So I was taught that "ob" in German means "if" and I have dutifully used it as such since high school. Only, I feel...something, like a funny reaction when I do use "ob" here. Perhaps I am imagining it. Should I be using "wenn" instead or is that really meant to be used for "when"?
And, how does one say gnome in German/Swiss german?
Thanks!
L.

Re ob vs. wenn:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=943718
http://www.italki.com/answers/question/48725.htm
http://www.deutschseite.de/vokabeln/..._und_wenn.html

Zwergli...

Thank you so much for this! I've run into a wide variety of alleged ways to say gnome in German and none have suited my aim (to find stuff to buy on Ricardo for my kid's room).
Cheers
L.

And to be even more precise: Gnome is "Zwärgli" (ä, not e).

ahh but is that züritütsch or bäääärndütsch or strengelbachhhhhhhdütsch?

Good question! I was actually expecting it. In this case, I think, there is no difference between the different dialects. Only the intonation of the ä might differ slightly (one longer, the other one shorter). Thanks for your interest in dialects/languages, anyhow.

I always get mixed up with the pronunciation of the "ä". Is it always pronounced like the "a" in "cat"? Both in Swiss and "High" German?

Is there a rough rule as to when an "e" gets changed to a "ä" from High German to Swiss German? I live in Ängelbärg but I don't see it spelled this way too often.

Patxi:

The "ä" is always pronounced like the "a" in cat; but there are intonation differences in Alemannic and in High German (that you might not hear but I do).

As for the rule when the German "e" changes to "ä" in Alemannic - sorry, I can't tell you. A question for a linguistic forum? I would know of one if you're interested, still, the main language there is English, too.

The German "Engelberg" is of course "Ängelbärg" in Alemannic, I, too, have never seen it written this way. That shows however the problem about Alemannic: There are no fixed writing rules, you can more or less do as you wish.

I as a native speakers of the Zurich dialect pronounce Zwerg the same way as I do in High German. It's however true that the letters e/ä can't cover the nuances even in my less than exotic dialect.

Following the third link you learn that "There are two words in German to express the English word if." That's not correct. In all examples with "wenn" mentioned on that page, you could just as well use "falls." So there are three German words for "if."

As for the Swiss German "ä", its pronunciation can range from an "e" as in "need" to an "u" as in "hunt." And, believe it or not, these two versions can be geographically separated by just a hedge or a brook, as is the case between Tscherlach and Berschis in the municipality of Walenstadt.

To make things even more complicated, not every "ä" is treated equally in a given dialect. "Engelberg" is "Ängelbärg" in many Swiss dialects indeed, but especially in the northeastern corner it's "Engelbärg."

Nathu, is there a native Züritüütsch speaker who can correctly pronounce High German? Ok, just teasing, but you guys can be spotted in a crowd of thousands of folks speaking High German.

Captain, Greybeard, your assumption that you'd spot me in a crowd of thousand German speakers doesn't change the fact that what Zuricher assumes about the word Zwerg is incorrect when it comes to Zurich one iota. I have listened to High German and Zurich dialect all my life but believe what you want...

"falls" would be the equivalent of "in case".

Yup, and that's exactly what "if" very often means. "If you have some time" or "in case you have some time" can mean practically the same. And that often applies to "wenn" und "falls" in German too, but not always. In German, "wenn" can also stand for the English "when", but that's another story. As you know, that's one of the big stumbling blocks for non-native English speakers.

Yes, the impression I get when I use "ob" and get the weird vibe, it's not because I was incorrect per se, but that it is not common to use it as I do? If somebody were to say to me "in case you have some time" I would likely have the same reaction because it's far more common to use "if you have time".
But what do I know, I speak German like a spanische kuh!

I always thought that "ob" is a translation of "whether", whereas "wenn" is "if", broadly speaking.

Zwärg: everywhere West of Zürich afaik. Zwerg: everywhere Northeast of Zürich.
And yes, ob is more whether, which ofc can be substituted in many situations with if, but not in all. So as a rule of thumb I'd use ob only in whether situations and for the rest use wenn. Falls is best used in (just) in case situations.
- Es spielt keine Rolle ob du x oder y wählst (It doesn't matter whether you chose x or y)
- Wir können gehen wenn du willst. (We could leave if you want)
- Falls du kalt hast hat es eine Decke. (In case you're cold there's a blanket)

There are always cases where you could use either word, but it's best to stick to the easy/direct translation.

In German, "wenn" and "falls" often can be interchanged, but yes, sometimes it's a matter of vibes to know what's appropriate. I think it's very difficult to cast it into simple rules.

The very same applies to "if" and "whether" in English. There are cases where there's not even the slightest doubt, but sometimes even my Michigoose, who is a professional writer, isn't quite sure what to use.