(Swiss-)German äbä?

alrika · 21 April 2010 21:26

So what does this seemingly innocuous word mean? From the couple grammar books at my disposal, here's what I put together for the Modalpartikel 'eben':

eben/halt : emphasizes a known or inescapable fact. Unabänderliche Konsequenz, Resignation. "Max ist eben/halt Saras Freund". "Die letzte U-Bahn für heute ist vor 5 Minuten abgefahren. Dann müssen wir eben zu Fuss gehen". "Warum willst du denn nicht? Ich will halt nicht"

Does this have anything to do with äbä? Can somebody provide a couple examples please?

Merci viumau!

Kpetrizi · 21 April 2010 21:36

Aber = but; with various dialect versions, äbä not being one however unless you're very lonely living in the Walliser Alps. An ä is simply ae. Ebenhalt or eben is the emphasis as your example indicates.

"Dann müssen wir eben zu Fuss gehen" = Then we'll just have to go by foot" The eben is the just part in this phrase, it emphasizes that plan A has clearly not worked out, so we'll just have to go on foot. That's why English is a superior language.

legutku · 21 April 2010 22:04

äbä (or eben) said in a conversation alone as an answer to a statement from others simply means a confirmation / agreement with what is being said.

You can compare it with words like:

Right

Yeah

True

Agree

brigi · 21 April 2010 22:42

According to my German husband it simply means 'but'.

Hagatg · 21 April 2010 22:54

it means: "see, i told you, next time you better listen to what i told you, you useless piece of ...."

leophillalo · 21 April 2010 23:43

That would be when it is a woman who say äbä

Tamayra · 22 April 2010 06:16

I have a german speaking child who definitely uses it as 'but'...

My toddler has come home from swiss-german preschool, and starts every sentence with something similar to 'alle' - which we assume is something like an adult telling the kids 'everyone....we are going to bla bla bla'...

Kimfiveraldin · 22 April 2010 07:23

It means "quite" / "exactly" as in agreement and is the swiss dialect form of the german "eben".

Statement from A

Statement from B saying something related that could confirm what A said.

A says "quite/ exactly" (eben)

e.g.

A) The planes are flying again today.

B) Oh look there's a vapour trail.

A) "quite/ exactly" (eben)

Cremme · 22 April 2010 08:16

Don't confuse it with 'aber'.

"You were right about that decision"

"äbä!" (There you go / I told ya / See? / Right!)

'Moll' is often used in similar circumstances:

"I'm not sure it's true"

"Moll!" (It definitely is!)

Noted is the OPs use of Bern Deutsch. "Miouch" rather than "Milch"...

Alectruffa · 22 April 2010 09:55

Haha. That's a darn good definition. äbä

Kind of like: Du muesch es sälber wisse. (Du muess es selber wissen)

(You have to know yourself)

Translates to: Hey, you're an idiot for doing that but what do I care and I'm a hell of a lot smarter than you.

Alectruffa · 22 April 2010 10:00

Some examples:

A. Die Schmidig Brüder sind Komplette Idioten.

B. äbä. Ich ha das scho long gseit.

A. Sie sind Idiote aber sie mend es sälber wisse.

B. Du seisch es.

A. The Butcher brothers are complete idiots.

B. äbä. I've been saying that for a long time.

A. They are idiots but they have to know themselves what they're doing.

B. You said it.

Cremme · 22 April 2010 10:17

If in doubt, just throw 'em all together: " äbä stimmt genau doch äbä".

Swiss German speakers IMO like to use several words rather than one. See, for example, people saying goodbye: "Tchueesss aedieu Ciao Ciao aufwiederlueegaa bis nacher Tchueessli..."

Germans, on the other hand, are a cold bunch: " Auf Wiedersehen".