Editing Swiss German (section)

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Bernese German consonant system
! &nbsp;
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-align=center
![[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} – {{IPA link|ː|mː}}
| {{IPA link|n}} – {{IPA link|ː|nː}}
| &nbsp;
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
| &nbsp;
|-
|-align=center
![[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| {{IPA link|p|b̥}} – {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t|d̥}} – {{IPA link|t}}
| &nbsp;
| {{IPA link|k|ɡ̊}} – {{IPA link|k}}
| &nbsp;
|-align=center
![[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| {{IPA link|p͡f}}
| {{IPA link|t͡s}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|k͡x}}
| &nbsp;
|-align=center
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| {{IPA link|f|v̥}} – {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s|z̥}} – {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ|ʒ̊}} – {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|x|ɣ̊}} – {{IPA link|x}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-align=center
![[Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|ʋ}}
| {{IPA link|l}} – {{IPA link|ː|lː}}
| {{IPA link|j}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-align=center
![[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
| &nbsp;
| {{IPA|r}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|}

Like most other Southern German dialects, Swiss German dialects have no voiced [[obstruent]]s. The voiceless lenis obstruents are often marked with the IPA diacritic for voicelessness as {{IPA|/b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ v̥ z̥ ɣ̊ ʒ̊/}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Fleischer|Schmid|2006|p=245}}</ref> Swiss German {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} are not aspirated. Nonetheless, there is an opposition of consonant pairs such as {{IPA|[t]}} and {{IPA|[d]}} or {{IPA|[p]}} and {{IPA|[b]}}. Traditionally, it has been described as a distinction of [[fortis and lenis]] in the original sense, that is, distinguished by articulatory strength or [[tenseness]].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Fleischer|Schmid|2006|p=244s.}}</ref> Alternatively, it has been claimed to be a distinction of quantity.<ref>Astrid Krähenmann: Quantity and prosodic asymmetries in Alemannic. Synchronic and diachronic perspectives. de Gruyter, Berlin 2003. {{ISBN|3-11-017680-7}}</ref>

Aspirated {{IPA|[pʰ, tʰ, kʰ]}} have secondarily developed by combinations of prefixes with word-initial {{IPA|/h/}} or by borrowings from other languages (mainly Standard German): {{IPA|/ˈphaltə/}} 'keep' (standard German {{Lang|de|behalten}} {{IPA|[bəˈhaltn̩]}}); {{IPA|/ˈtheː/}} 'tea' (standard German {{Lang|de|Tee}} {{IPA|[ˈtʰeː]}}); {{IPA|/ˈkhalt/}} 'salary' (standard German {{Lang|de|Gehalt}} {{IPA|[ɡəˈhalt]}}). In the dialects of Basel and Chur, aspirated {{IPA|/kʰ/}} is also present in native words, corresponding to the affricate {{IPA|/kx/}} of the other dialects, which does not occur in Basel or Chur.

Swiss German keeps the fortis–lenis opposition at the end of words. There can be minimal pairs such as {{Lang|gsw|graad}} {{IPA|[ɡ̊raːd̥]}} 'straight' and {{Lang|gsw|Graat}} {{IPA|[ɡ̊raːt]}} '[[arête]]' or ''bis'' {{IPA|[b̥ɪz̥]}} 'be ([[Imperative mood|imp.]])' and {{Lang|gsw|Biss}} {{IPA|[b̥ɪs]}} 'bite'. That distinguishes Swiss German and [[Swiss Standard German]] from [[German Standard German]], which [[neutralization (linguistics)|neutralizes]] the fortis–lenis opposition at the ends of words. The phenomenon is usually called [[final-obstruent devoicing]] even though, in the case of German, [[voice (phonetics)|phonetic voice]] may not be involved.

Unlike Standard German, Swiss German {{IPA|/x/}} does not have the allophone {{IPA|[ç]}} but is typically {{IPA|[x]}}, with allophones {{IPA|[ʁ̥ – χ]}}. The typical Swiss [[shibboleth]] features this sound: {{Lang|gsw|Chuchichäschtli}} ('kitchen cupboard'), pronounced {{IPA|[ˈχuχːiˌχæʃtli]}}.

Most Swiss German dialects have gone through the Alemannic ''n''-[[apocope]], which has led to the loss of final ''-n'' in words such as {{Lang|gsw|Garte}} 'garden' (standard German {{Lang|de|Garten}}) or {{Lang|gsw|mache}} 'to make' (standard German {{Lang|de|machen}}). In some Highest Alemannic dialects, the ''n''-apocope has also been effective in consonant clusters, for instance in {{Lang|gsw|Hore}} 'horn' (High Alemannic {{Lang|gsw|Horn}}) or {{Lang|gsw|däiche}} 'to think' (High Alemannic {{Lang|gsw|dänke}}). Only the Highest Alemannic dialects of the [[Lötschental]] and of the [[Haslital]] have preserved the -''n''.

The [[phoneme]] {{IPA|/r/}} is pronounced as an [[alveolar trill]] {{IPA|[r]}} in many dialects, but some dialects, especially in the Northeast or in the [[Basel]] region, have a [[uvular trill]] {{IPA|[ʀ]}}, and other allophones resulting in fricatives and an approximant as [{{IPA|ʁ ʁ̥ ʁ̞}}] like in many German varieties of Germany.

In many varieties of Bernese German and adjacent dialects, an {{IPA|/l/}} at the [[syllable coda]] and intervocalic {{IPA|/lː/}} are pronounced as a {{IPA|[w]}} or {{IPA|[wː]}} respectively.

A [[labiodental approximant]] {{IPA|[ʋ]}} is used instead of the Northern Standard German fricative {{IPA|[v]}} as the reflex of Middle High German {{IPA|/w/}}. In Walser German, the fricative is used instead.<ref>{{Cite book|title=High Alemmanic|last=Russ|first=Charles V. J.|publisher=Routledge|year=1990|location=The Dialects of Modern German: a Linguistic Survey|pages=364–393}}</ref>