Alemannic grammar

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This article describes the Alemannic grammar , in particular those features which are particularly characteristic of the Alemannic dialects (including Swiss German ) compared to standard German .

noun

Grammatical categories

As in standard German, the declension of the Alemannic nouns differentiate between gender, number and case.

genus

Just like standard German, the Alemannic dialects differentiate between the three genera masculine, feminine and neuter .

In many Alemannic dialects, the gender differences between the number words two and three have been preserved. Two usually has three genera in line with Middle High German (for example in Central Switzerland, but only two genera), three also as in Middle High German two genera. In modern dialects, however, they are being abandoned more and more in favor of the neutral form.

male Female neutrally
<two> two zwoo, regionally: two zwäi / zwöi / zwää / zwaa
<three> three, drii three, drii press

number

Just like standard German, the Alemannic dialects differentiate between the numbers singular and plural in the forms of nouns, adjectives, articles and pronouns.

To express the plural of nouns, the umlaut is used more often than in standard German (for example Tökter ‹Doctors› as the plural of Tokter ). In addition, because of the apocopes of the ending -e, there are more cases in which the plural is expressed by the umlaut alone (for example Böim ‹trees›, SäälSäle ›).

case

The Alemannic dialects differentiate between the nominative , dative and accusative cases . Nominative and accusative differ only in personal pronouns, but coincide with articles, adjectives and nouns in most dialects, a phenomenon that is sometimes called "nomaccusative" in analogy to the North German " accudative ".

The genitive occurs mainly in an attributive position and possessive function, ( (the) Anna's dog ' Anna's dog', s Vatters Huus ' father's house'), but is largely out of date in this function. The genitive is widespread in partitive function in idiomatic expressions ( Hesch der Zyt? ‹Do you have time?›). The genitive is still most vivid today in the Alpine Valais and Walser dialects.

In some dialects, dative objects are introduced with a particle a or i , which is identical to the prepositions an or in , for example i gibe's a / i mynere Frou ‹I give it to my wife›. The starting point was a reinterpretation of the article according to (d) em Vater(d) im Vatter .

As in other German dialects - but not in standard German - a construction of dative and possessive pronouns can be used to indicate possession, for example em Adrian sy Hund ‹dem Adrian seine Hund (Adrian's dog)›.

items

As in standard German, the Alemannic dialects differentiate between a definite and an indefinite article . The articles match in gender, number and case with their reference word. In the plural, the indefinite article is omitted. In contrast to Standard German, the definite article singular feminine or plural has two different forms, depending on whether an adjective follows or not, for example d Frou ‹the woman› - di beautifuli Frou ‹the beautiful woman› / di Schöni <the beautiful>.

In contrast to standard German, the indefinite article differs from the numerical word for ‹eins›, for example e Maa ‹a man› - ei Maa ‹ONE man›. Likewise, the use of the specific article as a pure article differs from the use as a demonstrative, for example ds Chind ‹the child› - the Chind ‹DAS child (da) / this child› (compare Dutch het kind , pronunciation [ət kɪnt], or . dat child ).

In most Alemannic dialects, the article is also used for proper names, without this having a pejorative meaning, for example de (r) Thomas ‹[the] Thomas›. Exceptions are dialects in the central and southern canton of Bern, in the canton of Friborg, in the north-eastern canton of Graubünden, in parts of the Vorarlberg Rhine Valley and in the Bregenz Forest. In Alemannic, nouns almost always have an article, including brand names ( I gang zum Aldi ‹I go to Aldi›) and abstracts, for example Mach e Liecht! ('Turn on a light' would mean Mach ei Liecht aa ). In some Vorarlberg dialects, even innumerable quantities carry an article. z. B. Hosch du e Gäld? (‹Do you have any money?›) The numerous idiomatized expressions of the type z Chile, z Määrt, z Henggert etc. (‹in the church›, ‹on the market›, ‹to the evening seat›, literally “to church” are an exception. , “To market”, “to evening seat”).

Forms of the definite article (the genitive is not used in many dialects):

masculine feminine neuter Plural
Nominative accusative* də (r) d - di (d) s d - di
dative əm (d) ər əm
Genitive (d) s (d) ər (d) s (d) ər

(*) For the specific articles in sing. As in pl., In most dialects no distinction is made between nom. And acc. Exceptions are on the one hand some alpine dialects and on the other hand the Mittelland dialects, where cases like ich gaan i / in Wald, a / an See ‹I go to the forest, to the lake› an i (n) (de) n or a (n ) de (n) continue. Certain other dialects know a difference between nom. And acc. In the case of the demonstrative, where it is masc. Sing. der Maa ‹this man› and mask. akk. because Maa means ' this man'.

Forms of the indefinite article:

masculine feminine neuter
Nominative accusative ə (n) ə ə (s)
dative (ə) m (ən) ə (ən) əre / rə (ə) m (ən) ə

Where the short version of the article - d, s - is used, it is irrespective of whether the following word begins with a consonant or a vowel. So it is also called d woman , s Meitli .

Compounds from prepositions and articles are more numerous than in standard German, for example füre Peter <for Peter>, i Forest 'in the woods> (note that these cuts are both also used in dialects where the nominative / accusative of reads and not de , so that there are facing each other: i gseh der Peter ‹I see the Peter› - for e Peter ‹for the Peter›).

noun

In most dialects the final -e has been apocopied (with the exception of some High Alemannic dialects), for example Straass / Strooss ‹Straße›, Brugg / Brügg ‹Brücke›, SäälSäle ›.

Apparently the apocope did not appear in two cases. First, where the word Old High German ended in , the Alemannic ending is -i, for example Chuchi ‹kitchen›, Sagi ‹saw› (these feminines form their plural on -ənə or -inə, for example Chuchene, Chuchine ‹kitchens›, Sagene / Sagine ‹Sägen›), Hirni ‹Hirn›, Rippi ‹Rippe› (these neuter form a plural identical to the singular). Second, where an Alemannic feminine word ends in , such as Matte or Wise ‹Wiese›, there is no continuation of the nominative, but one of the casus obliquus (dative, accusative), the form of which has penetrated the nominative. In other words: Alemannic Straass / Strooss continues the Middle High German nominative strāʒʒe , Alemannic Matte and Wise but the Middle High German dative / accusative matten, wisen (cf. Bavarian d Wisn ‹die Wiese›).

The southwestern high and high Alemannic dialects (spoken in the cantons of Bern, Friborg, Wallis and by the Walsers in Aosta, Piedmont, Graubünden, Liechtenstein and Vorarlberg) form the unauthorized plural of the strong masculine on or (alpine) -a, in the other Alemannic dialects have regular apocopes, for example the majority Alemannic plural tabletischstylestiele ›, donkey ‹Esel›, but south-west Alemannic tables / Tischa, Stile / Stila, Esle / Esla (Esja) .

adjective

As in standard German, in the Alemannic dialects the adjective is congruent with gender, number, case and definiteness. Within Alemannic, however, the paradigm shows considerable typological differences, compare traditional Bern German with the beautiful Maa, di beautiful Frou, ds beautiful Ching with three different endings compared to traditional Zurich German de beautiful Maa, di beautiful woman, s beautiful Chind with unity broadcast.

Adjective endings with indefinite reference word:

masculine feminine neuter Plural
Nominative accusative ə (s) beautiful ə / ər <a beautifully he > ə nice i / ə <a nice e > ə (s) nice (s) <a beautifully it > beautiful (i / -ə) ‹beautiful e
dative (ə) m (ən) ə beautiful ə <a beautifully en > (ən) əre / rə beautiful ə ‹one beautiful en (ə) m (ən) ə beautiful ə <a beautifully en > beautiful ə ‹beautiful en

Forms with a specific reference word:

masculine feminine neuter Plural
Nominative accusative də (r) beautiful (i / ə) ‹the beautiful e d (i) beautiful (i / ə) ‹the beautiful e (d) s beautiful (ə) ‹the beautiful e d (i) beautiful ə ‹die beautiful en
dative əm beautiful ə ‹the beautiful en (d) ər beautiful ə ‹der beautiful en əm beautiful ə ‹the beautiful en də beautiful ə ‹den beautiful en

Predicative adjectives are also declined in some of the highest Alemannic dialects, for example si isch schön i ‹she is beautiful›.

Personal pronouns

In contrast to standard German, the Alemannic dialects differentiate between stressed forms of personal pronouns and unstressed forms, which are attached enclitically to verbs or conjunctions, for example mer singe soon ‹we will sing soon› - I will sing soon ‹WE will sing soon›.

Verbs

As in standard German, the verbs in the Alemannic dialects are conjugated according to person , number , tense and mode .

Grammatical categories

Person and number

The Alemannic dialects differ in terms of the differentiation in the plural of verbs:

  • The eastern dialects (e.g. Zurich German ) only have a single plural ending in all three persons, e.g. me / her / si mal ed .
  • The western dialects (e.g. Bern German ) differentiate between two different plural endings like standard German, for example mir / si mal e - (d) ihr mal ed .
  • Some High Alemannic dialects differentiate between three plural endings, for example we mal e (n) - ihr mal et - si mal end .

The / i / resulting from the combinatorial sound change has also been preserved singularly in the first person, where it has become an / e / by analogy in standard German, for example i (ch) n i me ‹ich take›, i (ch) g i be ‹I give›, i (ch) w i rd ‹I will› (cf. with the forms you n i mmst / g i bst / w i rst , they n i mmt / g i bt / w i rd , where this / i / also occurs in standard German).

Tense

As in all southern German dialects, there is no past tense in Alemannic . Instead, the perfect tense is always used. The double perfect is used to express the past , for example i ha's gmacht gha ‹I did it (I did it)›.

In a single dialect that is now extinct, the past tense was still alive into the 20th century, namely in the highest Alemannic of Salecchio / Saley (today part of the municipality of Premia ). Examples are I plìb "stayed" (1st Ablaut class), flùg "flew" (2nd Ablaut class), spùn " Spann " (3rd Ablaut class), braach " brach " (4th Ablaut class), aass " " (5. Ablaut class), griäb "grub" (6th ablaut class), fiäl "fell" (7th ablaut class), sentences "put" (1st weak class), ärmiädät (2nd weak class), warchùt (3rd weak class), chont “could” (modal verb), has “had”, what “was”, tet “did”.

The periphrastic future tense with the auxiliary verb are not used in Alemannic. Instead, the simple present tense is used, often connected with the modal particle de (or no ) ‹dann› or a time.

mode

Like standard German, Alemannic also differentiates between the indicative , subjunctive I , subjunctive II and imperative modes . The paradigms of subjunctive I and indicative differ more clearly than in standard German. Subjunctive forms are often used.

indicative Subjunctive I Future
1st person sing. i paint i mali i malti
2nd person sing. you malsch you malisch you painting
3rd person sing. poor paints ar mali är malti
1st person plur. paint me (d) me paint (d) / mali (d) me painted (d) / malti (d)
2nd person plur. (d) you maled (d) you maled / malid (d) you malted / maltid
3rd person plur. si male (d) si male (d) / mali (d) si painted (d) / malti (d)

participle

In contrast to standard German, Alemannic does not actually have a present active participle . Modern colloquial language has borrowed it from standard German, for example fählendi Syte ‹missing page›.

The prefix overall the past participle passive is to g- reduced: gmacht <made>, gänderet <modified>. Before a Fortis (p, t, gg) this g-: trunke ‹getrunken› is omitted ; In front of a lenis (b, d, g) it is omitted in certain dialects, while in others it assimilates to the lenis and together with it forms a fortis: blibe or bblibe / plibe ‹stayed›, go ‹go› → ggange ‹ gone ›.

In contrast to standard German, where the endings -t and -et of the weak verb are phonetically regulated, some Alemannic dialects more or less continue the relationships of the Old and Middle High German classes, according to which -t for the verbs ending in ahd. -jan / - en, but -et applies to the verbs ending in ahd. -ēt and -ōt (cf., for example, Zurich German gwecktgewaken › versus glachetgelacht ›).

"Gerund"

In the east of Alemannia - from Swabia to northeastern Switzerland - there is a special form of the infinitive after the particle z , which goes back to the Middle High German gerund . While in western Alemannic it says he het / hät z ßße, z mache etc., in the eastern half it is said he hät z ässid, z machid . Short verbs have the ending -nd , e.g. he hät z tond u. Ä. The predominantly Bernese gerund z tüe (opposite the infinitive tue ) is a special case .

syntax

Relative clause

In the Alemannic dialects, relative clauses are always formed with the relative particle where .

The relative particle wo can take over the function of the subject or the accusative object in the relative clause , for example e Maa, where ' a man who sleeps' sleeps, es Chind, where d 'gsehsch' (a child you see).

On the other hand, the relative particle can, where not, take on the function of a dative or prepositional object. Such relative clauses require, in addition to the relative particle, a separate dative or prepositional object , for example e Maa, where it is supposed to be “a man who is watching you”, ds tdi, where I'm waiting for “the end we wait for”.

Multipart predicates

The order of multiple predicates is variable, sometimes with regional preferences, for example:

är het wölle cho (western type) ‹he wanted to come›
he hot comeə wellə (eastern type) ‹he wanted to come›

Reduplication

In many dialects reduplizieren the verbs gaa / goo <go>, choo <are>, laa / loo <allow>, aafaa / aafoo <start> when they form in the present indicative along with another verb a complex predicate. Here, an unstressed repetition of these verbs, the infinitive of another verb proclitically preceded by, for example i gange ga create <I go to work>, si Chunt üse Chrischtboum cho decorative <it comes to decorate our Christmas tree>, si laat ne nid la schlaaffe <she lets him don't sleep ›, es faat gly afa rägne ‹ it's about to start raining ›. The reduplicated forms can even be reduplicated themselves, for example si goot goge ychauffe ‹she goes shopping›, es chunt chogoge rägne ‹it's coming to rain› (a rain is coming up).

The reduplication can be omitted for the verbs laa / loo ‹Lassen› and aafaa / aafoo ‹start›, but it represents the less marked form.

Compare the reduplication with similar perfect or modal constructions:

example translation
Reduplication si laat / loot ne nid / nöd la / lo Schlaaffe / schlooffe she won't let him sleep
Perfect si het ne nid / nöd la / lo slack / schlooffe she didn't let him sleep
Modal construction si wot ne nid / nöd la / lo slack / schlooffe she doesn't want to let him sleep

Note: There are areas where the perfect form and / or the modal construction is also reduplicated: Si het ne nid lo schlooffe lo ; Si wot ne nid lo schlooffe lo .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Linguistic Atlas of German-speaking Switzerland , Volume III, Maps 236–240.
  2. See Linguistic Atlas of German Switzerland III 141 and Vorarlberg Dictionary I 555.
  3. ^ Uni Augsburg: to / to / to
  4. ^ University of Augsburg: (a) money
  5. ^ Gertrud Frei: Walser German in Saley. Study of verbal content on the dialect and worldview of the ancient settlement Salecchio / Saley (Antigoriotal) (= language and poetry. Special series of Bernese works on dialectology and folklore. Volume 18). Haupt, Bern / Stuttgart 1970, pp. 393-405.
  6. ^ Südwestdeutscher Sprachatlas III / 1 303; Language Atlas of Bavarian Swabia VI 15–17; Linguistic Atlas of German Switzerland III 1, 3, 55; Vorarlberger Sprachatlas including the Principality of Liechtenstein, West Tyrol and the Allgäu III 70a, 70b and 71), Schweizerisches Idiotikon XVII 4 ff., Article zue (there under the meaning of B3, Col. 73 ff., With an accompanying note, Col. 79 f. ).
  7. Andreas Lötscher: On the genesis of the doubling of verbs in gaa, choo, laa, aafaa (“go”, “come”, “let”, “begin”) in Swiss German. In: Dialect Syntax. Edited by Werner Abraham and Josef Bayer. Opladen 1993, pp. 180-200; Christoph Landolt : Go (ge) create gaa. Word history of August 27, 2018, ed. from the editors of the Swiss Idiotikon.

literature