Bitte nehme mich hart und schnell von hinten!
Nehme is wrong, it should be nimm for the imperativ form.
PlantHead got more than that wrong.
*mental note - don't risk any German typing, ever*
More in line with the OP now:
Polite Bernese greeting is "Grües-sech", amalgamated BSG for HG "Grüsst Euch!". Note: Polite Bernese uses the 2nd pers. plural even when addressing only one person.
Note:
ch is a strong throaty rasp, as in the Scottish loch, not the ch for channel (i'd write that [tsh])
G is the french g, like in gallows
Standard phrases and answers:
Chan I Ihne helfe? Can I help you [chahn ee eehne helfe]
Jo, I bruuch .... Yes, I need... [yo, ee brooch]
Jo, I suech ... Yes, I'm looking for [yo, ee zoo-ech]
Nei, merci, I bi bloss am umeluege No thx, I'm just looking around [nay mercee, ee bee blows ahm oomeloo-eGe]
Nei, merci, I wot bloss e chli umeluege No thx, I just want to look around a bit [nay mercee, ee wot blows e chlee oomeloo-eGe]
Sueched Sie öppis (bstimmts)? Are you looking for something (in particular)? [zoo-eched see ewpiss (pshteemts)]
Jo, I suech ... Yes, I'm looking for [yo, ee zoo-ech]
There's more, but above gets you around for starters.
Not really, while nehme is a tad archaic in High German, it still has its uses in highly formal settings, like Mass etc.
Any connotations and dirty mental pictures are figments of your own mind, so author assumes no responsibility whatsoever in case of
I sometimes hear retail workers say in SD: Chani in öppis zeige?`
Which I take to be in HD: Kann ich Ihnen etwas zeigen?
ok,here it is from the bernese lass
Grüessech -> Guten Tag -> a general hello without you knowing the person/s you greet
Grüessech mitenang -> Guten Tag miteinander -> general greeting to many people in the Sie form
Tschou zäme -> general greeting to ppl you are on first name terms with
Chan ig nech häufe -> Kann ich ihnen behilflich sein -> can I help you?
NOTE this is in the polite 'Sie' form!
Cha ig dir Häufe -> Kann ich dir helfen -> can I help you in the 'duz' form
Weit der es Päckli mache or Weit ders aus Päckli -> Möchten sie ein Geschenkpaket daraus machen lassen -> means shall I wrap it as a gift
Weit er e Sack or Weit dr e Täsche -> Möchten Sie eine Tragtasche -> would you like to a paper/plastic bag?
Merci,I bi nume am luege -> Danke ich schaue nur -> Thanks, I am just browsing
Uf widerluege-> Auf Wiedersehen-> Good bye-> a general goodbye
Tschüss zäme -> So long or so ,it's a general goodbye to ppl you are on firstname terms with
Hope this helps, feel free to PM me anytime if you need to know more expressions
Ta ra
EE
Is there a 'Swiss' equivalent of the noise tradesmen make when estimating the cost of remedying a previous tradesman's botched job?
Thank you for the correction. I had literal never heard that phrase three weeks earlier -- it is entirely new and I've only ever heard it at the airport in Zürich.
In Zürich that would be "Ja, ich bruuche"? This is more of a question than a definitive statement. With some of your other responses, the "e," like in High German, also applies, oder?
Oy... Tomorrow and Sunday I'm working at the airport (after a few days at the train station in Zürich). I've read that on a normal weekend they expect ~25,000 people. This weekend well over 200,000 -- oh God. Any help with the Bernese is very appreciated -- it is harder for me to understand it than Bavarian (already served a few customers in it).
Zurich airport, where SwissGermans meet It really is Bernese, nicely drawn out and drawled. See EastEnders excellent post.
"Ja, ich bruuche" is just the correctly pronounced and slightly more formal version of "Ja, I bruuch". Kind of when you're explaining for the first time what you need and if it's in doubt if they have it. About the "e", yes, sometimes it's the High German variety, but mostly it's close to the "ä" like in hat. Pretty difficult writing SG in phonetic English
Summer holiday weekends indeed average 200k+ people, at the start and end the average is 250k+ (yup, a quarter million). As for Bernese, luckily they speak nice and slow.
I just realized my key phrases were in ZüriDüütsch, as I apparently can't replicate all Bernese pronunciation rules. Hat off to EastEnders.
To finish off, some location and direction finders (pretty useful in public places)
det >>there [debt] with a German e (German: dort, da)
det enne >> over there [debt en-ne] e in enne like in hen (German: dort/da drüben)
det hinne >> there in the back [debt heenne] (German dort/da hinten)
da (a like in law) >> here [daw], hier is also often used
da enne, da hinne analogous
hinnedra, dehinter >> in the back of .../behind [heenne draa, deh-heenter] German a (dra = German dran, hinne = German hinten)
vornedra, devor >> in front of [fore-ne-draa, dehfore]
denebet, nebetdra >> next to it [deh-nebbet, nebbet-draa] (German: daneben, nebenan)
If your head is now smoking, think of all the poor Germans that expect to be able to understand directions in SG Small wonder they put the pedal to the metal and get the hell down to Italy
a snorting noise with added eyerolling and a heavy sigh, with a pinch of headshaking,maybe turn the eyes upwards to heaven and mutterin under ones breath is universal, I think that's the one noise that is alike esperanto understandable for everyone all over the world
I think the biggest problem with the Swiss language is to figure out where one word ends and the other one starts.
EastEnder thank you for putting the 'g' at the end of 'ig' had been wondering why no one had mentioned it.
When I explain the bernese dialect I always tell people it's more like a 'spitting' contest hehe, because we tend to stick that 'ch' as in loch at the end of most words.
Did find a nice site with 'dialektwoerter', my computer has a mind of it's own right now and won't load it.
I'll post it anyway and hope it will load for all of you.
I kept blanking out at the till, particularly at Avec, when the cashier would ask me something and I had no idea what it was (this was particularly bad when we first arrived and my German classes hadn't started yet). Turns out they were asking me if I wanted a sack for my purchases. I asked my husband (Swiss) what the phrase was so I could recognize it (similar to your request here) and he started saying all the different common phrases/ways you could be asked if you want a sack. After 5 or 6 I finally stopped him and gave up. I just started listening for "sackli" to be in a question, and that helped.
For me there has been no substitute for having German classes each week for trying to tune my ear. Our text is High German for People living in Switzerland and it focuses on language/phrases for every day life, in addition to teaching the grammar, and that has been quite useful. If I need the language for a topic not yet covered in class I can look ahead to that section (for example, medical appointments/health care) and get the phrases I need.
Another common question: "Es bitz meh?" or "Dörfs es bitzeli meh sii?" At the cheese or meat counter, the vendor asks this if he put 10-20 grams more on the scale than you've ordered. He wants to know if that's fine with you.