Low Alemannic German () is a branch of Alemannic German, which is part of Upper German. Its varieties are only partly intelligible to non-Alemannic speakers.
Subdivisions Lake Constance Alemannic (de) Northern Vorarlberg (de) Allgäu dialect (de) Baar dialect Southern Württemberg Upper Rhenish Alemannic (de) Basel German Baden dialects north of Markgräflerland Alsatian, spoken in Alsace, in some villages of the Phalsbourg county in Lorraine and by some Amish in Indiana Low Alemannic dialects in the Black ForestNoble, Cecil A. M. (1983). Modern German dialects New York [u.a.], Lang, p. 67/68 Colonia Tovar dialect, Venezuela
Features The feature that distinguishes Low Alemannic from High Alemannic is the retention of Germanic /k/, for instance kalt 'cold' vs. High Alemannic chalt.
The feature that distinguishes Low Alemannic from Swabian is the retention of the Middle High German monophthongs, for instance Huus 'house' vs. Swabian Hous or Ziit 'time' vs. Swabian Zejt.
Phonology
Consonants Voiced obstruents do not occur, as is typical for Upper German dialects. +labialalveolarpostalveolarpalatalvelaruvularglottalmnŋb̥ (pʰ)³ d̥ (tʰ)³g̊ kʰfsʃ(ç)¹x¹(ʁ)²hp͡ft͡sʋr²j ¹/x/ is palatalized as [ç] after front vowels in the northern varieties (like in Standard German) but kept as [x] in southern varieties. Diverging from Standard German /x/ is not palatalized after /r/, a feature shared with other alemannic varieties.
²/r/ is most commonly pronounced as [ʁ].
³ /pʰ/ and /tʰ/ don't occur in autochthonous vocabulary but are used by speakers in differing frequency when using words from Standard German or speaking in more formal registers.
Vowels +Middle High GermanLow AlemannicStandard GermanEnglish Translationhûs Huus /hu:s/ or Hüüs /hy:s/Haus /haʊs/housebrûchenbruuche /b̥ru:xə/, bruche /b̥ruxə/ or brüche /b̥ryxə/brauchen /braʊxən/to needzîtZiit /tsi:d̥/ or Zit /tsid̥/Zeit /tsaɪt/timewînWii /ʋi:/Wein /vaɪn/wineliuteLiit /li:d̥/ or Lit /lid̥/Leute /lɔɪtə/peoplemiuseMiis /mi:s/Mäuse /mɔɪzə/micefrîfrei /frɛi/frei /fraɪ/freebûwenboie /b̥oiə/ or boue /b̥ouə/bauen /baʊən/to buildniunei /nɛi/neu /nɔɪ/newbuochBuech /b̥uəx/ or Böech /b̥øəx/Buch /bu:x/booktiefdief /d̥iəf/tief /ti:f/deepbüecherBiecher /b̥iəxər/ Bücher /by:çər/booksgibrâchtbroocht /b̥ro:xd̥/ or bròòcht /brɔ:xd̥/gebracht /gəbraxt/broughtschlâfenschloofe /ʃlo:fə/ or schlòòfe /ʃlɔ:fə/schlafen /ʃla:fən/to sleepbrôtBroot /b̥ro:d̥/Brot /bro:t/breadschnêSchnee /ʃne:/Schnee /ʃne:/snowkæseKääs /kʰæ:s/ or Kèès /kʰɛ:s/Käse /kɛ:zə/ or /ke:zə/cheesesunneSunne /sunə/Sonne /zɔnə/sunsunSùùn /sʊ:n/ or Suun /su:n/Sohn /zo:n/sonböckeBegg /b̥eg̊/Böcke /bœkə/billy goatsastAschd /ɑʃd̥/ or /aʃd̥/Ast /ast/branchzügeZììg /tsɪːg̊/Züge /tsy:gə/trainsistìsch /ɪʃ/ist /ɪst/iswetterWädder /ʋæd̥ər/ or Wèdder /ʋɛd̥ər/Wetter /vɛtər/weatherboumBaum /b̥æum/, Baüm /b̥ɔɪm/Baum /baʊm/treeböumeBaim /b̥æim/Bäume /bɔɪmə/treesbeinBai /b̥æi/Bein /baɪn/leg
Orthography There exists no official orthography and authors use different kinds of orthographies for their work.
(All of the below is specific to the dialects spoken near Freiburg im Breisgau)
Vowels: Short Long Orthography Pronunciation Orthography Pronunciation a or [ɑ] aa or [ɑ:] ä ää è èè e ee i or y [i] ii or yy ì or iìì or ii[ɪ:] o oo ù ùù u [u] uu [u:] ü [y] üü [y:]
Consonants:
Are as in Standard German, with the following notes: kh is an aspirated ng is a velar nasal ngg is a velar nasal followed by a velar plosive ph is an aspirated th is an aspirated s is always voiceless [s] or [z̥] b, d and g are voiceless [b̥], [d̥] and [g̊].
Articles Definite Article Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nom/Acc Sg der Man d Frau s Kind Dat Sg im Man (in) der Frau im Kind Nom/Acc Pl d Mane d Fraue d Kinder Dat Pl (in) der Mane (in) der Fraue (in) der Kinder
Indefinite Article Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nom/Acc Sg e Man e Frau e Kind Dat Sg im e Man in ere Frau im e Kind
Substantives
Plurals Class I: Plural = Singular (e.g. Ääber → Ääber) Class II: Plural = Singular + Umlaut (e.g. Baum → Baim; Vader → Väder) Class IIIa: Plural = Singular + -e (e.g. Man → Mane; Ags → Agse) Class IIIb: Plural = Singular + -̈e (e.g. Frosch → Fresche) Class IVa: Plural = Singular + -er (e.g. Lyyb → Lyyber; Schùg → Schùger) Class IVb: Plural = Singular + -̈er (e.g. Wald → Wälder; Blad → Bleder) Class V: No Plural (e.g. Chees; Zemänd) Class VI: No Singular (Plural Only) (e.g. Bilger; Fèèrine)
Diminutives Standard ending is -li (e.g. Aimer → Aimerli) If the word ends in -l, then the ending is -eli (e.g. Dääl → Dääleli) If the word ends in -el, then the ending is -i (e.g. Degel → Degeli) If the word ends in -e, remove the -e and add -li (e.g. Bèère → Bèèrli) The rules for this can be quite complex and depend on the region. Sometimes diminutives require umlaut, other times not.
Adjectives
Weak Declension Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nom/Acc Sg der groos Man di göed Frau s klai Kind Dat Sg im (e) groose Man in der / in ere göede Frau im (e) klaine Kind Nom/Acc Pl di groose Mane di göede Fraue di klaine Kinder Dat Pl in der groose Mane in der göede Fraue in der klaine Kinder
Strong Declension Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nom/Acc Sg göede Man göedi Frau göed Brood Dat Sg göedem Man göeder Frau göedem Brood Nom/Acc Pl groosi Mane groosi Fraue klaini Kinder Dat Pl in groose Mane in groose Fraue in klaine Kinder
Comparative Standard ending -er (e.g. fèin → fèiner)
Superlative Standard ending -(e)schd (e.g. fèin → fèinschd)
Irregular Positive Comparative Superlative vyyl mee maischd göed beser beschd
Pronouns Personal Pronouns English Hochdeutsch Alemmanisch Nom Dative Accusative I ich ich, ii, i miir, mir, mer mii, mi you du duu, du, de diir, dir, der dii, di he er äär, är, er iim, im, em iin, in, en, e she sie sii, si iire, ire, ere sii, si it es ääs, äs, es, s iim, im, em ääs, äs, es, s we wir miir, mir, mer ùns, is ùns, is you ihr iir, ir, er èich, ich èich, ich they sie sii, si iine, ine, ene sii, si
Verbs
1. Infinitive
Infinitive ends in -e Some monosyllabic verbs do not have this ending (e.g. chùù, döe, goo, gschää, haa, loo, nee, sää, schdoo, schlaa, syy, zie, etc.)
2. Participle
2.1 Prefix The prefix for g- or ge- Before b, d, g, bf, dsch, and z is merged into the word and not visible (e.g. broochd, glaubd, etc.) 2.2 Suffix Strong Verbs end in -e (e.g. gäse, glofe) Weak Verbs end in -d or -ed (e.g. bùzd, gchaufd)
2.3 Types
2.3.1 Infinitive and Present Sg y/èi/ai - Participle i 2.3.1.1 y > i (e.g. abwyyse > abgwiise) 2.3.1.2 èi > i (e.g. verzèie > verziie) 2.3.1.3 ai > i (e.g. schaide > gschiide) 2.3.2 Infinitive and Present Sg ie/u/au/èi/i - Participle o/öu/öe 2.3.2.1 ie > o (e.g. biede > bode) 2.3.2.2 u > o (e.g. sufe > gsofe) 2.3.2.3 au > o (e.g. laufe > glofe) 2.3.2.4 èi > öu (e.g. rèie > gröue) 2.3.2.5 ie > öe (e.g. riefe > gröefe) 2.3.2.5 i > o (e.g. wiige > gwooge) 2.3.3 Infinitive and Present Sg i - Participle ù 2.3.3.1 i > u (e.g. binde > bùnde) 2.3.4 Infinitive ä/e - Present i - Participle o/u 2.3.4.1 ä - i - o (e.g. bräche > broche) 2.3.4.2 ä - i - u (e.g. hälfe > ghùlfe) 2.3.4.3 e/è - i - o (e.g. verdèèrbe > verdoorbe) 2.3.4.4 e - i - ù (e.g. schmelze > gschmùlze) 2.3.5 Infinitive ä/i - Present i - Participle ä 2.3.5.1 ä - i - ä (e.g. äse > gäse) 2.3.5.2 i - i - ä (e.g. bide > bäde) 2.3.6 Infinitive Vowel is the same as the Participle 2.3.5.1 (e.g. bache > bache; fale > gfale)
3. Conjugation 3.1 Present Tense 3.1.1 Regular Verb Person Ending Example 1st Sg -Ø ich mach 2nd Sg -sch duu machsch 3rd Sg -d är machd Plural -e mir mache
Numbers
Cardinal Ordinal Multiplicative I Multiplicative II 1 ais èèrschd aifach aimool 2 zwai zwaid zwaifach zwaimool 3 drèi drid drèifach drèimool 4 vier vierd vierfach viermool 5 fimf fimfd fimffach fimfmool 6 segs segsd segsfach segsmool 7 siibe sibd siibefach siibemool 8 aachd aachd aachdfach aachdmool 9 nyyn nyynd nyynfach nyynmool 10 zee zeend zeefach zeemool 11 elf elfd elffach elfmool 12 zwelf zwelfd zwelffach zwelfmool 13 dryzee dryzeend dryzeefach dryzeemool 14 vierzee vierzeend vierzeefach vierzeemool 15 fùfzee fùfzeend fùfzeefach fùfzeemool 16 sächzee sächzeend sächzeefach sächzeemool 17 sibzee sibzeend sibzeefach sibzeemool 18 aachdzee aachdzeend aachdzeefach aachdzeemool 19 nyynzee nyynzeend nyynzeefach nyynzeemool 20 zwanzg zwanzigschd zwanzgfach zwanzgmool 21 ainezwanzg ainezwanzigschd ainezwanzgfach ainezwanzgmool
References