Basel German

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Basel German

Spoken in

Switzerland ( Basel )
Linguistic
classification
Official status
Official language in -
Language codes
ISO 639 -1

-

ISO 639 -2

gsw (Swiss German)

ISO 639-3

gsw (Swiss German)

Basel German (also Baaseldytsch, Baseldytsch, Baseldütsch ) is the dialect of the city of Basel and the surrounding area. It is the only German-Swiss dialect that can be assigned to Lower Alemannic or at least in its classic form has a number of peculiarities that Lower Alemannic also has and that differ from High Alemannic.

Typical features of traditional city Basel German

  • Vowel stretch in open syllable, d. H. before simple consonants ([ba: səl]; otherwise highly Alemannic common [basəl])
  • Shortening of the historical long vowel before the forti consonant while maintaining its closed quality, e.g. B. Lyt, dytsch, bysse, schlyffe ('people, German, biting, grinding') with a short / i / ([lit], [ditʃ], [bisːə], [ʃlifːə]).
  • Unrounding of medium high German = High Alemannic German / y /, and / o / ( sch ee n [ʃ ê n], otherwise High Alemannic German sch ÖÖ n [ʃ O n ʃ OE n], beautiful '; gr i s [gʁ i ən], otherwise High Alemannic German gr ü s [gr y ən], green '); therefore it is also called Baaseldytsch in contrast to the modern Baaseldütsch
  • long / u: / is articulated in a centralized way ([ʉ: mə] 'around')
  • unshifted aspirated [kʰ] ([kʰind] 'child'; otherwise highly Alemannic: [xind], pronounced “chind”), also aspirated [tʰ, pʰ] are somewhat more common than in other dialects
  • Lenization: Closing sounds in the wording are usually lenized (i.e. as voiceless, short [d]): Dyybli [ˈdiːblɪ], dove '(as in certain other High and Low Alemannic dialects)
  • / r / is pronounced in most positions not as «uvula- r », but as [χ] = ch ([ʋæːχ] 'who')
  • the suffix -lich is realized as -lig ( meeglig [ˈmeːglɪg] 'possible'; otherwise highly Alemannic : mögli [ˈmøglɪ], möglech [ˈmœgləx])
  • the suffix of numerals from 20 to 90 is implemented as in the written language ([ˈdʁisːɪg] 30 , [ˈfuftsɪg] 50; otherwise in High Alemannic (except for Bündner and partly St. Galler Rheintal) driisg [ˈdriːsːg], füftsg [fʏftsg] )
  • The number word 1000 is pronounced with diphthong ([ˈdausɪg]; otherwise [ˈtuːsɪg ˈduːsɪg]).

Usage of the traditional city Basel German

The old town Basel German (Baaseldytsch) with all its characteristic features and differences to today's everyday Basel German is spoken today by a small, mostly older part of the Basel population; however, practically all Basel residents are very well able to understand or even imitate the old Basel German.

However, the use of language has always been dependent on social class. What is now considered “old, correct” Basel German corresponds to the dialect that was spoken in the upper classes (the Daig ) around the end of the 19th century . It was never spoken in this form in the lower social circles (e.g. "Rheingasse").

Today's Basel German

Today, everyday Basel German dominates, which not only includes the city but also the surrounding area. Everyday Basel German is the product of a sustained rapprochement between traditional city Basel German and the Basel German dialects in the Basel area , Fricktal , Laufental and Schwarzbubenland , which can be traced back to massive immigration at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The adaptation is mutual: while in the city the rounding ( ee [eː] for öö [øː], è [ɛ] for ö̀ [œ], yy [iː] for üü [yː], ì [ɪ] for ü [ʏ ], ei [ei] for öi [øi]) has disappeared from everyday language in most cases, typical city-Basel-German features such as the dominant "suppository-r" spread beyond the city limits into the agglomeration. Today's Basel German (Baaseldütsch) is closer to High Alemannic than the older Basel German (Baaseldytsch). Nevertheless, individual typical features of the urban language such as rounded ie [iə] for üe [yə] and initial [k] or [g] for high Alemannic ch [χ] have been preserved in the Basel dialect to this day. The dialects in the Basel area, Fricktal, Laufental and Schwarzbubenland, on the other hand, have always been part of High Alemannic.

Differences between everyday and older Basel German

Today's everyday Basel German differs essentially as follows from traditional city Basel German:

  • The rounding has practically disappeared, today ö for e , ü instead of i and öi for ei . Examples: "d u rftig" instead of "d i rftig", "Wenni frooge d ö rft" rather than "Wenni frooge d e ," F rft " üü r" [Y] (fire) instead of "F yy r" [i] ; «N öi » [œi] (new) instead of «nei» [ei]; therefore today it is called Baaseldütsch in contrast to the traditional Baaseldytsch . As before, ie [iə], for example « mie se», is less often rounded back , «m üe se» [yə] (must).
  • Fortis k [k] or ch [x] replaces the initial Lenis g , for example “e k laineri Sach” or “e ch laineri Sach” in everyday Basel German, “e g laineri Sach” in traditional city Basel German.
  • r is no longer pronounced as ch [x], for example everyday Basel German: «Bilde r » [ʀ]; traditional city Basel German: "image ch "
  • Integration of words that were originally foreign to Basel German, such as "Grüezi" in the form of "Griezi" [gʀiətsɪ].

Will traditional Basel German be displaced?

Despite the developments, there can be no talk of a disappearance of the traditional urban Basel German. Basel residents use their language with confidence. The written form of traditional Basel German can be found practically anywhere in the city: on menus, billboards or in newspapers. There is also a Basel German dictionary and a grammar. The traditional city Basel German has a special meaning in the Basel Carnival , where care is taken not to deviate from the “pure” Basel German.

Everyday Basel German forms the oral colloquial language and is used almost exclusively on local television and radio stations.

The Basel dialect interest group (IG Dialekt)

In 2008, sections of the public were outraged by the announcement by the Education Department that kindergarten teachers were only allowed to use standard German in the pre-school area, apart from so-called “dialect windows”. The implementation of the order was withdrawn. As a result, a «Basel Dialekt Interest Group» (IG Dialekt) was formed. a. Dialect poet Carl Miville and Rudolf Suter , author of the Basel German standard works, belong. People from all parties are represented on the IG Dialekt board. The aims of the interest group are: Dialect as a colloquial language in kindergarten (with a 20 percent standard German window); Standard German as the language of instruction at school and dialect as the colloquial language outside of class.

IG Dialekt launched a city-based popular initiative that demands: «The language of instruction in the first two years after starting school (kindergarten level) is dialect. Standard German is promoted in defined sequences. " Over 5000 signatures were collected within a few weeks. 3000 would be necessary within a collection period of one and a half years.

Despite the pending initiative, a regulation was passed for the kindergarten for the 2009/2010 school year that at least 50 percent standard German must be used by kindergarten teachers. Before that, dialect was used as the language of instruction - with the exception of the so-called experimental kindergartens.

The initiative was voted on on May 15, 2011, and the government submitted a counter-proposal to the initiative. The initiative was accepted with 55.11% yes-votes, the counter-proposal with 51.86% yes-votes. Since there were 222 more votes for the counter-proposal than for the initiative in the key question, the counter-proposal was accepted.

There were similar popular initiatives in the cantons of Zurich and Lucerne.

Basel German in Swiss film

In the Swiss dialect film mainly produced in Zurich , Basel German was used for a long time to mark the villain. This stereotype is already in the oldest surviving dialect film Jä-soo! seen in 1935 and is important in the abused love letters (1940), which in the course of spiritual defense incurred Landammann Stauffacher (1941), the Gotthelf film Uli the Tenant (1955) and gambling in the city of Zurich bakery Zürrer (1957 ) to carry. The Basel dialect was able to rehabilitate itself on film through documentaries and Dani Levy's “Peperoni” in the television series Motel from the 1980s.

literature

Dictionaries

  • Christoph Merian Foundation (Ed.): New Basel German Dictionary. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2010, ISBN 978-3-85616-502-4 .
  • Rudolf Suter : Basel German Dictionary. 3. Edition. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 2006 (grammars and dictionaries for Swiss German V), ISBN 978-3-85616-305-1 .
  • Fridolin [= Robert B. Christ ]. E Baseldytsch-Sammlig. Ygruumt in twelve Fächli and in e Vytryne. With Helge vom Ferdi Afflerbach. Birkhäuser, 4th edition Basel 1976 (grammars and dictionaries for Swiss German V).
  • Gustav Adolf Seiler : The Basel dialect. A grammatical-lexicographical contribution to the Swiss-German Idiotikon, at the same time a dictionary for school and home. Detloff, Basel 1879; Unchanged reprint: Sendet Reprint, Wiesbaden 1970.
  • Johann Jacob Spreng : Idioticon Rauracum or Basel dictionary. Manuscript around 1760. Edited by Heinrich Löffler under the title Idioticon Rauracum or Basel German Dictionary from 1768. Edition of the manuscript AA I 3 of the Basel University Library. Schwabe, Basel 2014.

Grammars

  • Rudolf Suter: Basel German grammar. 3. Edition. Christoph Merian Verlag, Basel 1992 (grammars and dictionaries on Swiss German VI), ISBN 3-85616-048-5 .
  • Herbert Pilch : Basel German Phonology. Based on the intonation. In: Phonetica, 34, pp. 165-190 (1977).
  • Eduard Hoffmann : The dialect vocalism of Basel-Stadt presented in its main features. Adolf Geering's, Basel 1890.
  • Andreas Heusler : The Alemannic consonantism in the dialect of Baselstadt. Dissertation Basel. Karl J. Trübner, Strasbourg 1888.
  • Gustav Binz: On the syntax of the Basel dialect. Inaugural dissertation Basel. Kröner, Stuttgart 1888.

History and Development

  • Ernst Erhard Müller: The Basel dialect in the late Middle Ages. Francke, Bern 1953 (Basel Studies on German Language and Literature 14).
  • Adolf Socin : On the history of the Basel dialect. In: Franz August Stocker : From the Jura to the Black Forest. History, legend, country and people. Aarau 1888, pp. 81-95.
  • Wilhelm Bruckner: Changes in the vocabulary of the Basel dialect. In: Teuthonista 8 (1931/1932), pp. 170-197.
  • Albert Gessler: Contributions to the history of the development of the New High German written language in Basel. Inaugural dissertation Basel. Frehner & Rudin, Basel 1888.
  • Rudolf Suter: The Basel German poetry before J. P. Lever. Basel dialect and dialect research in the 17th and 18th centuries. Dissertation Basel. Vineta, Basel 1949.
  • Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer: Becoming and changing the Basel dialect. In: Sunday paper of the «Basler Nachrichten», 15th volume, June / July 1921, numbers 25, 26, 27. Also printed as a paginated separate print.
  • Wilhelm Altwegg : Baseldytsch. In: Basel, a city book. Basel [1932].
  • Robert B. Christ : U and Non-U in Basel. Class differences in the Basel dialect. In: Sprachspiegel 19 (1963), pp. 129-135 ( digitized version ).
  • Lorenz Hofer: Language change in the urban dialect repertoire. A variation linguistic investigation using the example of Basel German. Francke, Basel / Tübingen 1997 (Basel Studies on German Language and Literature 72).
  • Beatrice Bürki: Language variation in a large company. An individual-centered analysis based on daily language courses. Francke, Basel / Tübingen 1999 (Basler Studies on German Language and Literature 73).
  • Petra Leuenberger: Local loyalty as a behavior and language controlling factor. An empirical study. Francke, Basel / Tübingen 2000 (Basel Studies on German Language and Literature 74).
  • Lorenz Hofer, with contributions by Annelies Häcki Buhofer and Heinrich Löffler: On the dynamic of urban speaking. Studies on language attitudes and dialect variations in urban space. Francke, Basel / Tübingen 2002 (Basel Studies on German Language and Literature 71).

Basel German in the Alemannic context

  • Schweizerisches Idiotikon , Volumes I ff. Huber, Frauenfeld 1881–2012 and Schwabe, Basel 2014 ff.
  • Linguistic Atlas of German-speaking Switzerland Volumes I – VIII. Francke, Bern, later Basel 1962–1997.
  • Rudolf Hotzenköcherle : The Northwest. In: Rudolf Hotzenköcherle: The language landscapes of German-speaking Switzerland. Edited by Niklaus Bigler and Robert Schläpfer with the assistance of Rolf Börlin. Aarau / Frankfurt a. M. / Salzburg 1984 (Sprachlandschaft 1 series), pp. 71–77.

Fiction (anthology)

  • Rudolf Suter (Ed.): Uff baaseldytsch. 100 baaseldytschi Täggscht us 200 Joor. Friedrich Reinhardt, Basel 1988.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dialect initiative narrowly rejected - yes to counter-proposal. May 15, 2011, accessed May 5, 2019 .
  2. ↑ aeppli.ch (PDF; 40 kB): Felix Aeppli: Beware of Basel German! About the function of the dialect in Swiss films. From Zurich film roles (published by Zürcher Kantonalbank ), Zurich 2005.