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107-695: Swiss German ( Standard German : Schweizerdeutsch , Alemannic German : Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart , and others) is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in the German-speaking part of Switzerland , and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially

214-675: A castrum (fortified camp) was built on the site of the Celtic oppidum . In AD 83, the area was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior . The Roman Senator Munatius Plancus is known as the traditional founder of Basel since the Renaissance. Roman control over the area deteriorated in the 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum formed by Diocletian . Basilia

321-426: A One Standard German Axiom is a defining feature of Germanistik. Outside of Switzerland, Austria and South Tyrol, local dialects tend to be used mainly in informal situations or at home and in dialect literature, but more recently, a resurgence of German dialects has appeared in mass media. In German, Standard German is generally called Hochdeutsch , reflecting the fact that its phonetics are largely those of

428-1265: A distinction is made between the German-speaking people living in Valais, the Walliser , and those who have migrated, the Walsers . The latter can mainly be found in Grisons and Ticino in Switzerland, Vorarlberg in Austria, south of the Monte Rosa mountain chain in Italy (e.g. in Issime in Valle d'Aosta ), South Tyrol in northern Italy, and the Allgäu in Bavaria). Generally, the Walser communities were situated on higher alpine regions, so were able to stay independent of

535-430: A distinction of quantity. Aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] have secondarily developed by combinations of prefixes with word-initial /h/ or by borrowings from other languages (mainly Standard German): /ˈphaltə/ 'keep' (standard German behalten [bəˈhaltn̩] ); /ˈtheː/ 'tea' (standard German Tee [ˈtʰeː] ); /ˈkhalt/ 'salary' (standard German Gehalt [ɡəˈhalt] ). In the dialects of Basel and Chur, aspirated /kʰ/

642-504: A few cantonal and municipal ones), in the main news broadcast or in the presence of non- Alemannic speakers. This situation has been called a "medial diglossia ", since the spoken language is mainly Swiss German, whereas the written language is mainly (the Swiss variety of) Standard German . In 2014, about 87% of the people living in the German-speaking portion of Switzerland were using Swiss German in their everyday lives. Swiss German

749-536: A handful of wealthy families collectively referred to as the "Daig" played a pivotal role in city affairs as they gradually established themselves as a de facto city aristocracy . The first edition of Christianae religionis institutio ( Institutes of the Christian Religion – John Calvin 's great exposition of Calvinist doctrine) was published at Basel in March 1536. In 1544, Johann von Brugge,

856-546: A hyphen after their stems. Words that are written with capital letters in Standard German are nouns. English has taken many loanwords from German, often without any change of spelling (aside from frequently eliminating umlauts and not capitalizing nouns ): The Duden is the de facto official dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880. The Duden

963-520: A name Basilia attested in northern France as a development of basilica , the term for a public or church building (as in Bazeilles ), but all of these names reference early church buildings of the 4th or 5th century and cannot be adduced for the 3rd-century attestation of Basilia . By popular etymology, or simple assonance, the basilisk becomes closely associated with the city, used as heraldic supporter from 1448, represented on coins minted by

1070-468: A relic, possibly attributed to Saint Germanus of Granfelden . This staff (known as Baselstab ) became a symbol representing the Basel diocese, depicted in bishops' seals of the late medieval period. It is represented in a heraldic context in the early 14th century, not yet as a heraldic charge but as a kind of heraldic achievement flanked by the heraldic shields of the bishop. The staff is also represented in

1177-528: A resolution of individual villages. Speaking the dialect is an important part of regional, cantonal and national identities. In the more urban areas of the Swiss plateau , regional differences are fading due to increasing mobility and to a growing population of non-Alemannic background. Despite the varied dialects, the Swiss can still understand one another, but may particularly have trouble understanding Walliser dialects. Most Swiss German dialects have completed

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1284-518: A rich Dutch Protestant refugee, was given citizenship and lived respectably until his death in 1556, then buried with honors. His body was exhumed and burnt at the stake in 1559 after it was discovered that he was the Anabaptist David Joris . In 1543, De humani corporis fabrica , the first book on human anatomy, was published and printed in Basel by Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564). There are indications Joachim Meyer , author of

1391-538: A special group is their almost unrestricted use as a spoken language in practically all situations of daily life, whereas the use of the Alemannic dialects in other countries is restricted or even endangered. The dialects that comprise Swiss German must not be confused with Swiss Standard German , the variety of Standard German used in Switzerland. Swiss Standard German is fully understandable to all speakers of Standard German, while many people in Germany – especially in

1498-517: A traditional dialect of a specific region but as a written language developed over a process of several hundred years in which writers tried to write in a way that was understood in the largest area. Martin Luther's translation of the Bible in 1522 (New Testament, Old Testament 1534) was an important development towards an early standardization of written German. Luther based his translation largely on

1605-475: Is May during which time Basel receives an average of 98 mm (3.9 in) of rain. The month with the most days of precipitation is also May, with an average of 11.7 days. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 45 mm (1.8 in) of precipitation over 8.4 days. The city of Basel functions as the capital of the Swiss half-canton of Basel-Stadt . The canton Basel-Stadt consists of three municipalities: Riehen , Bettingen , and

1712-648: Is a long-standing de facto standard pronunciation ( Bühnendeutsch ), most commonly used in formal speech and teaching materials. It is similar to the formal German spoken in and around Hanover . Adherence to those standards by private individuals and companies, including the print and audio-visual media, is voluntary. Austrian German has had standard pronunciation exceptions since 1904 ( Luick's österreichische Bühnenaussprache). In Switzerland, no such official pronunciation codex exists, yet most Standard Swiss German speakers are markedly different sounding from Hanover-type phonetic targets. Standard German originated not as

1819-710: Is a music genre using the language; many Swiss rock bands, however, sing in English instead. The Swiss Amish of Adams County, Indiana , and their daughter settlements also use a form of Swiss German. Swiss German is a regional or political umbrella term , not a linguistic unity. For all Swiss-German dialects, there are idioms spoken outside Switzerland that are more closely related to them than to some other Swiss-German dialects. The main linguistic divisions within Swiss German are those of Low , High and Highest Alemannic, and mutual intelligibility across those groups

1926-574: Is almost fully seamless, despite some differences in vocabulary. Low Alemannic is only spoken in the northernmost parts of Switzerland, in Basel and around Lake Constance . High Alemannic is spoken in most of the Swiss Plateau , and is divided into an eastern and a western group. Highest Alemannic is spoken in the Alps . One can separate each dialect into numerous local subdialects, sometimes down to

2033-481: Is also present in native words, corresponding to the affricate /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 graad [ɡ̊raːd̥] 'straight' and Graat [ɡ̊raːt] ' arête ' or bis [b̥ɪz̥] 'be ( imp. )' and Biss [b̥ɪs] 'bite'. That distinguishes Swiss German and Swiss Standard German from German Standard German , which neutralizes

2140-425: Is as consistent as Icelandic in that respect. The grammar of Swiss dialects has some idiosyncratic features in comparison to Standard German: In Swiss German, a small number of verbs reduplicate in a reduced infinitival form, i.e. unstressed shorter form, when used in their finite form governing the infinitive of another verb. The reduced and reduplicated part of the verb in question is normally put in front of

2247-458: Is being reintroduced because of the influence of other Swiss German dialects. Like Bavarian dialects, Swiss German dialects have preserved the opening diphthongs of Middle High German : /iə̯, uə̯, yə̯/ : in /liə̯b̥/ 'lovely' (standard German lieb but pronounced /liːp/ ); /huə̯t/ 'hat' (standard German Hut /huːt/ ); /xyə̯l/ 'cool' (Standard German kühl /kyːl/ ). Some diphthongs have become unrounded in several dialects. In

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2354-747: Is first named by the Ammianus Marcellinus in his Res Gestae as part of the Roman military fortifications along the Rhine in the late 4th century. The Germanic confederation of the Alemanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled; one such event was the Battle of Solicinium (368). However, in the great invasion of AD 406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed

2461-446: Is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.67 km (7.98 sq mi) or 86.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 1.45 km (0.56 sq mi) or 6.1% is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 10.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 40.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 24.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.7% of

2568-452: Is generally used in radio and television as well as in German learning materials for non-natives and at least aspirationally by language teachers. The accent is documented in reference works such as Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (German Pronunciation Dictionary) by Eva-Maria Krech et al., Duden 6 Das Aussprachewörterbuch (Duden volume 6, The Pronunciation Dictionary) by Max Mangold and

2675-474: Is intelligible to speakers of other Alemannic dialects, but largely unintelligible to speakers of Standard German who lack adequate prior exposure. This is also a challenge for French- or Italian-speaking Swiss who learn Standard German at school. In the rare cases that Swiss German is heard on TV in Germany and Austria, the speaker is most likely to be dubbed or subtitled. More commonly, a Swiss speaker will speak Standard German on non-Swiss media. "Dialect rock"

2782-626: Is located in Northwestern Switzerland and is commonly considered to be the capital of that region. It is close to the point where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, and Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. As of 2016 , the Swiss Basel agglomeration was the third-largest in Switzerland, with a population of 541,000 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland (municipal count as of 2018). The metropolitan area , called

2889-475: Is more often on the first syllable than in Standard German, even in French loans like [ˈmɛrsːi] or [ˈmersːi] 'thanks' (despite stress falling on the final syllable in French ). However, there are many different stress patterns, even within dialects. Bernese German has many words that are stressed on the first syllable: [ˈkaz̥inɔ] 'casino' while Standard German has [kʰaˈziːno] . However, no Swiss German dialect

2996-410: Is most likely to be used without its reduplicated and reduced form while retaining grammaticality, whereas utterances with goo are least likely to remain grammatical without the reduplicated part. Between laa and afaa , these effects are weakest in afaa . This means that while reduplication is mandatory for laa in declarative main clauses almost everywhere in the country, this

3103-509: Is preserved in dialect literature and scholarly descriptions. It can thus be argued that it is the spread of Standard German as a language taught at school that defines the German Sprachraum , which was thus a political decision, rather than a direct consequence of dialect geography . That allowed areas with dialects with very little mutual intelligibility to participate in the same cultural sphere. Some linguists claim today that

3210-655: Is the Austrian counterpart to the German Duden and contains a number of terms unique to Austrian German or more frequently used or differently pronounced there. A considerable amount of this "Austrian" vocabulary is also common in Southern Germany , especially Bavaria , and some of it is used in Switzerland as well. Since the 39th edition in 2001 the orthography of the ÖWB has been adjusted to

3317-462: Is the case for fewer varieties of Swiss German with afaa . The reason for this is unknown, but it has been hypothesized that the fact that afaa has a separable prefix ( a -) might weaken its doubling capacity. The presence of this separable prefix also makes the boundaries between the reduced infinitival reduplication form and the prefix hard if not impossible to determine. Thus, in the example above for afaa , an argument could be made that

Swiss German - Misplaced Pages Continue

3424-543: Is the everyday spoken language for the majority of the population, in all social strata, from urban centers to the countryside. Using Swiss German conveys neither social nor educational inferiority and is done with pride. There are a few settings where speaking Standard German is demanded or polite, e.g., in education (but not during breaks in school lessons, where the teachers will speak with students in Swiss German), in multilingual parliaments (the federal parliaments and

3531-441: Is updated regularly, with new editions appearing every four or five years. As of August 2017 , it was in its 27th edition and in 12 volumes, each covering different aspects such as loanwords , etymology , pronunciation , synonyms , and so forth. The first of these volumes, Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (German Orthography), has long been the prescriptive source for the spelling of Standard High German. The Duden had become

3638-537: The Duden , in 1880. The first spelling codification by the Second Orthographic Conference of 1901 , based on Duden's work, came into effect in 1902. In 1944 there was a failed attempt at another reform; this was delayed on the order of Hitler and not taken up again after the end of World War II . In the following decades German spelling was essentially decided de facto by the editors of

3745-433: The Basel massacre . The Basel earthquake of 1356 destroyed much of the city along with a number of castles in the vicinity. A riot on 26 February 1376, known as Böse Fasnacht , led to the killing of a number of men of Leopold III, Duke of Austria . This was seen as a serious breach of the peace , and the city council blamed "foreign ruffians" for this and executed twelve alleged perpetrators. Leopold nevertheless had

3852-737: The French Revolutionary Wars . In more recent times, the World Zionist Organization held its first congress in Basel from 29 August through 31 August 1897. Because of the Balkan Wars , the (Socialist) Second International held an extraordinary congress at Basel in 1912. In 1989, the Basel Convention was opened for signature with the aim of preventing the export of hazardous waste from wealthy to developing nations for disposal. Basel

3959-524: The German spelling reform of 1996 . The dictionary is also officially used in the Italian province of South Tyrol . It is currently available in 44th edition, from 2022, and includes an online version with limited access. Several organisations promote the use and learning of the Standard German language. The government-backed Goethe-Institut , (named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ) aims to enhance

4066-608: The High German spoken in the southern uplands and the Alps (including Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein and parts of northern Italy as well as southern Germany ). The corresponding term Low German reflects the fact that these dialects belong to the lowlands stretching towards the North Sea . The widespread but mistaken impression that Hochdeutsch is so-called because it is perceived to be "good German" has led to use of

4173-478: The High German consonant shift . Unlike Standard German , which has only shifted t to [t͡s] or [s] and p to [p͡f] or [f] , they have also shifted k to [k͡x] or [x] . The dialects of Chur and Basel are exceptions to this. Basel German is a Low Alemannic dialect (mostly spoken in Germany near the Swiss border), and Chur German is basically High Alemannic without initial [x] or [k͡x] . Examples: The High German consonant shift occurred between

4280-478: The Trinational Eurodistrict of Basel (TEB), consists of 62 suburban communes including municipalities in neighboring countries, and counted 829,000 inhabitants in 2007. Basel has an area, as of 2009 , of 23.91 square kilometers (9.23 sq mi). Of this area, 0.95 km (0.37 sq mi) or 4.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.88 km (0.34 sq mi) or 3.7%

4387-536: The Zoo Basel , opened its doors in the south of the city towards Binningen . In 1897 the first World Zionist Congress was held in Basel. Altogether the World Zionist Congress was held in Basel ten times, more than in any other city in the world. On 16 November 1938, the psychedelic drug LSD was first synthesized by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel. In 1967,

Swiss German - Misplaced Pages Continue

4494-732: The syllable coda and intervocalic /lː/ are pronounced as a [w] or [wː] respectively. A labiodental approximant [ʋ] is used instead of the Northern Standard German fricative [v] as the reflex of Middle High German /w/ . In Walser German, the fricative is used instead. Most Swiss German dialects have rounded front vowels, unlike other High German dialects. Only in Low Alemannic dialects of northwestern Switzerland (mainly Basel) and in Walliser dialects have rounded front vowels been unrounded. In Basel, rounding

4601-411: The 11th to 12th century, Basel gradually acquired the characteristics of a medieval city . The main market place is first mentioned in 1091. The first city walls were constructed around 1100 (with improvements made in the mid-13th and in the late 14th century). A city council of nobles and burghers is recorded for 1185, and the first mayor , Heinrich Steinlin of Murbach, for 1253. The first bridge across

4708-405: The 1980s, German has widely been considered a pluricentric language with the national standard varieties of German Standard German , Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German . These varieties of standard German differ above all in vocabulary , pragmatics and pronunciation , but in some instances also in grammar and, in only a handful of cases, in orthography . In formal writing,

4815-548: The 20th century also Hermann Hesse and Karl Jaspers . Basel was the seat of a Prince-Bishopric starting in the 11th century, and joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1501. The city has been a commercial hub and an important cultural centre since the Renaissance , and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the 20th century. In 1897, Basel was chosen by Theodor Herzl as

4922-519: The 4th and 9th centuries south of the Benrath line , separating High German from Low German (where high refers to areas of greater altitude). It combines Upper German and Central German varieties - also referring to their geographical locations. The Walser migration, which took place in the 12th and 13th centuries, spread varieties from upper Valais to the east and south, into Grisons and to modern western Austria and northern Italy. Informally,

5029-457: The Alemannic n - apocope , which has led to the loss of final -n in words such as Garte 'garden' (standard German Garten ) or mache 'to make' (standard German machen ). In some Highest Alemannic dialects, the n -apocope has also been effective in consonant clusters, for instance in Hore 'horn' (High Alemannic Horn ) or däiche 'to think' (High Alemannic dänke ). Only

5136-815: The Bishop of Basel was added to the Bench of the Ecclesiastical Princes of the Imperial Diet . In 1500 the construction of the Basel Münster was finished. The city had remained neutral through the Swabian War of 1499 despite being plundered by soldiers on both sides. The Treaty of Basel ended the war and granted the Swiss confederates exemptions from the emperor Maximillian's taxes and jurisdictions, separating Switzerland de facto from

5243-694: The Duden dictionaries. After the war, this tradition was followed with two different centers: Mannheim in West Germany and Leipzig in East Germany . By the early 1950s, a few other publishing houses had begun to attack the Duden monopoly in the West by publishing their own dictionaries, which did not always conform to the "official" spellings prescribed by Duden. In response, the Ministers of Culture of

5350-716: The Highest Alemannic dialects of the Lötschental and of the Haslital have preserved the - n . The phoneme /r/ is pronounced as an alveolar trill [r] in many dialects, but some dialects, especially in the Northeast or in the Basel region, have a uvular trill [ʀ] , and other allophones resulting in fricatives and an approximant as [ ʁ ʁ̥ ʁ̞ ] like in many German varieties of Germany. In many varieties of Bernese German and adjacent dialects, an /l/ at

5457-648: The Holy Roman Empire. On 9 June 1501, Basel joined the Swiss Confederation as its eleventh canton . It was the only canton that was asked to join, not the other way round. Basel had a strategic location, good relations with Strasbourg and Mulhouse , and control of the corn imports from Alsace, whereas the Swiss lands were becoming overpopulated and had few resources. A provision of the Charter accepting Basel required that in conflicts among

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5564-460: The IPA diacritic for voicelessness as /b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ v̥ z̥ ɣ̊ ʒ̊/ . Swiss German /p, t, k/ are not aspirated. Nonetheless, there is an opposition of consonant pairs such as [t] and [d] or [p] and [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 . Alternatively, it has been claimed to be

5671-560: The Old City, and likely identical with the town of Arialbinnum that was mentioned on the Tabula Peutingeriana ). The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an oppidum on the site of Basel Minster , probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul . In Roman Gaul , Augusta Raurica was established some 20 km (12 mi) from Basel as the regional administrative centre, while

5778-422: The Rhine a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace and a large part of the Swiss Plateau . The Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century. The Alemannic and Frankish settlement of Basel gradually grew around the old Roman castle in the 6th and 7th century. It appears that Basel surpassed the ancient regional capital of Augusta Raurica by the 7th century; based on

5885-436: The Rhine was built in 1225 under bishop Heinrich von Thun (at the location of the modern Middle Bridge ), and from this time the settlement of Kleinbasel gradually formed around the bridgehead on the far river bank. The bridge was largely funded by Basel's Jewish community who had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river "between Lake Constance and

5992-409: The Standard German varieties must not be confused with the variation of the local German dialects . Even though the Standard German varieties are to a certain degree influenced by the local dialects, they are very distinct. All varieties of Standard German are based on the common tradition of the written German language, whereas the local dialects have their own historical roots that go further back than

6099-892: The Zürich dialect, short pronunciations of / i y u / are realized as [ ɪ ʏ ʊ ]. Sounds like the monophthong [ɒ] can frequently become unrounded to [ɑ] among many speakers of the Zürich dialect. Vowels such as a centralized [ a ] and an open-mid [ ɔ ] only occur in the Bernese dialect. Like in Low German , most Swiss German dialects have preserved the old West-Germanic monophthongs /iː, uː, yː/ : /pfiːl/ 'arrow' (Standard German Pfeil /pfaɪ̯l/ ); /b̥uːx/ 'belly' (Standard German Bauch /baʊ̯x/ ); /z̥yːlə/ 'pillar' (Standard German Säule /zɔʏ̯lə/ ). A few Alpine dialects show diphthongization, like in Standard German, especially some dialects of Unterwalden and Schanfigg (Graubünden) and

6206-470: The already developed language of the Saxon chancery, which was more widely understood than other dialects and as a Central German dialect, was felt to be "halfway" between the dialects of the north and south. Luther drew principally on Eastern Upper and East Central German dialects and preserved much of the grammatical system of Middle High German . Later in 1748, a grammar manual by Johann Christoph Gottsched , Grundlegung einer deutschen Sprachkunst ,

6313-671: The area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 8.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 2.5% is used for growing crops and 1.3% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Under the Köppen system , Basel features an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb ), although with notable continental influences due to its relatively far inland position with cool to cold, overcast winters and warm to hot, humid summers. The city averages 118.2 days of rain or snow annually and on average receives 842 mm (33.1 in) of precipitation . The wettest month

6420-524: The bible of the Standard High German language, being the definitive set of rules regarding grammar, spelling, and usage of Standard High German. The Österreichisches Wörterbuch ("Austrian Dictionary"), abbreviated ÖWB , is the official dictionary of the Standard High German language in the Republic of Austria . It is edited by a group of linguists under the authority of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (German: Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur ). It

6527-426: The bishop and from the Habsburgs and was free to pursue its own policy of territorial expansion, beginning around 1400. The unique representation of a bishops' crozier as the heraldic charge in the coat of arms of Basel first appears in the form of a gilded wooden staff in the 12th century. It is of unknown origin or significance (beyond its obvious status of bishop's crozier), but it is assumed to have represented

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6634-502: The bishops's seals of the period. The use of the Baselstab in black as the coat of arms of the city was introduced in 1385. From this time, the Baselstab in red represented the bishop, and the same charge in black represented the city. The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is In Silber ein schwarzer Baselstab (Argent, a staff of Basel sable). In 1400, Basel was able to purchase the towns of Liestal , Homburg and Waldenburg with its surrounding territory. In 1412 (or earlier),

6741-409: The city is famous for its many museums , including the Kunstmuseum , which is the first collection of art accessible to the public in the world (1661) and the largest museum of art in Switzerland , the Fondation Beyeler (located in Riehen ), the Museum Tinguely and the Museum of Contemporary Art , which is the first public museum of contemporary art in Europe. Forty museums are spread throughout

6848-466: The city placed under imperial ban , and in a treaty of 9 July, Basel was given a heavy fine and was placed under Habsburg control. To free itself from Habsburg hegemony, Basel joined the Swabian League of Cities in 1385, and many knights of the pro-Habsburg faction, along with duke Leopold himself, were killed in the Battle of Sempach the following year. A formal treaty with Habsburg was made in 1393. Basel had gained its de facto independence from both

6955-533: The city was for all practical purposes independent although it continued to nominally pledge fealty to the bishops. The House of Habsburg attempted to gain control over the city. This was not successful, but it caused a political split among the burghers of Basel into a pro-Habsburg faction, known as Sterner , and an anti-Habsburg faction, the Psitticher . The Black Death reached Basel in 1348. The Jews were blamed , and an estimated 50 to 70 Jews were executed by burning on 16 January 1349 in what has become known as

7062-403: The city, and frequently found in ornaments. The Middle French form Basle was adopted into English, but this form has fallen gradually out of use although it continues to be used in some sections of British English including the BBC . Currently, the spelling Basel is most often used, to match the official German spelling. In French Basle was still in use in the 18th century, but

7169-454: The city-canton, making Basel one of the largest cultural centres in relation to its size and population in Europe. The University of Basel , Switzerland's oldest university (founded in 1460), and the city's centuries-long commitment to humanism , have made Basel a safe haven at times of political unrest in other parts of Europe for such notable people as Erasmus of Rotterdam , the Holbein family, Friedrich Nietzsche , Carl Jung , and in

7276-860: The dialect of Issime (Piedmont). Some Western Swiss German dialects like Bernese German have preserved the old diphthongs /ei̯, ou̯/ , but the other dialects have /ai̯, au̯/ like Standard German or /æi̯, æu̯/ . Zürich German , and some other dialects distinguish primary diphthongs from secondary ones that arose in hiatus : Zürich German /ai̯, au̯/ from Middle High German /ei̯, ou̯/ versus Zürich German /ei̯, ou̯/ from Middle High German /iː, uː/ ; Zürich German /bai̯, frau̯/ 'leg, woman' from Middle High German bein , vrouwe versus Zürich German /frei̯, bou̯/ 'free, building' from Middle High German frī , būw . In many Swiss German dialects, consonant length and vowel length are independent from each other, unlike other modern Germanic languages. Here are examples from Bernese German: Lexical stress

7383-429: The dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg , which are closely associated to Switzerland's. Linguistically, Alemannic is divided into Low , High and Highest Alemannic , varieties all of which are spoken both inside and outside Switzerland. The only exception within German-speaking Switzerland is the municipality of Samnaun , where a Bavarian dialect is spoken. The reason Swiss German dialects constitute

7490-451: The difference between British and American English. The pronouncing dictionary of the Duden dictionary group codifies the standard pronunciation for German Standard German and allows for a small number of divergences; for example, the string "äh" has two authorized pronunciations, /ɛː/ and /eː/. Some regions see only the first as correct, and others use only the second; Duden now recognizes both as correct. Standardized High German pronunciation

7597-470: The differences are small; in regards to the spoken language, the different varieties of Standard German are easily recognized by most speakers. These three national standards (German, Austrian and Swiss) have each been adopted by other German-speaking countries and communities as their standard form of German. The German standard is applied in Luxembourg , Belgium , and Namibia while the Swiss standard has been adopted in Liechtenstein . The variation of

7704-478: The evidence of a gold tremissis (a small gold coin with the value of a third of a solidus ) with the inscription Basilia fit , Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century. Basel at this time was part of the Archdiocese of Besançon . A separate bishopric of Basel , replacing the ancient bishopric of Augusta Raurica , was established in the 8th century. Under bishop Haito (r. 806–823),

7811-498: The examples show, all verbs are reduplicated with a reduced infinitival form when used in a declarative main clause. This is especially interesting as it stands in contrast to the standard variety of German and other varieties of the same, where such doubling effects are not found as outlined in the examples. Reduplication effects are weaker in the verbs laa 'to let' and afaa 'to start, to begin' than they are in gaa 'to go' and choo 'to come'. This means that afaa

7918-468: The federal states in West Germany officially declared the Duden spellings to be binding as of November 1955 ("Duden-Monopol" or "Dudenmonopol", "Duden-Privileg" or "Dudenprivileg"). The orthography reform of 1996 was based on an international agreement signed by the governments of the German -speaking countries Germany , Austria , Liechtenstein and Switzerland ; but acceptance of the reform

8025-627: The first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle (replaced by a Romanesque structure consecrated in 1019). At the partition of the Carolingian Empire through the Treaty of Verdun in 843, Basel was first given to West Francia and became its German exclave. It passed to East Francia with the Treaty of Meerssen of 870. Basel was destroyed by the Magyars in 917. The rebuilt town became part of Upper Burgundy , and as such

8132-487: The fortis–lenis opposition at the ends of words. The phenomenon is usually called final-obstruent devoicing even though, in the case of German, phonetic voice may not be involved. Unlike Standard German, Swiss German /x/ does not have the allophone [ç] but is typically [x] , with allophones [ʁ̥ – χ] . The typical Swiss shibboleth features this sound: Chuchichäschtli ('kitchen cupboard'), pronounced [ˈχuχːiˌχæʃtli] . Most Swiss German dialects have gone through

8239-462: The globe. Its Standard German language services are spoken slowly and thus tailored for learners. Deutsche Welle also provides an e-learning website for learning Standard German. Basel Basel ( / ˈ b ɑː z əl / BAH -zəl ; German: [ˈbaːzl̩] ), also known as Basle , is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the River Rhine (at

8346-596: The infinitive of the second verb. This is the case for the motion verbs gaa 'to go' and choo 'to come' when used in the meaning of 'go (to) do something', 'come (to) do something', as well as the verbs laa 'to let' and in certain dialects afaa 'to start, to begin' when used in the meaning of 'let do something', or 'start doing something'. Most affected by this phenomenon is the verb gaa , followed by choo . Both laa and afaa are less affected and only when used in present tense declarative main clauses . Declarative sentence examples: As

8453-653: The influential 16th-century martial arts text Kunst des Fechten ("The Art of Fencing"), came from Basel. In 1661 the Amerbaschsches Kabinett , a vast collection of exotic artifacts, coins, medals and books was purchased by Basel. It was to become to the first public museum of art. Its collection became the core of the later Basel Museum of Art . The Bernoulli family, which included important 17th- and 18th-century mathematicians such as Jakob Bernoulli , Johann Bernoulli and Daniel Bernoulli , were from Basel. The 18th-century mathematician Leonhard Euler

8560-683: The knowledge of German culture and language within Europe and the rest of the world. This is done by holding exhibitions and conferences with German-related themes, and providing training and guidance in the learning and use of the German language. For example, the Goethe-Institut teaches the Goethe-Zertifikat German language qualification. The German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle provides radio and television broadcasts in Standard German and 30 other languages across

8667-443: The letter ß because it contains a long vowel, even though that letter occurs at the end of a syllable. The logic of this change is that an 'ß' is a single letter whereas 'ss' are two letters, so the same distinction applies as (for example) between the words den and denn . This is a selection of cognates in both English and Standard German. Instead of the usual infinitive ending -en , Standard German verbs are indicated by

8774-540: The location for the first World Zionist Congress , and altogether the congress was held there ten times over a time span of 50 years, more than in any other location. The city is also home to the world headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements . The name of the city is internationally known through institutions like the Basel Accords , Art Basel and FC Basel . Basel is Switzerland's main centre for

8881-477: The north – do not understand Swiss German. An interview with a Swiss German speaker, when shown on television in Germany, will require subtitles. Although Swiss German is the native language in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, Swiss school students are taught Swiss Standard German from the age of six. They are thus capable of understanding, writing and speaking Standard German, with varying abilities. Unlike most regional languages in modern Europe, Swiss German

8988-445: The other cantons it was to stay neutral and offer its services for mediation. In 1503, the new bishop Christoph von Utenheim refused to give Basel a new constitution; whereupon, to show its power, the city began to build a new city hall. In 1529, the city became Protestant under Oecolampadius and the bishop's seat was moved to Porrentruy . The bishop's crook was however retained as the city's coat of arms. For centuries to come,

9095-459: The pharmaceutical industry, hosting both Novartis and Roche . In 2019 Basel was ranked the tenth most liveable city in the world by Mercer . The name of Basel is first recorded as Basilia in the 3rd century (237/8), at the time referring to the Roman castle . This name is mostly interpreted as deriving from the personal name Basilius , from a toponym villa Basilia (" estate of Basilius") or similar. Another suggestion derives it from

9202-416: The population of Basel voted in favor of buying three works of art by painter Pablo Picasso which were at risk of being sold and taken out of the local museum of art, due to a financial crisis on the part of the owner's family. Therefore, Basel became the first city in the world where the population of a political community democratically decided to acquire works of art for a public institution. Pablo Picasso

9309-402: The prefix a- is left off, while the full reduplicated form is used: Mier We fanged start- 1PL jetzt now afa start ässe eat- INF Mier fanged jetzt afa ässe We start-1PL now start eat-INF We're starting to eat now. / We start eating now. In this case, the prefix would be omitted, which is normally not permissible for separable prefixes, and in its place,

9416-489: The reduplication form is used. Standard German Regarding the spelling and punctuation, a recommended standard is published by the Council for German Orthography which represents the governments of all majority and minority German-speaking countries and dependencies. Adherence is obligatory for government institutions, including schools. Regarding the pronunciation, although there is no official standards body, there

9523-400: The reform, some newspapers, such as Die Zeit , Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung , created their own in-house orthographies. After 10 years, without any intervention by the federal parliament, a major revision of the spelling reform was installed in 2006 because there were disagreements regarding capitalization and splitting of German words. Also revised were

9630-520: The rest of Northern Germany. Standard High German is written in the Latin alphabet . In addition to the 26 standard letters, German has three vowels with an umlaut mark , namely ä , ö and ü , as well as the Eszett or scharfes s (sharp s): ß . In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, ss is used instead of ß . A first step to standardisation, although non-prescriptive, of Early New High German

9737-452: The rules governing punctuation marks. The most noticeable change was probably in the use of the letter ß , called scharfes s ( Sharp S ) or Eszett (pronounced ess-tsett , coming from ſz). Traditionally, this letter was used in three situations: Examples are Füße , paßt , and daß . Currently, only the first rule is in effect, making the reformed spellings Füße , passt , and dass . The word Fuß 'foot' has

9844-536: The ruling forces of those days, who did not or were not able to oversee them all the time in these hostile environments. Hence the Walsers were pioneers of the liberation from serfdom and feudalism . In addition, Walser villages are easily distinguishable from Grisonian ones, as Walser houses are made of wood rather than stone. Like most other Southern German dialects, Swiss German dialects have no voiced obstruents . The voiceless lenis obstruents are often marked with

9951-420: The sea". The first city guild were the furriers , established in 1226. A total of about fifteen guilds were established in the course of the 13th century, reflecting the increasing economic prosperity of the city. The Crusade of 1267 set out from Basel. Political conflicts between the bishops and the burghers began in the mid-13th century and continued throughout the 14th century. By the late 14th century,

10058-535: The supposedly less judgmental Standarddeutsch ("Standard German"), deutsche Standardsprache ("German standard language"). On the other hand, the "standard" written languages of Switzerland and Austria have each been codified as standards distinct from that used in Germany. For this reason, "Hochdeutsch" or "High German", originally a mere geographic designation, applies unproblematically to Swiss Standard German and Austrian German as well as to German Standard German and may be preferred for that reason. Since

10165-504: The training materials at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (West German Broadcasting) and Deutschlandfunk (Radio Germany). It is an invented accent, rather than one radiating from any particular German-speaking city. It is often said that the people of Hannover speak German with an accent that comes closest to the standard of the Duden dictionaries, but the claim is debatable, particularly since it may apply equally well to

10272-511: The transition from the High to the Upper Rhine ). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva ), with 177,595 inhabitants within the city municipality limits. The official language of Basel is Swiss Standard German and the main spoken language is the local Basel German dialect. Basel is commonly considered to be the cultural capital of Switzerland and

10379-437: The unification of the written language, and in the case of Low German, belong to a different language entirely. In most regions, the speakers use a continuum of mixtures from more dialectal varieties to more standard varieties according to situation. However, there are two (or three) exceptions: While the three principal national varieties are recognized as three distinct standards, the differences are few, perhaps comparable to

10486-459: The well-known Gasthof zum Goldenen Sternen was established. Basel became the focal point of western Christendom during the 15th century Council of Basel (1431–1449), including the 1439 election of antipope Felix V . In 1459, Pope Pius II endowed the University of Basel , where such notables as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Paracelsus later taught. At the same time the new craft of printing

10593-517: Was introduced to Basel by apprentices of Johann Gutenberg . In 1461, the land around Farnsburg became a part of Basel. The Schwabe publishing house was founded in 1488 by Johannes Petri and is the oldest publishing house still in business. Johann Froben also operated his printing house in Basel and was notable for publishing works by Erasmus. In 1495, Basel was incorporated into the Upper Rhenish Imperial Circle ;

10700-545: Was almost entirely a written language. People in Northern Germany who spoke mainly Low Saxon dialects , which were very different from Standard German, learned it more or less as a foreign language. However, the Northern pronunciation (of Standard German) later became considered standard and spread southward. In some regions such as around Hanover , the local dialect has completely died out as spoken language but

10807-559: Was born in Basel and studied under Johann Bernoulli. In 1792, the Republic of Rauracia , a revolutionary French client republic , was created. It lasted until 1793. After three years of political agitation and a short civil war in 1833 the disadvantaged countryside seceded from the Canton of Basel, forming the half canton of Basel-Landschaft . Between 1861 and 1878 the city walls were slighted . On 3 July 1874, Switzerland's first zoo,

10914-461: Was gradually replaced by the modern French spelling Bâle . In Icelandic, the city is recorded as Buslaraborg in the 12th-century itinerary Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan . There are traces of a settlement at the nearby Rhine knee from the early La Tène period (5th century BC). In the 2nd century BC, there was a village of the Raurici at the site of Basel-Gasfabrik (to the northwest of

11021-655: Was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. From the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II of Metz in 999 until the Reformation , Basel was ruled by Prince-Bishops . In 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel (known locally as the Münster ) began under Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor . In

11128-572: Was introduced by the Luther Bible of 1534. In consequence, the written language of the chancery of Saxony-Wittenberg rose in importance in the course of the 17th century so much so that it was used in texts such as the 1665 revision of the Zürich Bible . The First Orthographical Conference convened in 1876 by order of the government of Prussia , but failed. Konrad Duden published the first edition of his dictionary, later simply known as

11235-538: Was key in the development of German writing and standardization of the language. Similarly to Luther, Gottsched based his manual on the Central German variant of the Upper Saxon area. Over the course of the mid-18th century and onward, a written standard then began to emerge and be widely accepted in German-speaking areas, thus ending the period of Early New High German . Until about 1800, Standard German

11342-489: Was limited and led to public controversy and considerable dispute. The states ( Bundesländer ) of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria refused to accept it. At one point, the dispute reached the highest court, which quickly dismissed it, claiming that the states had to decide for themselves and that only in schools could the reform be made the official rule – everybody else could continue writing as they had learned it. While, as of 2004 , most German print media followed

11449-630: Was so moved by the gesture that he subsequently gifted the city with an additional three paintings. Basel has often been the site of peace negotiations and other international meetings. The Treaty of Basel (1499) ended the Swabian War . Two years later Basel joined the Swiss Confederation . The Peace of Basel in 1795 between the French Republic and Prussia and Spain ended the First Coalition against France during

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