Chuchichäschtli
The word Chuchichäschtli [ ˈχʊχːiˌχæʃːtli ] (small kitchen cupboard, wall cupboard, literally: kitchen box) is the traditional Swiss German (actually generally High Alemannic ) Schibboleth . The ch occurs three times in rapid succession, which is pronounced as a voiceless uvular fricative south of the child / chind boundary . The word Chuchichäschtli is known for the fact that it is difficult to pronounce by people who are not able to speak High Alemannic. It is therefore often recommended for them to pronounce it for amusement.
The phoneme "ch" is a voiceless uvular fricative [ χ ] . In contrast to standard German, it also occurs with a gem and at the beginning of the syllable. Word Chuchichäschtli the second is [ χ ] geminated, resulting in the phonetic notation with the mark length [ ː ] is expressed; the lack of gemination is one of several possible errors by which non-high Alemanni are recognized (in addition to the inability to pronounce “ch” at the beginning of the syllable).
When pronounced in German, “ Ch u ch i ch äschtli” often becomes a funny sounding “Guggigäschtli”. But people from French or Italian Switzerland break their tongues at the three ch . People who speak Arabic , Hebrew or Dutch have better qualifications , as the ch also occurs at the beginning of a syllable in these languages.
Web links
- The Chochichästli oracle, a web application, guesses the speaker's place of origin based on 10 questions
