Editing Swiss German (section)

== Vocabulary ==
The vocabulary is varied, especially in rural areas: many specialized terms have been retained, e.g., regarding cattle or weather. In the cities, much of the rural vocabulary has been lost. A Swiss German greeting is {{Lang|gsw|Grüezi}}, from {{Lang|gsw|Gott grüez-i}} (Standard German {{Lang|de|Gott}} ''{{wikt-lang|de|grüßen|grüsse}}'' {{Lang|de|Euch}}), loosely meaning 'God bless you'.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://digital.idiotikon.ch/idtkn/id2.htm#!page/20811/mode/1up |title=Schweizerisches Idiotikon |volume=2 |location=[[Zurich]] |pages=511–512 |language=de |trans-title=Swiss Idioticon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.idiotikon.ch/wortgeschichten/grueezi |title=Grüezi - Schweizerisches Idiotikon |date=27 May 2019 |access-date=16 July 2022 |archive-date=16 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220716181347/https://www.idiotikon.ch/wortgeschichten/grueezi |url-status=live }}</ref>

Most word adoptions come from Standard German. Many of these are now so common that they have totally replaced the original Swiss German words, e.g. the words {{Lang|gsw|Hügel}} 'hill' (instead of {{Lang|gsw|Egg}}'','' {{Lang|gsw|Bühl}}), {{Lang|gsw|Lippe}} 'lip' (instead of {{Lang|gsw|Lëfzge}}). Others have replaced the original words only in parts of Switzerland, e.g., {{Lang|gsw|Butter}} 'butter' (originally called {{Lang|gsw|Anke}} in most of Switzerland). Virtually any Swiss Standard German word can be borrowed into Swiss German, always adapted to Swiss German phonology. However, certain Standard German words are never used in Swiss German, for instance {{Lang|de|Frühstück}} 'breakfast', {{Lang|de|niedlich}} 'cute' or {{Lang|de|zu hause}} 'at home'; instead, the native words {{Lang|gsw|Zmorge}}, {{Lang|gsw|härzig}} and {{Lang|gsw|dehei}} are used.

Swiss dialects have quite a few words from French and Italian, which are perfectly assimilated. {{Lang|gsw|Glace}} (ice cream) for example is pronounced {{IPA|/ɡlas/}} in French but {{IPA|[ˈɡ̊lasːeː]}} or {{IPA|[ˈɡ̊lasːə]}} in many Swiss German dialects. The French word for 'thank you', {{Lang|fr|merci}}, is also used as in {{Lang|gsw|merci vilmal}} ({{literally|thanks many times}}, cf. Standard German's {{Lang|de|danke vielmals}} and {{Lang|de|vielen Dank}}). Possibly, these words are not direct adoptions from French but survivors of the once more numerous [[French loanwords in Standard German]], many of which have fallen out of use in Germany.

In recent years, Swiss dialects have also taken some English words which already sound very Swiss, e.g., {{IPA|[ˈfuːd̥ə]}} ('to eat', from 'food'), {{IPA|[ɡ̊ei̯mə]}} ('to play computer games', from ''game'') or {{IPA|[ˈz̥nœːb̥ə]}} or {{IPA|[ˈb̥oːrd̥ə]}} – ('to snowboard', from ''snowboard''). These words are probably not direct loanwords from English but have been adopted through standard German intermediation. While most of those loanwords are of recent origin, some have been in use for decades, e.g. {{IPA|[ˈ(t)ʃutːə]}} ('to play [[Association football|football]]', from ''shoot'').

There are also a few English words which are modern adoptions from Swiss German. The dishes ''[[müesli]]'', and ''[[rösti]]'' have become English words, as did ''[[loess]]'' (fine grain), ''[[flysch]]'' (sandstone formation), ''[[kepi]]'', ''[[landammann]]'', ''[[kilch (disambiguation)|kilch]]''<!--intentional link to DAB page-->, ''{{linktext|schiffli}}'', and ''[[putsch]]'' in a political sense. The term ''{{linktext|bivouac}}'' is sometimes explained as originating from Swiss German,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harper |first=Douglas R. |name-list-style=vanc |title=bivouac (noun) |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/bivouac |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501172157/https://www.etymonline.com/word/bivouac |archive-date=2019-05-01 |access-date=2009-01-05 |website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary|Etymonline]]}}</ref> while printed etymological dictionaries (e.g. the German ''[[Friedrich Kluge|Kluge]]'' or ''[[Droemer Knaur|Knaurs]] Etymological Dictionary'') derive it from [[Low German]] instead.

=== Sample phrases ===

{| class="wikitable"
!English
!Swiss German (Bernese)<ref>{{Cite web |title=berndeutsch.ch |url=https://www.berndeutsch.ch/ |publisher=Stephan Burkard |location=Solothurn, Switzerland |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=berndeutsch.ch |language=de }}</ref>
!Swiss Standard German
|-
|Hello!
|Grüessech!
|Hallo!
|-
|Good morning.
|Guete Morge!
|Guten Morgen!
|-
|Good evening.
|Gueten Aabe!
|Guten Abend!
|-
|Welcome!
|Härzlech wiukomme!
|Herzlich willkommen!
|-
|Goodbye.
|Tschüss!
|Ade!
|-
|Good night.
|Guet Nacht!
|Gute Nacht!
|-
|Yes!
|Ja/Jo/Ieu/Iu!
|Ja!
|-
|Yes, please!
|Jo, gärn.
|Ja, bitte!
|-
|Please!
|Bitte!
|Bitte!
|-
|Thank you!
|Merci.
|Danke/Merci!
|-
|Thank you very much!
|Merci viu mau!
|Merci vielmal!
|-
|You're welcome.
|Gärn gscheh./Bitte.
|Gern geschehen.
|-
|No!
|Nei/Ä-ää!
|Nein!
|-
|No thank you/no thanks.
|Nei merci.
|Nein, danke!
|-
|Excuse me.
|Exgüsee.
|Entschuldigung!

|-

|Of course not! ''or'' What did you mean?

|Au-wä (allwäg)!

|Selbstverständlich nicht! ''or'' Was hast du gemeint?
|-
|What time is it?
|Was isch für Ziit?
|Wie spät ist es? ''or'' Wie viel Uhr ist es?
|-
|Can you repeat that, please?
|Chöiter das bitte wyderhole?
|Könntet Ihr das bitte wiederholen?
|-
|Please speak more slowly!
|Red chli langsamer, bitte!
|Sprich ein bisschen langsamer, bitte!
|-
|I don't understand!
|Das verschtaani nid.
|Das verstehe ich nicht.
|-
|I'm sorry!
|Es tuet mer leid.
|Es tut mir leid!
|-
|I'd like a coffee, please!
|I hätti gärn es Kaffi.
|Ich hätte gerne einen Kaffee.
|-
|Two beers, please!
|Zwöi Bier, bitte!
|Zwei Bier, bitte!
|-
|How much does this cost?
|Was choschtet das?
|Wie viel kostet das?
|-
|Where are the toilets?
|Wo isch d'Toilette?
|Wo ist das WC?
|}