Now, there's a word you don't see every day - that's made my evening, that has!!!

But this begs the question of what actually is this "language status" of which you speak? There is no hard-and-fast definition of the difference between a language and a dialect, and basically the division is political rather than linguistic. Countries sometimes like to insist that what they speak is a different language to further their own nationalistic interest, while others (like Switzerland) insist that their language is just a dialect to assist trade with other countries that speak the same language. At the end of the day, words mean what I say they mean.

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Because "it" or rather the 20 different dialects travelling under that umbrella are parts of the German language.
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And because what you call Swiss-German also is spoken in the Vorarlberg (Austria), in Büsingen (D) . in the Lörrach area (D) and in Ober-Elsass / Haute-Alsace (F). And in case you expect Zürcher people ever to speak Baaslerisch you better forget it. If you speak Schaffuserisch (the dialect of Schaffhausen) in the Innerschwiiz people often change into High German

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No, there is no reason to.
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Do not forget that not only the Swiss book trade depends onto sales into Germany and Austria but that newspapers like Tages Anzeiger and NZZ sell up to 3rd of their copies in Germany and Austria. Switzerland actually participates in the Duden Commission

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and still, American English still is NOT a separate language


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neither German nor English nor Arabic are controlled by a central agency


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Here around, only few signs are up in dialect, but quite many in Italian. We here get a few adverts in dialect, most in High German, lots in Italian and some in Albanian

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Sermons in churches here, both Protestant and Catholic ones, are in High German and always have been.

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Songs in the Kindergarten of course are in dialect and a few church songs also, but most church songs and almost all songs in schools are in High German


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American English is available in very sizeable dictionary forms, and there are many books teaching it. The Zwingli Bible is in High German. Again it is not a language but a group of dialects of German



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Dutch in fact IS a group of a few German dialects, but the Dutch decided to develop this group into a separate language. How many Germans in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Köln, Hannover and Hamburg read those Dutch newspapers ? But 10'000s read both T-A and NZZ.

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Getting out from Dutch you would understand far more if being in Schaffhausen or St. Gallen or Thurgau or Graubünden than with thouse weird mountaineers

They, I mean the CH dialects, will NOT become languageS. High German in CH is called Schrift-Deutsch which means Written German, which says it all. Swiss people are most exceedingly willing to speak High German when on holidays, for instance in the Mediterranean, not least if together with Germans and Austrians But generally do not feel like when being inside CH

Germans from south of the Taunus line understand it fairly well and those in their "Deep South" even very well indeed. And German is the official language nr 1 in Switzerland, not least as a working compromise between the various dialects.

Luxembourghish is High German (with 2nd consonant shift), and Yiddish arguably is as well. So there already are several High German languages. One more wouldn't hurt.

I appreciate that the Swiss are not ready to take that step just yet. I just like to tell them what to do (some payback for all that no-PET-washing-liquid-bottles-in-the-PET-collection telling off) .

There are people who tell me that Texan and Carolinan are accents. So it may be, I do not argue about the beard hairs of the Prophet. But to me, Texan, South Louisianan, Georgian and Carolinan ARE dialects and will remain so

And if you can "mitriite" in Schaffhausen it means that the other has a horse while in Bern it means that the other has a car. And if a Schaffuuser states "äs luftet" you have to translate it as "äs ziähht"

You were talking about Dutch, I answered about Dutch. To me, it's logic.

One more High German language would hurt the Swiss. If you don't believe them, then you are the one refusing facing reality. I don't see why Swiss would have to care. But the Luxemburger are probalby happy that you support their efforts.

Lechteburgisch is NOT High-German but a very distinct dialect. I learnt this from a Luxemburger already in 1969/70 and still believe him, even if the good man now most likely no longer is among us . And I am not sure about Yiddish, but "Sie wärn jo meschugge wenn Sie Yiddish als Hoch-Deutsch näme würden"

We mean it differently:
Lëtzebuergisch is Mitteldeutsch, with partial zweite Lautverschiebung, but not "High German" as "Hochdeutsch/Schriftdeutsch". No doubt about that.
Sorry for the vocab mix-up.

I've gotten burned on this subject before, so I'm just going to offer this observation. I think think there are more Swiss citizens in favour of making English an official (de jure) language of Switzerland than standardizing any one dialect of Swiss-German.

This is about the tenth time this discussion comes up (at least). And it's always amusing to see how emotional some people argue who don't even speak German - but love to believe whatever they were told by their mates is true.

England is an Island, so the language had a natural border for many centuries. Let's compare German with French or Italian instead: All three languages had up to a century ago so strong accents that people could not communicate with each other. None of my Swiss friends would have understand my grandmother - while she lived in Germany speaking another German dialect. Dialects all over Europe are declining - mainly thanks to national television and radio. The Swiss consider Swiss German a national heritage and it gives them a feeling of belonging - which i think is an entirely postive thing - but it does not make Swiss German an own language. In the late 19th century were all languages standardized - and for the last time: Standard German was FIRST accepted by the Swiss and then by the Germans - because they had so many local dialect did they find the idea of a standard language even more appealing than say Northern Germans.

I am sorry to disappoint all of you who want to be special by speaking some words of Swiss German - it is not a language - if it was, I'd have to learn it. As a matter of fact did I just need to get used to the pronounciation and then I managed to understand it perfectly. It would take me easily the same effort to get along in Munich or Dresden with some old locals as it was in Zurich.

Actually yes. Perfect example: "En guete" means "Einen guten" leaving the noun out - Appetit. It is exactly the same saying.

Swiss German has some french words. My local German dialect as well since I grew up at the western border. But just because I never say Geldbeutel but Portmonnaie doesn't mean that I do not speak German.

Is it, by Jove?!?!? I guess I better invest in a new road atlas post haste, lest I plunge off the edge of Scotland and drown in the sea on my doomed attempt to drive to Wales

How on earth do you know who does or doesn't speak German? *intrigued* Are you secretly a wizard?

I also wonder how you know who might pick a language to learn because it makes them "feel special". Rather a deprecating thing to say, don't you think? Can't imagine that that would top (or even figure on) anyone's list of reasons to learn a language, and I know quite a few linguists of various types. Impresses the girls/lads, maybe; impresses other interpreters/prospective employers, fine, that's on my list too; helps me understand wth is going on around here, definitely; gets me tenure in the conference interpreting DG at the EU, absolutely. But makes me feel special? Pffft.

@eddiejc, I think most Nidwaldners would explode if they were told English was now an official language. I know for certain the CEO of my husband's company would. Could be amusing, if messy.

Wollishofener, I refer you to all my posts above, because I can't be bothered to rewrite them all yet again just because you missed the point and/or are merely being deliberately obtuse. Here's a brief summary though: our church is a Protestant church and it speaks Mundart the vast majority of the time. Strange though it may seem, I can in fact tell the difference between High German and the Swiss sort, much like I can tell the difference between Swedish and Danish, Spanish and Italian, Dutch and Gaelic, or French and Gobbledegook. I will be happy to take you along and demonstrate if you are still unconvinced.

That's not the question. The question is if you find the dialects of e.g. Lörrach and Basel so distinct that you would argue that the people in Basel speak a different language.

If Dutch can be a language then so can Swiss, as far as I'm concerned.
They're both dialects of German when it all comes down to brass tacks.

How do you say "Aromat" in Dutch?

No, I am not. I am a pretty normal person that lived seven years in Zurich, not Tibet or whatever mountain valley you are in. I have therefore met quite some of the EF crowd in person at various drinks - including some who write in this thread.

Simple example: Golfprostew. He speaks German good enough to teach golf, arrived here and easily adapted in some weeks to teach Swiss. If Swiss German was a language, this wasn't possible. End of.

Languages and dialects are very hard if not impossible to distinguish on the basis of structural differences. I’ll just repeat what I quoted earlier: “Language is a dialect with an army and navy.”
Swiss German will never get the official status of a language because it comes in too many forms and shapes, and not because it is (allegedly) too similar to High German. Similarity has nothing to do with it.