I am a languages student at uni in England have to write an essay on Swiss German, more specifically, what troubles it creates (having Schriftdeutsch and a spoken dialect, many variations, the Röstigraben etc.) Any ideas you have/stories you could give to illustrate would be most appreciated.
Haha, you picked a subject you could write several books about. The dialects in this country are insane, I've even heard of certain neighborhood in cities, or even certain villages where they would have a slightly different dialect (or idioms) than the neighboring village/neighborhood only half a mile away. I think one thing most Swiss could agree on is that in kanton Wallis (Valais) the "most difficult to understand" Swiss German is spoken, oder?
Absolutely, but unfortunately it is a necessity. I'm interested on how it makes people feel. Does Switzerland feel divided by the langauges or united in diversity, so to speak? Has the dialect become more widespread in recent years, does the use of spoken swiss german and the need to write schriftdeutsch cause problems for schoolkids? Any idea of any websites which could be useful to look at for stuff like this/statistics etc?
Two threads here that can get you started: Language and table manners and Swiss German or High German . You will see the frustration that it causes High German speaking expats. Nobody seems to have addressed the issue of how a Walliser and a Züricher communicate
Does anybody know any statistics websites that could show how many people speak what in Swizerland? It would be interesting to see which the most popular first 'foreign' language is (Assuming the mother tongue is the one of the Canton you were born in only).
Personally, I think it sounds silly and on another thread there were mild comments about 'banning' it for that reason. I don't find it offensive at all. Sorry if I gave you that impression. My fault.