TV spots running at prime time are not enough publicity then, I suppose?
Since the advent of "Walking," "Nordic Walking" etc., it seems that there is a tendency to count "das Gehen" as an extension of "Laufsport," but that was not the case before.
The slogan, "Warte, luege, lose, laufe" is older than the Alps. Since we are talking about the correct way of crossing a street on foot, the meaning is very clear here. That's what I was focusing on.
So the sportspeople are called Geher? Fine by me, I discovered their existance only recently under the Denglish name. But the distinction you make gehen/laufen with earth contact and so on fits French/English better than German language use.
My only real concern: please do not let people in Switzerland think that laufen is used so differently in Germany. If there is something special about gehen in CH, it's the generic meaning where Germans would say fahren. I even heard "I gehe nach Amerika". Funny and interesting.
P.S. I am NOT trying to correct anybody, I am thinking loud in your presence.
Explanation for the non-German speakers: Germany's Germans feel a strong need to inform each other about how they travelled by choosing the adequat verb (fly, ride, walk...) whereas Switzerland's German speakers have a very happy life with using a generic gehen (to go). In a Germany's German's mind, if you say laufen , you make a point saying that you go somewhere walking: Fahren wir mit der U-Bahn? Nein, ich laufe lieber. (Do we take the tube? No, I prefer to walk). It takes a very clear context to have laufen meaning to run. The verb rennen pups up regularly too if need be.
In other words, I don't mind people understanding "running" in the above sentence in Hochdeutsch, but to me, it's walking even by northern German standards. Same in Dutch with lopen , btw.Usually Swiss German and Dutch (incl. northern platt) are the conservative ones and southern Germans the ones that transformed meanings the most. Just a general statement.
On the other hand, you'd never say, "Sie lief die Treppe hoch" without clearly meaning she was running, not walking. In Swiss German, "Sie isch d'Schtäge-n-uuf glaufe" can mean walking or running, but mainly walking.
What I mean by this is, the differences between Swiss German and Standard German often are a bit subtler than they appear at first and maybe even second glance.
Agreed, but you won't say, "Nein, ich laufe lieber zu Fuss." That may be OK in certain dialects, but it sounds funny in Standard German.
In my childhood, the grown up said " Eerst kieken, denn laufen " (wrong spelling is trying to give an idea of the local prononciation). To me, it was walking, and it will never be otherwise. And that's a good 800 km north of Swiss border.
When Duden says something is umgangssprachlich , that means it is not real Standard German. You wouldn't use it, say, in a serious newspaper or as a TV anchor except in a deliberately dialectal context.
What some of our dear EFers learn in German classes is meant to be Standard German, and that's why I pointed out the oftentimes different meaning of "laufen" in Swiss German and Standard German. They learn neither Bayerisch nor Kölsch.
There are acceptable exceptions even in fairly Standard German, though, such as "laufen lernen," which you correctly mentioned already. German is full of exceptions, by far not as much as English, but it is.
"Gehen's" definition according to Duden ( www.duden.de )
1 to stepwise move oneself on one's feet in upright posture
[...]
4a to betake oneself somewhere [with decided (?) intention]
[...]
The definition of laufen:
1.1 to move oneself in upright posture on ones feet at a fast pace, such that both feet lose receptively stepwise contact to the ground for a short moment
1.2 (coloquial) walk
1.3 travel on foot
[..]
2. to travel a certain distance walking
[...]
Definition #1.3 and #2 are not marked as colloquial or regional and thus should be fine to use in Standard German. Definition #1.2 however is marked as colloquial.
I think that based on these contradictions (ecpecially #1.2 and #2) one can assume, that there is no consensus about the meanings of laufen
- Si chönd scho a chli umeluege ?
- eifach ä chli luege .... scho guät ... wänn Si öppis münd wüsse nur mälde
Also, I found this online, about Kanton Graubünden. One interesting thing that it mentions is that drivers always must stop completely if children are trying to cross or are already crossing . ("Gli automobilisti devono fermarsi completamente davanti alle strisce pedonali, se dei bambini sono in procinto di attraversare la strada o la stanno già attraversando").