Low Alemannic German

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Low Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic dialects and belongs to the German language, even though they are only partly intelligible to German speakers.

Variants:

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] Orthography

(All of the below is specific to the dialects spoken near Freiburg im Breisgau)

Vowels:

Short Vowel Pronunciation Long Vowel Pronunciation
a [a] aa [aː]
ä [æ] ää [æː]
è [ɛ] èè [ɛː]
e [e, ə] ee [eː]
i [ɪ] ii [iː]
o [o] oo [oː]
ù [ʊ] ùù [ʊː]
u [y] uu [yː]
y [i, y] yy [uː]

Consonants:

Are as in Standard German, with the following notes:

  • kh is an aspirated [kʰ]
  • ng is a velar nasal plosive [ŋ]
  • ngg is a velar nasal plosive followed by a velar [ŋɡ]
  • ph is an aspirated [pʰ]
  • th is an aspirated [tʰ]
  • z represents [dz] as opposed to Standard German [ts]

[edit] Articles

Definite Article

Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nom/Acc Sg der Man d Frau s Chind
Dat Sg im Man (in) der Frau im Chind
Nom/Acc Pl d Mane d Fraue d Chinder
Dat Pl (in) der Mane (in) der Fraue (in) der Chinder

Indefinite Article

Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nom/Acc Sg e Man e Frau e Chind
Dat Sg im e Man in ere Frau im e Chind

[edit] Substantives

  • Class I: Plural = Singular
  • Class II: Plural = Singular + Umlaut
  • Class IIIa: Plural = Singular + -e
  • Class IIIb: Plural = Singular + -"e
  • Class IVa: Plural = Singular + -er
  • Class IVb: Plural = Singular + -"er
  • Class V: No Plural
  • Class VI: No Singular (Plural Only)

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.

[edit] Adjectives

Weak Declension

Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nom/Acc Sg der groos Man di göed Frau s chlai Chind
Dat Sg im (e) groose Man in der / in ere göede Frau im (e) chlaine Chind
Nom/Acc Pl di groose Mane di göede Fraue di chlaine Chinder
Dat Pl in der groose Mane in der göede Fraue in der chlaine Chinder

Strong Declension

Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nom/Acc Sg göede Wyy göedi Frau göed Brood
Dat Sg göedem Wyy göeder Frau göedem Brood
Nom/Acc Pl groosi Mane groosi Fraue chlaini Chinder
Dat Pl in groose Mane in groose Fraue in chlaine Chinder

Comperative

  • Standard ending -er (e.g. fèin --> fèiner)

Superlative

  • Standard ending -(e)schd (e.g. fèin --> fèinschd)

Irregular

Positive Comperative Superlative
vyyl mee maischd
göed beser beschd

[edit] Prouns

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

[edit] 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


[edit] Numbers

Cardinal Ordinal Mutiplicative I Mutiplicative 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

[edit] External links

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