ⟩, rather than ⟨b̥, d̥, ɡ̊, ɣ̊, v̥, z̥, ʒ̊⟩. In that case, the fortis obstruents are transcribed ⟨pː, tː, kː, xː, sː, ʃː⟩ or ⟨pp, tt, kk, xx, ss, ʃʃ⟩, rather than ⟨p, t, k, x, s, ʃ⟩. Here, we choose to transcribe the lenis obstruents as ⟨b̥, d̥, ɡ̊, ɣ̊, v̥, z̥, ʒ̊⟩, whereas the fortis obstruents are transcribed ⟨p, t, k, x, s, ʃ⟩. Long fortis obstruents or geminates occur in most of Switzerland except for the extreme Northeast, Wallis, and the Grisons–St. Gall Rhine valley.
  3. ^ If pronounced different from yew, cf. yew–hew merger.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h The dorsal obstruents /kx, x, ɣ̊/ are realized as velar [kx, x, ɣ̊] or uvular [, χ, ʁ̥], depending on the dialect.
  5. ^ a b c The aspirated consonants [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] occur in borrowings from Standard German (Fleischer & Schmid (2006:244)). In the dialects of Basel and Chur, an aspirated [kʰ] is also present in native words.
  6. ^ a b c d e The /r/ phoneme can be pronounced as an alveolar trill [r] or an alveolar tap [ɾ] (with both being transcribed with ⟨r⟩ in this guide for the sake of simplicity),, a uvular trill [ʀ], a voiced uvular fricative or approximant [ʁ], a voiceless lenis uvular fricative [ʁ̥]. Some dialects (e.g. Zurich German) use all six realizations (Fleischer & Schmid (2006:244)).
  7. ^ In Swabian German, /r/ is realized as a uvular approximant [ʁ̞] in syllable onset, but as a pharyngeal approximant [ʕ̞] in other positions (Markus Hiller. "Pharyngeals and "lax" vowel quality" (PDF). Mannheim: Institut für Deutsche Sprache.). For simplicity, we transcribe these sounds as, respectively, [ʁ] and [ʕ].
  8. ^ In Bernese German, /l/ in the syllable coda is realized as [w].
  9. ^ In Bernese German, the geminate /lː/ is realized as [].
  10. ^ a b c d e f The open vowels /a, aː/ can be front or central (with both sets transcribed as [a, ] for simplicity), back unrounded [ɑ, ɑː] or back rounded [ɒ, ɒː], depending on the dialect.
  11. ^ The schwa /ə/ occurs only in unstressed syllables.
  12. ^ In Basel German and in the dialect of Markgräflerland, /uː/ is fronted to [ʉː].
  13. ^ These dialects include Received Pronunciation and most forms of English English (with some exceptions such as Yorkshire English), Australian, New Zealand, Scottish, Ulster, Southern American, Midland American, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Western Pennsylvania and younger California English. Other dialects, such as Northern American, New York City, New England, Welsh and Republic of Ireland English, have no close equiavalent vowel.

Bibliography

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  • Dauwalder, Hans (1992), Wie mma s seid und cha schriiben. Eine haslideutsche Kurzgrammatik, Meiringen: Gemeinnütziger Verein
  • Dieth, Eugen; Schmid-Cadalbert, Christian (1986), Schwyzertütschi Dialäktschrift. Dieth-Schreibung (2nd ed.), Aarau: Sauerländer
  • Fleischer, Jürg; Schmid, Stephan (2006), "Zurich German" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (2): 243–253, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002441
  • Hotzenköcherle, Rudolf, ed. (1962–1997), Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz, Bern: Francke
  • Werlen, Iwar (1977), Lautstrukturen des Dialekts von Brig im schweizerischen Kanton Wallis, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner
  • Marti, Werner (1985), Berndeutsch-Grammatik, Bern: Francke, ISBN 3-7720-1587-5

See also

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