Thursday, March 26, 2009
Online Teaching
When you do a search for online teaching, there are several results that will come up so you need to be a bit specific about what it is you are actually looking for. Such as the fact there are online teaching jobs, and there are online teaching positions, as well as getting an online teaching degree by taking courses on the Internet. This being said online teaching can be pertained too in many aspects when it comes to the Internet.There are also those online courses where you will find the instructors email addresses on the web site that are posting the assignments; therefore they are doing the online teaching. If this is what your intentions are is to use the Internet to become a teacher through Online teaching classes, be sure you find a good university or college that you can actually get a degree or diploma from without a lot of hassle, otherwise, if you are putting money into the online teaching course, it may not be legitimate. There are ways of finding out if an online teaching program is of course truly an accredited course or not.There are also online teaching certification programs as well, however remember when you are doing the searches on these subjects, use online teaching as the main part of the search but also use other words as well during your search.Be sure to check out more than one web site, there just might be another that is going to do better for what you want, than if you simply went with the first thing that showed up and looked to be half way decent enough to go after.Online teaching has many opportunities on the Internet and it depends on the individual doing the search some examples might include. Becoming a teacher through online courses, or doing online teaching for a college course presented by certain colleges, or obtaining online teaching tools for your classroom as well.Also I found that many of the teachers of our children are now using the Internet for online teaching abilities such as posting assignments for our children's class work through local web sites for the school they attend. This is an excellent idea I think. Not only does it allow us, as parents to see the work assignments our children are doing but through the use of online teaching there are sometimes examples of the work the students are to be doing as homework. This is to assist our children with their homework as well.So, when it comes to online teaching the term is very broad, so when you do a search on online teaching be sure to use those other words also, although the online teaching words in your search will be the most effective.Online teaching can also include tutoring on the Internet, there are those individuals who have actually started personal web sites for the specific use of online teaching or tutoring to help people learn about a subject or those who need help on their homework, obviously this is mostly for school age children and high school students but it is a form of online teaching as well.Online Teaching JobsBy doing a simple search you will come up with so many online teaching jobs it will amaze you and the different universities and colleges offering online teaching jobs or needing these positions filled.You can also get information about online teaching jobs as well. There are several types of online teaching jobs too. Different areas need different types and so the online teaching jobs keep growing for those who want them.There are some qualifications that are required as far as online teaching goes however, just what depends on, which college or university you are going through or if it is simply an independent learning facility offering online teaching jobs.The earnings of online teaching jobs as far as the websites I have seen haven't listed on any websites so as far as online teaching jobs and what the pay rate is, I really couldn't say. However, there are definitely positions available and you can email the web sites for more information.One thing about online teaching jobs in some cases you are allowed to stay home, as long as you keep up with the college curriculum or the course you are teaching online.Online teaching jobs vary and there are circumstances where the college that actually hires you is in fact in another state, however this can still be done as online teaching jobs usually do not require an interview but a certificate showing you are a teacher and a resume faxed to the college you plan on filling the position for the online teaching job, as well as the online course itself. Although it is better to do online teaching jobs in your area, at colleges near you if they are available, or through those that are affiliated, with a college near you.Online teaching jobs by next year, probably won't be quite as a necessity as they are right now, however as of the here and now online teaching jobs are in demand.Another thing to consider is online teaching jobs that refer to other areas of interest such as real estate and advertising, or online teaching jobs for other things.For example, there was one web site listed that offered online teaching jobs to be for aerobics instructors after training and with the use of virtual technology.So, there are in fact many types of online teaching jobs as well. Some colleges offer to teach people to become teachers and then in time, their obligation will stay with the college and they will obtain online teaching jobs after that.This works in a form of apprentice or internship through the college and affiliated with online teaching jobs as well. In rare cases it may not turn out that way but not very often.A better way to explain this I suppose as far as some online teaching jobs would be like a trucking company paying the truck driver to learn how to drive a truck and once he or she has passed the course, they agree to work for the company. It is somewhat along the same lines with online teaching jobs with some colleges.Teaching Classes OnlineIf you are interested in teaching classes online there are several web sites you can go too and find out more information on the subject. Teaching classes online are available through some colleges and universities as well. One thing about teaching classes online, you are more of a mentor than anything for the simple fact you are on the site, where only the students enrolled into the course or class have access through, if they have questions then as the mentor or teacher teaching classes online, you can help answer the questions or help come up with a solution.E learning or going through online classes and courses is becoming more popular as more people want to further their education. However with this in mind the idea of those teaching classes online has to increase as well, and as of right now it seems to be at a slower pace than that of those who are enrolling.Teaching classes online is rewarding, you might not have a literal classroom but you do have students that rely on you either by the assignments they send to you or your teaching classes online skills.People of all ages are learning different things on the Internet today. Teaching classes online is becoming increasingly more important as more universities and colleges offer incentives for teachers who are interested in teaching classes online. They need the help, keeping up isn't easy if there aren't enough teachers to be teaching classes online.Some colleges only offer certain classes at certain times of the year due to the lack of those teaching classes online, there just doesn't seem to be enough to meet the high volume of classes online today. But the number is rising to the challenge, and teaching classes online is an adventure. Especially to new teachers starting out.However, more teachers and instructors are stepping up and taking on teaching classes online, people need to realize this is a new concept for them as well. Checking assignments via email or answering questions, it is something to learn themselves teaching classes online.Teaching classes online is a growing trade among college and university teachers as well as learning the teaching classes online as well. It is a lot easier to do if you have some idea about everything that goes on with the Internet, such as works, processor and other things teaching classes online might make as an easier task.Teaching classes online is fun for most teachers, because in a big way they have their freedom as well, its not like having to be in the same room constantly, they check their emails and are in the website forums to answer questions, and teaching classes online is getting to be something more teachers actually want to do, rather than be in college classrooms.So, the ultimate decision is doing a search if you are interested in teaching classes online and find out more about how you can. There are several search results that will come up providing information from colleges offering teaching classes online jobs.
English - the universal language on the Internet?
Abstract
Generally speaking, English is the universal language on the Internet, but it has no official status, and it will never have. The reasons for the position of English are the imperialism and economical and political importance of English-speaking countries. Linguistically, English is extremely unsuitable for international communication, and the actual wide use of English tends to polarize the world into Internet users and Internet illiterates.
The position of English can only be altered by major world-scale political and economical changes, such as increasing importance of the European Union or a coalition between Japan and China. Such powers might wish and be able to promote a language other than English, possibly a constructed language, for international communication.
Alternatively, or in addition to this, the technology of machine translation may allow people to use their own language in international communication.
Preface
The impulse to writing this article was a discussion in the newsgroup sci.lang. The original question was "whether or not English should be made the universal language of the internet".
As several people remarked, English essentially is the universal language of the Internet. Nevertheless, the question, appropriately interpreted and elaborated, is worth a more delicate treatment.
I had previously discussed related themes in my article Internet muuttaa maailman 2 (The Internet changes the world 2, in Finnish). Here I present some of those ideas in English and develop them a bit further.
The current situation
In general, the universal language on the Internet is English, or more exactly a vague collection of languages called "English" because their common origin is the national language spoken in England by the English. That national language has spread over the world, and several variants such as American (US) English, Australian English, etc exist. A great number of people whose native language is none of the variants know English as a foreign language. They typically use a more or less simplified variant, e.g. excluding most of the idioms of British, American, Australian etc English. Of course, they make mistakes, and sometimes the "English" used by people as a foreign language on the Internet is almost incomprehensible to anyone else. In addition, people who use English as their native language do not know how to spell difficult words, since they basically know English as a spoken language.
Thus, roughly speaking, the universal language of the Internet is clumsy, coarse and misspelled "English".
There are exceptions, most importantly national newsgroups in such countries where English is not the native language of the majority. Even in such groups English is used, for instance when people from other countries wish to participate. And a few international groups have a theme like discussing a particular language or culture so that it is natural to assume that the participants have a common language other than English. Moreover, a group which is partly international in the sense of not being purely national might use a language other than English, for instance if the group is intended for people in German-speaking countries.
Why is it so?
Generally speaking, when a languages has got the position of a universal language, the position tends to be affirmed and extended by itself. Since "everyone" knows and uses English, people are almost forced to learn English and use it, and learn it better.
Even if you expect the majority of your readers to understand your native language, you may be tempted to use English when writing e.g. about research work. Usually researchers all over the world know English and use it a lot, and often the relevant terminology is more stable and well-known in English than in your own language. Thus, to maximize the number of interested people that can understand your text, you often select English even if the great majority of your readers have the same native language as you. Alternatively, you might write your texts both in your native language and in English, but this doubles the work needed for writing your document and possibly maintaining it. The maintenance problem is especially important for documents on the World Wide Web - the information system where one crucial feature is the ability to keep things really up to date. Consequently, the use of English in essentially national contexts tends to grow.
In the news system, the position of English in most international groups is regarded as so obvious that people who post non-English articles to such groups - by accident or by ignorance - typically get flamed quickly. This is the sort of control that newsgroup communities exercise in other matters than language, too. It is often regarded as an example of the "democratic" nature of the news system. However, things are changing fast. The flame control - i.e. control by flaming - has worked to a great extent because people have had relatively compatible status, background, and values of life. The time has come - childhood's end for the Internet - when we will see more and more people and organizations who pay little attention to flames and netiquette. The increasing amount of spamming is just one indication of this. But these general remarks hardly apply to the status of English.
By the way, when people post articles to international groups in their own languages, the reason is typically novice users' ignorance of basic facts about the news system. People start posting articles before they have read what is generally written to the group. One thing that causes this happen relatively often that there is no easily accessible and useable list of groups together with their content descriptions, and typically content descriptions do not explicitely state what language(s) should be used in the group.
The universal language position, once gained, tends to be strong. But how is such a position gained?
During the history of mankind, there have been several more or less universal languages or lingua francas, such as Latin (and Greek) in the Roman empire, mediaeval Latin in Western Europe, later French and English. Universality is of course relative; it means universality in the "known world" or "civilized world", or just in a large empire. No language has been really universal (global), but the current position of English comes closest. The position of a universal language has always been gained as a by-product of some sort of imperialism: a nation has conquered a large area and more or less assimilated it into its own culture, including language, thus forming an empire. Usually the language of the conquerer has become the language of the state and the upper class first, then possibly spread over the society, sometimes almost wiping out the original languages of the conquered areas. Sometimes - especially in the Middle Ages - the imperialism has had a definite cultural and religious nature which may have been more important than brute military and economic force.
As regards to the English language, it would have remained as a national language of the English, had it not happened so that the English first conquered the rest of the British Isles, then many other parts of the world. Later, some English colonies in a relatively small part of America rebelled, formed the United States of America, and expanded a lot. They formed a federal state where a variant of the English language was one of the few really uniting factors. And that federal state became, as we all know, wealthy and important. It also exercised traditional imperialism, but more importantly it gained a very important role in world economy and politics. Whether you call the US influence imperialism or neo-imperialism is a matter of opinion, but it certainly has similar effects on maintaining and expanding the use of English as classical imperialism.
This probably sounds like political criticism, but it is intended to be descriptive only. Personally, I do not regard imperialism as an incarnation of the Evil; it has had both positive and negative effects, and in many cases imperialism has been a necessary step from chaos to civilization.
Effects of the importance of the Internet and English
The importance of the Internet grows rapidly in all fields of human life, including not only research and education but also marketing and trade as well as entertainment and hobbies. This implies that it becomes more and more important to know how to use Internet services and, as a part of this, to read and write English.
Of course, the majority of mankind cannot use the Internet nowadays or in the near future, since they live in countries which lack the necessary economical and technological infrastructure. But the Internet causes polarization in developed countries, too: people are divided into Internet users and Internet illiterates, and as the use of the Internet grows and often replaces traditional methods of communication, the illiterates may find themselves in an awkward position.
In general, it is easy to learn to use Internet services. The worst problems of Internet illiteracy are, in addition to lack of economical resources of course, wrong attitudes. Older people are usually not accustomed to live in a world of continuous and rapid change, and they may not realize the importance of the Internet or the easiness of learning to use it.
But although Internet services themselves are, generally speaking, easy to learn and use, you will find yourself isolated on the Internet if you are not familiar with English. This means that knowledge or lack of knowledge of English is one of the most severe factors that cause polarization. Learning to use a new Internet service or user interface may take a few hours, a few days, or even weeks, but it takes years to learn a language so that you can use it in a fluent and self-confident manner. Of course, when you know some English, you can learn more just by using it on the Internet, but at least currently the general tendency among Internet users is to discourage people in their problems with the English language. Incorrect English causes a few flames much more probably than encouragement and friendly advice.
In different countries and cultures, English has different positions. There are countries where English is the native language of the majority, there are countries where English is a widely known second language, and there are countries where English has no special position. These differences add to the above-mentioned polarization. Specifically, it is difficult for people in previous colonies of other countries than Great Britain (e.g. France, Spain, the Netherlands) to adapt to the necessity of learning English. Locally, it may be necessary to learn the language of the previous colonial power since it is often an official language and the common language of educated people; globally, English is necessary for living on the Internet. And the more languages you have to learn well, the less time and energy you will have for learning other things.
An official language for the Internet?
There is no conceivable way in which any authority could define an official language for the Internet. The Internet as a whole is not controlled by anyone or anything, and this could only change if, by miracle, all countries made an agreement on it or if the entire world were taken to the control of one government.
Thus, if the question "whether or not English should be made the universal language of the internet" is interpreted as concerning the official status of English, the answer is simply that English, or any other language, cannot be made the official universal language. It is fruitless to ask whether an impossible thing should be made.
But can things change?
Things can change, and they actually do, often with unpredictable speed. The rapid fall of the Soviet empire - including the loss of the role of Russian as a "universal" language within in - is a recent indication of this.
English can lose its position as a widely used (although not official) universal language in two ways. Either a new empire emerges and its language becomes universal, or a constructed language becomes very popular. I believe most people regard both of these alternatives as extremely improbable, if not impossible. Perhaps they are right, perhaps not.
I can see two possible empires to emerge: the European Union and a yet nonexistent Japanese-Chinese empire.
The European Union (EU) is an existing formation which is, at least according to its own doctrine, moving towards federalism. In many respects, the European Union already is a federal state, with less independence and autonomy for its constituents than the states have in the United States. Although people may present the EU as the successor of previous empires such as the Roman empire and the empire of Charlemagne, it is quite possible that the EU never becomes a real empire, since it seems to be inherently bureaucratic. Every empire needs a bureaucracy, of course, to promote the aims of its ruler(s), but the EU lacks true rulers. But if the EU ever becomes a true empire with prominent role in the world, the language of the empire will hardly be any of the national languages in the EU, except possibly English. It is more probable that the builders of the empire will realize the need for a relatively neutral universal language, and adopt Esperanto or some other constructed language for official purposes. In fact, such a choice would be extremely rational at the present stage of the EU, since now a considerable portion of EU expenses are used for translation and interpretation between the official languages of the EU. A single official language of the EU might or might not be adopted by people worldwide as a universal language for everyday communication, including communication on the Internet.
Japan is probably too small, both as a country and as a nation, to create an empire with its own forces, despite its flourishing technology and economy and efficient social organization. But its potential combined with the vast human and other resources of China would certainly constitute a basis for an empire that succesfully competes with the United States and the European Union, even if latter powers were (economically) strongly allied. Both Japan and China would have a lot to gain from intensive mutual cooperation, or alliance, confederation, or federation.
A Japanese-Chinese empire would have a difficult choice of language. It might decide to accept the role of English as a universal language, both for continuity and for the reason that selecting either Japanese or Chinese (Mandarin) would set the Japanese-Chinese union at stake. Alternatively, it might seriously consider using a constructed language - most probably not Esperanto but a language which is culturally more neutral, i.e. not dominantly Indo-European, for instance something like Loglan or Lojban.
Is English a suitable universal language?
Apart from being widely used and known, English is extremely unsuitable as a universal language. There are several reasons to this.
Any national language, i.e. a language which is or was originally the language of a particular tribe or nation, has obvious defects when used for international communication:
Native speakers of the language are in a quite different position than others. Some people regard this as bad in itself, as contrary to the equality principle, but I think it is practical consequences that make it bad. Native speakers tend to use idioms and rare words and to speak too fast, unless they exercise conscious control over their language - and such control is difficult and unnatural when applied to one's mother tongue. This implies that in oral communication in particular native speakers of English often have worse problems in getting themselves correctly understood than nonnative speakers!
National languages exist in various dialects and forms - sometimes they are even mutually unintelligible, but the differences always make communication harder. There is usually no standard for a national language, and even if something that can be called standard exists, it is just one form of the language - typically a form that is only used by a minority, and even by it only in a minority of occasions. For a native speaker of a language, it is natural to use one's own dialect, and it is difficult to avoid this entirely; this emphasizes the importance of the above-mentioned problem of native speakers expressing themselves in international contexts.
When you learn your native language in your childhood, you learn it by listening to and talking with people who have it as their native language. First they know it much better than you, later equally well. Thus it is very natural human behaviour to use your native language with the unconscious but strong assumption that the listener or reader knows the language to the same or even higher extent than you. In international contexts, this built-in assumption is almost always false, and this has severe consequences. For instance, we tend to regard people as stupid or ignorant if they do not understand normal language; this deep-rooted tendency is present even if our conscious mind understands the situation correctly.
A national language carries with it the history of the nation. For instance, words and phrases have got, in addition to their dictionary meanings, connotations, colours and associations. This is an important cultural phenomenon which helps in keeping the nation a nation, but in international communication it is a burden.
National languages have originally evolved as spoken languages. When written national languages originated, they were usually formed on the basis of the dialect of the capital or other important area, with the aim of creating a language which supports the creation of a unified nation. Thus, the very origin of a national language is in a sense nationalistic, not internationalistic.
Due to their long history, national languages have historical relics and features which make them illogical and irrational, such as grammatical gender or irregular forms. Moreover, being originally spoken languages, they lack sufficient tools for expressing things in an exact, unambiguous manner; and the need for such expression is immense and growing, especially in the areas of law and contracts, technology and technical descriptions, and science.
These remarks apply to English, too, and especially to English. One of the worst relics of English is the orthography. English has a very rich repertoire of idioms, and it typically has several words which have the same basic meaning but different connotations and stylistic value. Especially in international contexts you can never know what words mean to people with different backgrounds. Thus, you may occasionally get your basic message understood in some way, but you cannot tell in which way. This is of course an inherent problem in all human communication, but the nature of English makes it a really big problem.
English is an eclectic language which tends to borrow words from other languages instead of constructing words for new concepts from older words with derivation or word composition. People often say that English has a rich vocabulary as if it were something to be proud of. The richness of the vocabulary results basically from word borrowing and implies that words for related concepts are typically not related to each other in any obvious, regular manner. Word borrowing makes a language more international in one sense, but in the essential sense it makes it less suitable for international communication, since learning the vocabulary is more difficult.
A constructed international language?
The discussion above shows that it would be highly desirable to have a constructed language for international communication. It is well known that a large number of attempts to that effect have been made, with little results. Advocates of the basic idea have hardly agreed on anything but the basic idea, and most constructed languages have had no use as a language. People who strongly support the idea have typically designed their own proposal, a perfect language, and they do not want accept anything that is not perfect - "best" is the worst enemy of "good".
The very idea is not inherently unrealistic, but it can only be realized if strong economical and political interests are involved, such as the intended creation of a European or Japanese-Chinese empire. The best that the advocates of a constructed international language can wish is that such empires emerge and that the United States remain as an important power, so that the world will have a few strong empires which cannot beat each other but must live in parallel and in cooperation. In such a situation, it might turn out that it is unrealistic not to agree on a common language which is not any of the national languages.
The role of the Internet in this hypothetical development would be to create the informational infrastructure for the discussion of the construction of the language, the very construction work, spreading out information about the language, the use of the language, and continuous development of the language. Most probably the language would first be used in parallel with English, and the initial use would be for such purposes like international agreements where national languages are clearly insufficient. For instance, if you need to formulate an agreement between two countries, you definitely need a neutral common language instead of having the text in two languages, each text allowing its own interpretations.
An alternative: machine translation
An alternative view of the future is that after a few years or decades, no universal language is needed: machine translation will allow you to use your own language. If the machine translation tools had sufficient quality and speed, you could sit on your terminal writing your news article or an IRC message in, say, Finnish, and another person in New Zealand would read your text in English, due to automatic translation "on the fly".
During the last few decades, quite a lot of predictions and even promises have been presented regarding machine translation, but useful software and systems for it have not been available until recently. This has caused disappointments and pessimism to the extent that many people consider machine translation as definitely unrealistic.
Actually, machine translation is operational for a wide range of texts, although corrective actions by human translators may be necessary. Corrections are needed to resolve ambiguities which exist due to the limitations of the software and to fix errors caused by the fact that translation of human languages requires extralinguistic information.
Assumably fully automatic correct translation will never be possible. However, this does not exclude the possibility of using it extensively. It only means that we must be prepared to accept a risk - decreasing by advances in technology, but never reaching zero - of translation errors. Such risks exist when human translators are used, too, and in many respects automatic translation can be more reliable. Both human beings and computer programs err, in different ways.
In addition to the advancement of translation techniques, there are several ways in which the risk of errors in automatic translation can be decreased:
avoiding ambiguities in the source language: people can try to write their texts so that they are more easily tractable by translation programs
checking the translations: a person who has written a text in his native language may run it through a translation program, check and correct the result, and provide the "authorized" translation together with the source text; although it is usually not feasible to do this for several target languages, the authorized translation (typically, to English) can be used by translation programs for checking purposes: if translations from the original source and the authorized translation yield different results, this fact should be signalled to the user
warnings: in general, problematic fragments of texts like those obviously allowing different syntactic analyses, can be signalled to the user - i.e. to the author, to the reader, or both.
Currently the operational machine translation software is essentially based on syntactic analysis, so that semantic information is implicit in the dictionaries used by the software. An alternative approach, based on some kind of semantic analysis in addition to syntax, does not appear to be practically applicable yet.
Generally speaking, English is the universal language on the Internet, but it has no official status, and it will never have. The reasons for the position of English are the imperialism and economical and political importance of English-speaking countries. Linguistically, English is extremely unsuitable for international communication, and the actual wide use of English tends to polarize the world into Internet users and Internet illiterates.
The position of English can only be altered by major world-scale political and economical changes, such as increasing importance of the European Union or a coalition between Japan and China. Such powers might wish and be able to promote a language other than English, possibly a constructed language, for international communication.
Alternatively, or in addition to this, the technology of machine translation may allow people to use their own language in international communication.
Preface
The impulse to writing this article was a discussion in the newsgroup sci.lang. The original question was "whether or not English should be made the universal language of the internet".
As several people remarked, English essentially is the universal language of the Internet. Nevertheless, the question, appropriately interpreted and elaborated, is worth a more delicate treatment.
I had previously discussed related themes in my article Internet muuttaa maailman 2 (The Internet changes the world 2, in Finnish). Here I present some of those ideas in English and develop them a bit further.
The current situation
In general, the universal language on the Internet is English, or more exactly a vague collection of languages called "English" because their common origin is the national language spoken in England by the English. That national language has spread over the world, and several variants such as American (US) English, Australian English, etc exist. A great number of people whose native language is none of the variants know English as a foreign language. They typically use a more or less simplified variant, e.g. excluding most of the idioms of British, American, Australian etc English. Of course, they make mistakes, and sometimes the "English" used by people as a foreign language on the Internet is almost incomprehensible to anyone else. In addition, people who use English as their native language do not know how to spell difficult words, since they basically know English as a spoken language.
Thus, roughly speaking, the universal language of the Internet is clumsy, coarse and misspelled "English".
There are exceptions, most importantly national newsgroups in such countries where English is not the native language of the majority. Even in such groups English is used, for instance when people from other countries wish to participate. And a few international groups have a theme like discussing a particular language or culture so that it is natural to assume that the participants have a common language other than English. Moreover, a group which is partly international in the sense of not being purely national might use a language other than English, for instance if the group is intended for people in German-speaking countries.
Why is it so?
Generally speaking, when a languages has got the position of a universal language, the position tends to be affirmed and extended by itself. Since "everyone" knows and uses English, people are almost forced to learn English and use it, and learn it better.
Even if you expect the majority of your readers to understand your native language, you may be tempted to use English when writing e.g. about research work. Usually researchers all over the world know English and use it a lot, and often the relevant terminology is more stable and well-known in English than in your own language. Thus, to maximize the number of interested people that can understand your text, you often select English even if the great majority of your readers have the same native language as you. Alternatively, you might write your texts both in your native language and in English, but this doubles the work needed for writing your document and possibly maintaining it. The maintenance problem is especially important for documents on the World Wide Web - the information system where one crucial feature is the ability to keep things really up to date. Consequently, the use of English in essentially national contexts tends to grow.
In the news system, the position of English in most international groups is regarded as so obvious that people who post non-English articles to such groups - by accident or by ignorance - typically get flamed quickly. This is the sort of control that newsgroup communities exercise in other matters than language, too. It is often regarded as an example of the "democratic" nature of the news system. However, things are changing fast. The flame control - i.e. control by flaming - has worked to a great extent because people have had relatively compatible status, background, and values of life. The time has come - childhood's end for the Internet - when we will see more and more people and organizations who pay little attention to flames and netiquette. The increasing amount of spamming is just one indication of this. But these general remarks hardly apply to the status of English.
By the way, when people post articles to international groups in their own languages, the reason is typically novice users' ignorance of basic facts about the news system. People start posting articles before they have read what is generally written to the group. One thing that causes this happen relatively often that there is no easily accessible and useable list of groups together with their content descriptions, and typically content descriptions do not explicitely state what language(s) should be used in the group.
The universal language position, once gained, tends to be strong. But how is such a position gained?
During the history of mankind, there have been several more or less universal languages or lingua francas, such as Latin (and Greek) in the Roman empire, mediaeval Latin in Western Europe, later French and English. Universality is of course relative; it means universality in the "known world" or "civilized world", or just in a large empire. No language has been really universal (global), but the current position of English comes closest. The position of a universal language has always been gained as a by-product of some sort of imperialism: a nation has conquered a large area and more or less assimilated it into its own culture, including language, thus forming an empire. Usually the language of the conquerer has become the language of the state and the upper class first, then possibly spread over the society, sometimes almost wiping out the original languages of the conquered areas. Sometimes - especially in the Middle Ages - the imperialism has had a definite cultural and religious nature which may have been more important than brute military and economic force.
As regards to the English language, it would have remained as a national language of the English, had it not happened so that the English first conquered the rest of the British Isles, then many other parts of the world. Later, some English colonies in a relatively small part of America rebelled, formed the United States of America, and expanded a lot. They formed a federal state where a variant of the English language was one of the few really uniting factors. And that federal state became, as we all know, wealthy and important. It also exercised traditional imperialism, but more importantly it gained a very important role in world economy and politics. Whether you call the US influence imperialism or neo-imperialism is a matter of opinion, but it certainly has similar effects on maintaining and expanding the use of English as classical imperialism.
This probably sounds like political criticism, but it is intended to be descriptive only. Personally, I do not regard imperialism as an incarnation of the Evil; it has had both positive and negative effects, and in many cases imperialism has been a necessary step from chaos to civilization.
Effects of the importance of the Internet and English
The importance of the Internet grows rapidly in all fields of human life, including not only research and education but also marketing and trade as well as entertainment and hobbies. This implies that it becomes more and more important to know how to use Internet services and, as a part of this, to read and write English.
Of course, the majority of mankind cannot use the Internet nowadays or in the near future, since they live in countries which lack the necessary economical and technological infrastructure. But the Internet causes polarization in developed countries, too: people are divided into Internet users and Internet illiterates, and as the use of the Internet grows and often replaces traditional methods of communication, the illiterates may find themselves in an awkward position.
In general, it is easy to learn to use Internet services. The worst problems of Internet illiteracy are, in addition to lack of economical resources of course, wrong attitudes. Older people are usually not accustomed to live in a world of continuous and rapid change, and they may not realize the importance of the Internet or the easiness of learning to use it.
But although Internet services themselves are, generally speaking, easy to learn and use, you will find yourself isolated on the Internet if you are not familiar with English. This means that knowledge or lack of knowledge of English is one of the most severe factors that cause polarization. Learning to use a new Internet service or user interface may take a few hours, a few days, or even weeks, but it takes years to learn a language so that you can use it in a fluent and self-confident manner. Of course, when you know some English, you can learn more just by using it on the Internet, but at least currently the general tendency among Internet users is to discourage people in their problems with the English language. Incorrect English causes a few flames much more probably than encouragement and friendly advice.
In different countries and cultures, English has different positions. There are countries where English is the native language of the majority, there are countries where English is a widely known second language, and there are countries where English has no special position. These differences add to the above-mentioned polarization. Specifically, it is difficult for people in previous colonies of other countries than Great Britain (e.g. France, Spain, the Netherlands) to adapt to the necessity of learning English. Locally, it may be necessary to learn the language of the previous colonial power since it is often an official language and the common language of educated people; globally, English is necessary for living on the Internet. And the more languages you have to learn well, the less time and energy you will have for learning other things.
An official language for the Internet?
There is no conceivable way in which any authority could define an official language for the Internet. The Internet as a whole is not controlled by anyone or anything, and this could only change if, by miracle, all countries made an agreement on it or if the entire world were taken to the control of one government.
Thus, if the question "whether or not English should be made the universal language of the internet" is interpreted as concerning the official status of English, the answer is simply that English, or any other language, cannot be made the official universal language. It is fruitless to ask whether an impossible thing should be made.
But can things change?
Things can change, and they actually do, often with unpredictable speed. The rapid fall of the Soviet empire - including the loss of the role of Russian as a "universal" language within in - is a recent indication of this.
English can lose its position as a widely used (although not official) universal language in two ways. Either a new empire emerges and its language becomes universal, or a constructed language becomes very popular. I believe most people regard both of these alternatives as extremely improbable, if not impossible. Perhaps they are right, perhaps not.
I can see two possible empires to emerge: the European Union and a yet nonexistent Japanese-Chinese empire.
The European Union (EU) is an existing formation which is, at least according to its own doctrine, moving towards federalism. In many respects, the European Union already is a federal state, with less independence and autonomy for its constituents than the states have in the United States. Although people may present the EU as the successor of previous empires such as the Roman empire and the empire of Charlemagne, it is quite possible that the EU never becomes a real empire, since it seems to be inherently bureaucratic. Every empire needs a bureaucracy, of course, to promote the aims of its ruler(s), but the EU lacks true rulers. But if the EU ever becomes a true empire with prominent role in the world, the language of the empire will hardly be any of the national languages in the EU, except possibly English. It is more probable that the builders of the empire will realize the need for a relatively neutral universal language, and adopt Esperanto or some other constructed language for official purposes. In fact, such a choice would be extremely rational at the present stage of the EU, since now a considerable portion of EU expenses are used for translation and interpretation between the official languages of the EU. A single official language of the EU might or might not be adopted by people worldwide as a universal language for everyday communication, including communication on the Internet.
Japan is probably too small, both as a country and as a nation, to create an empire with its own forces, despite its flourishing technology and economy and efficient social organization. But its potential combined with the vast human and other resources of China would certainly constitute a basis for an empire that succesfully competes with the United States and the European Union, even if latter powers were (economically) strongly allied. Both Japan and China would have a lot to gain from intensive mutual cooperation, or alliance, confederation, or federation.
A Japanese-Chinese empire would have a difficult choice of language. It might decide to accept the role of English as a universal language, both for continuity and for the reason that selecting either Japanese or Chinese (Mandarin) would set the Japanese-Chinese union at stake. Alternatively, it might seriously consider using a constructed language - most probably not Esperanto but a language which is culturally more neutral, i.e. not dominantly Indo-European, for instance something like Loglan or Lojban.
Is English a suitable universal language?
Apart from being widely used and known, English is extremely unsuitable as a universal language. There are several reasons to this.
Any national language, i.e. a language which is or was originally the language of a particular tribe or nation, has obvious defects when used for international communication:
Native speakers of the language are in a quite different position than others. Some people regard this as bad in itself, as contrary to the equality principle, but I think it is practical consequences that make it bad. Native speakers tend to use idioms and rare words and to speak too fast, unless they exercise conscious control over their language - and such control is difficult and unnatural when applied to one's mother tongue. This implies that in oral communication in particular native speakers of English often have worse problems in getting themselves correctly understood than nonnative speakers!
National languages exist in various dialects and forms - sometimes they are even mutually unintelligible, but the differences always make communication harder. There is usually no standard for a national language, and even if something that can be called standard exists, it is just one form of the language - typically a form that is only used by a minority, and even by it only in a minority of occasions. For a native speaker of a language, it is natural to use one's own dialect, and it is difficult to avoid this entirely; this emphasizes the importance of the above-mentioned problem of native speakers expressing themselves in international contexts.
When you learn your native language in your childhood, you learn it by listening to and talking with people who have it as their native language. First they know it much better than you, later equally well. Thus it is very natural human behaviour to use your native language with the unconscious but strong assumption that the listener or reader knows the language to the same or even higher extent than you. In international contexts, this built-in assumption is almost always false, and this has severe consequences. For instance, we tend to regard people as stupid or ignorant if they do not understand normal language; this deep-rooted tendency is present even if our conscious mind understands the situation correctly.
A national language carries with it the history of the nation. For instance, words and phrases have got, in addition to their dictionary meanings, connotations, colours and associations. This is an important cultural phenomenon which helps in keeping the nation a nation, but in international communication it is a burden.
National languages have originally evolved as spoken languages. When written national languages originated, they were usually formed on the basis of the dialect of the capital or other important area, with the aim of creating a language which supports the creation of a unified nation. Thus, the very origin of a national language is in a sense nationalistic, not internationalistic.
Due to their long history, national languages have historical relics and features which make them illogical and irrational, such as grammatical gender or irregular forms. Moreover, being originally spoken languages, they lack sufficient tools for expressing things in an exact, unambiguous manner; and the need for such expression is immense and growing, especially in the areas of law and contracts, technology and technical descriptions, and science.
These remarks apply to English, too, and especially to English. One of the worst relics of English is the orthography. English has a very rich repertoire of idioms, and it typically has several words which have the same basic meaning but different connotations and stylistic value. Especially in international contexts you can never know what words mean to people with different backgrounds. Thus, you may occasionally get your basic message understood in some way, but you cannot tell in which way. This is of course an inherent problem in all human communication, but the nature of English makes it a really big problem.
English is an eclectic language which tends to borrow words from other languages instead of constructing words for new concepts from older words with derivation or word composition. People often say that English has a rich vocabulary as if it were something to be proud of. The richness of the vocabulary results basically from word borrowing and implies that words for related concepts are typically not related to each other in any obvious, regular manner. Word borrowing makes a language more international in one sense, but in the essential sense it makes it less suitable for international communication, since learning the vocabulary is more difficult.
A constructed international language?
The discussion above shows that it would be highly desirable to have a constructed language for international communication. It is well known that a large number of attempts to that effect have been made, with little results. Advocates of the basic idea have hardly agreed on anything but the basic idea, and most constructed languages have had no use as a language. People who strongly support the idea have typically designed their own proposal, a perfect language, and they do not want accept anything that is not perfect - "best" is the worst enemy of "good".
The very idea is not inherently unrealistic, but it can only be realized if strong economical and political interests are involved, such as the intended creation of a European or Japanese-Chinese empire. The best that the advocates of a constructed international language can wish is that such empires emerge and that the United States remain as an important power, so that the world will have a few strong empires which cannot beat each other but must live in parallel and in cooperation. In such a situation, it might turn out that it is unrealistic not to agree on a common language which is not any of the national languages.
The role of the Internet in this hypothetical development would be to create the informational infrastructure for the discussion of the construction of the language, the very construction work, spreading out information about the language, the use of the language, and continuous development of the language. Most probably the language would first be used in parallel with English, and the initial use would be for such purposes like international agreements where national languages are clearly insufficient. For instance, if you need to formulate an agreement between two countries, you definitely need a neutral common language instead of having the text in two languages, each text allowing its own interpretations.
An alternative: machine translation
An alternative view of the future is that after a few years or decades, no universal language is needed: machine translation will allow you to use your own language. If the machine translation tools had sufficient quality and speed, you could sit on your terminal writing your news article or an IRC message in, say, Finnish, and another person in New Zealand would read your text in English, due to automatic translation "on the fly".
During the last few decades, quite a lot of predictions and even promises have been presented regarding machine translation, but useful software and systems for it have not been available until recently. This has caused disappointments and pessimism to the extent that many people consider machine translation as definitely unrealistic.
Actually, machine translation is operational for a wide range of texts, although corrective actions by human translators may be necessary. Corrections are needed to resolve ambiguities which exist due to the limitations of the software and to fix errors caused by the fact that translation of human languages requires extralinguistic information.
Assumably fully automatic correct translation will never be possible. However, this does not exclude the possibility of using it extensively. It only means that we must be prepared to accept a risk - decreasing by advances in technology, but never reaching zero - of translation errors. Such risks exist when human translators are used, too, and in many respects automatic translation can be more reliable. Both human beings and computer programs err, in different ways.
In addition to the advancement of translation techniques, there are several ways in which the risk of errors in automatic translation can be decreased:
avoiding ambiguities in the source language: people can try to write their texts so that they are more easily tractable by translation programs
checking the translations: a person who has written a text in his native language may run it through a translation program, check and correct the result, and provide the "authorized" translation together with the source text; although it is usually not feasible to do this for several target languages, the authorized translation (typically, to English) can be used by translation programs for checking purposes: if translations from the original source and the authorized translation yield different results, this fact should be signalled to the user
warnings: in general, problematic fragments of texts like those obviously allowing different syntactic analyses, can be signalled to the user - i.e. to the author, to the reader, or both.
Currently the operational machine translation software is essentially based on syntactic analysis, so that semantic information is implicit in the dictionaries used by the software. An alternative approach, based on some kind of semantic analysis in addition to syntax, does not appear to be practically applicable yet.
Importance of English in a Global Workplace
Communication has enabled mankind to progress and become advanced societies. Highly specialized skills, advances in technology, amazing inventions, spectacular breakthroughs in arts and sciences have limited value UNLESS it is communicated effectively to its intended audience and communicated precisely for specific purposes.
Communication is very important not only for smooth running of a business enterprise but it is also equally, if not more, important for the success and growth of individual executives and professionals. In the age of globalization, communication is of paramount importance. The lack of proper communication skills creates barriers and distortion leading to miscommunication and breakdown in meaning which can have some very negative repercussions for any company or business set-up.
ENGLISH…IS EMERGING AS THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE FOR COMMUNICATION
English has been cited as the major language of international business. It is the most wide spread language in the world. The slide shows the population of English speakers in the world, the red bar represents the first language, native language or the Mother Tongue, the yellow bar represents the second language or English as a Second Language, and the blue bar represents other languages.
Globalization a reality— Ohmae Kenichi, on his thoughts and views about globalization said that, the walls between nations are being torn down, and the whole world has become an arena of competition. Dr Ohmae, is one of the world's leading business and corporate strategists.
Thus, English has become a major international language for worldwide communication. Proficiency in English is a mandatory requirement for any professional working in a global business environment.
While professions may vary, the need to be proficient in English is a basic skill for any global worker. For example, the professional jargon used by a Computer programmer differs greatly from that of a physician BUT both professionals need to have a good command of the English language in their own fields. A deficiency in this area may result in barrier for the employee's professional and personal development.
In the corporate world, English is used for international communication, top management meetings and high level negotiations. English is the preferred language for internal and external communication inter and intra companies worldwide.
Employers expect the workforce to possess excellent communication skills apart from knowledge and expertise in their respective technical field. In the present day workplace, individuals require a range of occupationally specific knowledge and skills, personal attributes and attitudes, the ability to transfer knowledge and skills to different situations, etc. Most industry is quite concerned about the NOTICEABLE GAP in Spoken and Written English. Another core competency of their employees which is the ANALYTICAL SKILLS or CRITICAL THINKING is arising as a major concern among employers. Large scale surveys of language and literacy skills reveal that the work force needs have to be constantly upgraded in terms of appropriate skills required.
So what does this tell us?
The major roadblock that an applicant or a worker must overcome in the global workplace is
Proficiency in communication both in oral and written
7 Effective ways of communicating
Now let’s focus on how we can learn to develop communicative fluency and become an effective communicator.
There are 7 ways to learn Communicative English. I'm sure, many more rules can be made, but let’s just focus on these as our basic.
Rule#1 Rule number 1: Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Making mistakes is an opportunity for learning.
Rule#2 In rule number two: Learn correct English pronunciation including intonation patterns, stress and rhythm.
Practice slides Pronunciation… Now let’s put this into practice, say dad, dad, say dead, dead. Dad is said differently from Dead.
Now say girl, girl, say world, world. Now read the sentence below: You are the most beautiful girl in the world.
In our experience, most of our applicants have difficulty pronouncing the F and P, and the B and V. And these sounds are often intertwined.
Rule#3 Rule Number 3 according to Dr. Min Byung Chul, a prominent figure in Korea on acquiring English as a second language: Don’t just memorize vocabulary words and isolated sentences, but learn complete dialogues.
Rule#4 Rule Number 4 Learn the phrases that YOU really need. Most Asians when asked to speak, tend to use a lot of words and phrases that are difficult to understand. Beating around the bush is a prominent habit too, because of the impress the listener however,the message and intent are often buried in obscurity because of the complexity of the words used.
Rule#5 In Rule number five, if you are studying to acquire a second language such as English, Don’t just listen to your English language audio materials; speak at the same time as the person on the audio materials.
Rule#6 Rule number six tells us to Answer in complete sentences. For example, Would you like to have lunch with me? we normally answer with the following, yeah, yes, Yes, I would. If I would ask you, would you like to have lunch with me? How would you answer?
Rule#7 Rule number seven Understand the target language’s culture. In the US, there are fifty states and each state have their own peculiar way of talking and expressing.
To wrap up my speech, I hope that I was able to impart valuable information that can help you attain a successful entry into the Global Job Market. Thank you for you time and good luck!
Communication is very important not only for smooth running of a business enterprise but it is also equally, if not more, important for the success and growth of individual executives and professionals. In the age of globalization, communication is of paramount importance. The lack of proper communication skills creates barriers and distortion leading to miscommunication and breakdown in meaning which can have some very negative repercussions for any company or business set-up.
ENGLISH…IS EMERGING AS THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE FOR COMMUNICATION
English has been cited as the major language of international business. It is the most wide spread language in the world. The slide shows the population of English speakers in the world, the red bar represents the first language, native language or the Mother Tongue, the yellow bar represents the second language or English as a Second Language, and the blue bar represents other languages.
Globalization a reality— Ohmae Kenichi, on his thoughts and views about globalization said that, the walls between nations are being torn down, and the whole world has become an arena of competition. Dr Ohmae, is one of the world's leading business and corporate strategists.
Thus, English has become a major international language for worldwide communication. Proficiency in English is a mandatory requirement for any professional working in a global business environment.
While professions may vary, the need to be proficient in English is a basic skill for any global worker. For example, the professional jargon used by a Computer programmer differs greatly from that of a physician BUT both professionals need to have a good command of the English language in their own fields. A deficiency in this area may result in barrier for the employee's professional and personal development.
In the corporate world, English is used for international communication, top management meetings and high level negotiations. English is the preferred language for internal and external communication inter and intra companies worldwide.
Employers expect the workforce to possess excellent communication skills apart from knowledge and expertise in their respective technical field. In the present day workplace, individuals require a range of occupationally specific knowledge and skills, personal attributes and attitudes, the ability to transfer knowledge and skills to different situations, etc. Most industry is quite concerned about the NOTICEABLE GAP in Spoken and Written English. Another core competency of their employees which is the ANALYTICAL SKILLS or CRITICAL THINKING is arising as a major concern among employers. Large scale surveys of language and literacy skills reveal that the work force needs have to be constantly upgraded in terms of appropriate skills required.
So what does this tell us?
The major roadblock that an applicant or a worker must overcome in the global workplace is
Proficiency in communication both in oral and written
7 Effective ways of communicating
Now let’s focus on how we can learn to develop communicative fluency and become an effective communicator.
There are 7 ways to learn Communicative English. I'm sure, many more rules can be made, but let’s just focus on these as our basic.
Rule#1 Rule number 1: Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Making mistakes is an opportunity for learning.
Rule#2 In rule number two: Learn correct English pronunciation including intonation patterns, stress and rhythm.
Practice slides Pronunciation… Now let’s put this into practice, say dad, dad, say dead, dead. Dad is said differently from Dead.
Now say girl, girl, say world, world. Now read the sentence below: You are the most beautiful girl in the world.
In our experience, most of our applicants have difficulty pronouncing the F and P, and the B and V. And these sounds are often intertwined.
Rule#3 Rule Number 3 according to Dr. Min Byung Chul, a prominent figure in Korea on acquiring English as a second language: Don’t just memorize vocabulary words and isolated sentences, but learn complete dialogues.
Rule#4 Rule Number 4 Learn the phrases that YOU really need. Most Asians when asked to speak, tend to use a lot of words and phrases that are difficult to understand. Beating around the bush is a prominent habit too, because of the impress the listener however,the message and intent are often buried in obscurity because of the complexity of the words used.
Rule#5 In Rule number five, if you are studying to acquire a second language such as English, Don’t just listen to your English language audio materials; speak at the same time as the person on the audio materials.
Rule#6 Rule number six tells us to Answer in complete sentences. For example, Would you like to have lunch with me? we normally answer with the following, yeah, yes, Yes, I would. If I would ask you, would you like to have lunch with me? How would you answer?
Rule#7 Rule number seven Understand the target language’s culture. In the US, there are fifty states and each state have their own peculiar way of talking and expressing.
To wrap up my speech, I hope that I was able to impart valuable information that can help you attain a successful entry into the Global Job Market. Thank you for you time and good luck!
English as a Second Language (ESL)
English as a Second Language (ESL), alternatively known as English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL), refers to an intensive English language learning program or course taken by speakers of other languages.In other words, ESL is a course that is designed to teach English to individuals whose native language is not English or who are not proficient in this language or who cannot fluently speak, write, or read English. People across the globe take ESL courses for a plethora of reasons.Sometimes, it may be for the successful completion of high school education or to enter a graduation course. In some instances, it may be to join an occupational or a professional course. Apart from these, people take this course to enhance their career. In short, the primary purpose of an ESL course is to make an individual proficient in the use of the English language. An English as a second language course is primarily designed with a range of techniques and methodologies to develop listening, speaking, reading, writing, and vocabulary skills with regard to the English language. The topics covered in English as a Second Language courses include grammar, use of idioms and phrasal verbs, picture dictionaries, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation. Mostly, the course is inclusive of a multitude of activities, which among many others are: - Imparting effective classes along with seminars and workshops for individuals and groups - Preparing and developing useful notes and other materials on the English language - Scheduling schemes of work - Tracking records of students - Tailoring programs according to the skills and requirements of candidates - Implementation of most modern tools for training, such as, multimedia and videoconferencing facilitiesHowever, the duration of ESL programs are based on different levels, and range from few weeks to few months or sometimes even several years. Depending upon the skills and requirements of people, different types of English as a Second Language programs are available. For instance, there are ESL programs specifically designed for non-native English speaker business professionals, with topics focusing on enhancement of verbal comprehension, improved readability, proper usage of grammar and punctuation for successful business writing, and effective editing and proofreading.Specialized programs are also available for those engaged in such professions as airline services, hotel management, and nursing. Likewise, there are special courses for students engaged in advanced research programs. Some advanced level ESL courses include topics that emphasize on preparation of some kind of exams, like, TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System), and the Cambridge Exam. This type of ESL programs usually cover classes on the English grammar, vocabulary listening, and writing and speaking skills vital for university admission. In addition, for those who want to enhance their language skills in a particular area of professional study, then taking ESL programs such as English for Specific programs would be beneficial. Most popular ESL programs also include one to one instruction, independent study with the help of sophisticated learning tools, and group instruction. Advanced General English courses and Conversational English Course are the other prominent ESL programs. Let it be any type of English as a second language program, the curriculum starts with training on basic skills in the language. Then, the training is switched over to the development of communication skills as well as the other modules of language training. One of the prime benefits of ESL programs is that it serves as a great way to fill in the missing gap in your knowledge or skills, since they are mostly inclusive of innovative classes and educational events. Another prime benefit of this program is that it helps you attain success in much desirable courses, such as TOEFL exam, which is vital in order to enroll or work in a US school or firm. However, the benefits of an ESL programs are far beyond the educational and employment opportunities it renders. An ESL program can help improve an individual's linguistic skills, thereby making them adept in comprehending complexities arising as a result of the language's grammar as well as meaning. Also, included in ESL programs' advantages are improved social interaction skills and ability to work in a creative environment. Nowadays, endless options are available to take courses on English as a second language, with a large number of reputable teaching centers and programs to choose from. With the introduction of the internet, there are superb alternatives to take ESL programs online.
WHY ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Frankly speaking, it is highly essential to know the language for communication. In general, the most popular language is English. In this computer age, English is the only language that any one can understand. So to say, it has become as an ideal language for expressing our feelings. First, we have to learn the language and then we have to gain fluency in the language. Unless we have the fluency in English language, it would not be possible to work with the computer. If you do not know English, then you would be in need of a translator to do the job.
The first stage of learning this language would be very interesting. Once you are fluent with the alphabets, slowly you can learn many words. It would always be better to follow the method of reading first, then writing. You can use the picture books for this purpose. When you feel that you are familiar with the words, you can form sentences. This is the most interesting stage to learn. You just think of a sentence in your mother language, and try to write the same sentence in English. There could be some mistakes. But you should not bother about it. But, you have to write the same sentence using many different words till you are satisfied with your sentence. If you follow this way, very soon you can create sentences of your own.
The next step is learning the grammar of the language. It is quite simple and very systematic compared with other languages. There are certain rules and regulations for each and every topic in grammar of this language. As long as you follow the rules and regulations, it would be a difficult task to make mistakes. You would gain that much guidance from the grammar. The presentation is the most important factor in communicating your feelings. So, naturally you must be sure while you are presenting. what you really wish to say. At any point, do not try to write or speak, beyond your capability. Even if it is a small and simple sentence, it would reach the receiver perfectly. This is our basic idea. Slowly, you can improve the standard of your language by practice. If you know to form the sentences, it is more than enough to go deep into the subject. Though this only an article about the importance of the English Language, we have to learn some of the basic points in presenting the sentences. There are three different types of sentences: They are, 1. Statements. 2. Interrogative sentence. 3. Imperative sentence. 4. Exclamatory sentence. To begin with, you must know the difference between a phrase and a sentence.
Phrase is a group of words, which gives meaning, but not complete meaning. A sentence is a group of words, which makes a complete sense. 1. Statement: The sentence starting with nouns or pronouns is known as statement. Example: Rome is a church city. 2. Interrogative sentence: There are two types of interrogative sentences. a. “wh” type question. The sentences starting with the following fords are “wh” type question. What, When, Where, Who, How many, How long and etcetera. Example: Why did you come late? 2. What are you doing there? b. “yes or no” type question. For which sentences you get the reply either with yes or no they are called yes or no type question. Example: Is your father a doctor? The answer: No sir. 3. Imperative sentence: The sentence that gives command, request, and advice is known as Imperative sentence. Example: Walk on the pavement. 2. Eat regularly. 4. Exclamatory sentence: The sentence that expresses the sudden feelings or strong emotions is known as exclamatory sentence. Example: Alas! He is dead. 2. Oh! What a beautiful sight.
When you are familiar with the above points, it would be very interesting to you to create many wonderful sentences. In general, the sentences are divided into three different kinds. They are, 1. Simple sentence. 2. Compound sentence. 3. Complex sentence.
Though it very essential to have knowledge in handling the above sentences, we have to study them separately. In this essay, we are talking about the importance of the language. Many people make mistakes even with the usage of articles. It is a pity that even scholars may make mistakes. So, you should not get dejected with your style of writing.
There is a lot of difference between these two. 1. a few 2. few When you want to say that you have friends, you have to say that,” I have a few friends.” When you want to say that you do not have friends, you have to say that, “I have few friends.”
This is the opposite meaning of the word, many. Apart from these, there are many points to be discussed later. When you feel that you are already strong on the above subjects, you can develop your knowledge for betterment of your knowledge. As long as you educate yourself, you will come across many new things. There is no end for learning. All the above points are used in the normal usage of English. The literature value of the English Language is entirely different and should be dealt separately.
The first stage of learning this language would be very interesting. Once you are fluent with the alphabets, slowly you can learn many words. It would always be better to follow the method of reading first, then writing. You can use the picture books for this purpose. When you feel that you are familiar with the words, you can form sentences. This is the most interesting stage to learn. You just think of a sentence in your mother language, and try to write the same sentence in English. There could be some mistakes. But you should not bother about it. But, you have to write the same sentence using many different words till you are satisfied with your sentence. If you follow this way, very soon you can create sentences of your own.
The next step is learning the grammar of the language. It is quite simple and very systematic compared with other languages. There are certain rules and regulations for each and every topic in grammar of this language. As long as you follow the rules and regulations, it would be a difficult task to make mistakes. You would gain that much guidance from the grammar. The presentation is the most important factor in communicating your feelings. So, naturally you must be sure while you are presenting. what you really wish to say. At any point, do not try to write or speak, beyond your capability. Even if it is a small and simple sentence, it would reach the receiver perfectly. This is our basic idea. Slowly, you can improve the standard of your language by practice. If you know to form the sentences, it is more than enough to go deep into the subject. Though this only an article about the importance of the English Language, we have to learn some of the basic points in presenting the sentences. There are three different types of sentences: They are, 1. Statements. 2. Interrogative sentence. 3. Imperative sentence. 4. Exclamatory sentence. To begin with, you must know the difference between a phrase and a sentence.
Phrase is a group of words, which gives meaning, but not complete meaning. A sentence is a group of words, which makes a complete sense. 1. Statement: The sentence starting with nouns or pronouns is known as statement. Example: Rome is a church city. 2. Interrogative sentence: There are two types of interrogative sentences. a. “wh” type question. The sentences starting with the following fords are “wh” type question. What, When, Where, Who, How many, How long and etcetera. Example: Why did you come late? 2. What are you doing there? b. “yes or no” type question. For which sentences you get the reply either with yes or no they are called yes or no type question. Example: Is your father a doctor? The answer: No sir. 3. Imperative sentence: The sentence that gives command, request, and advice is known as Imperative sentence. Example: Walk on the pavement. 2. Eat regularly. 4. Exclamatory sentence: The sentence that expresses the sudden feelings or strong emotions is known as exclamatory sentence. Example: Alas! He is dead. 2. Oh! What a beautiful sight.
When you are familiar with the above points, it would be very interesting to you to create many wonderful sentences. In general, the sentences are divided into three different kinds. They are, 1. Simple sentence. 2. Compound sentence. 3. Complex sentence.
Though it very essential to have knowledge in handling the above sentences, we have to study them separately. In this essay, we are talking about the importance of the language. Many people make mistakes even with the usage of articles. It is a pity that even scholars may make mistakes. So, you should not get dejected with your style of writing.
There is a lot of difference between these two. 1. a few 2. few When you want to say that you have friends, you have to say that,” I have a few friends.” When you want to say that you do not have friends, you have to say that, “I have few friends.”
This is the opposite meaning of the word, many. Apart from these, there are many points to be discussed later. When you feel that you are already strong on the above subjects, you can develop your knowledge for betterment of your knowledge. As long as you educate yourself, you will come across many new things. There is no end for learning. All the above points are used in the normal usage of English. The literature value of the English Language is entirely different and should be dealt separately.
Importance of the English Language
A language is a systematic means of communication by the use of sounds or conventional symbols. It is the code we all use to express ourselves and communicate to others. It is a communication by word of mouth. It is the mental faculty or power of vocal communication. It is a system for communicating ideas and feelings using sounds, gestures, signs or marks. Any means of communicating ideas, specifically, human speech, the expression of ideas by the voice and sounds articulated by the organs of the throat and mouth is a language. This is a system for communication. A language is the written and spoken methods of combining words to create meaning used by a particular group of people. Language, so far as we know, is something specific to humans, that is to say it is the basic capacity that distinguishes humans from all other living beings. Language therefore remains potentially a communicative medium capable of expressing ideas and concepts as well as moods, feelings and attitudes. A set of linguists who based their assumptions of language on psychology made claims that language is nothing but ‘habit formation’. According to them, language is learnt through use, through practice. In their view, ‘the more one is exposed to the use of language, the better one learns’. Written languages use symbols (characters) to build words. The entire set of words is the language’s vocabulary. The ways in which the words can be meaningfully combined is defined by the language’s syntax and grammar. The actual meaning of words and combinations of words is defined by the language’s semantics. The latest and the most advanced discoveries and inventions in science and technology are being made in the universities located in the United States of America where English language is the means of scientific discourse. The historical circumstances of India (having been ruled by the British for over two centuries) have given the Indians an easy access to mastering English language, and innumerable opportunities for advancement in the field of science and technology. Many Indians have become so skilled in English language and have won many international awards for creative and comparative literatures during the last few years. Sometime ago, an Indian author, Arundhati Roy, won the prestigious booker prize for her book “The God of Small Things”. Her book sold lakhs of copies all over the globe. Over the years, English language has become one of our principal assets in getting a global leadership for books written by Indian authors and for films made by Indians in English language. A famous Indian movie maker Shekhar Kapoor’s film “Elizabeth” has got several nominations for Oscar Awards. It does not require any further argument to establish the advantage English language has brought to us at the international level. English language comes to our aid in our commercial transactions throughout the globe. English is the language of the latest business management in the world and Indian proficiency in English has brought laurels to many Indian business managers. English is a means not only for international commerce; it has become increasingly essential for inter-state commerce and communication. In India, people going from North to South for education or business mostly communicate in English, which has become a link language. Keeping this in mind, the Parliament has also recognized English as an official language in addition to Hindi. All the facts of history and developments in present day India underline the continued importance of learning English in addition to vernaculars. Some of the states of India are witnessing popular increase in public demand for teaching of English language from the primary classes. Realizing the importance, recently, the Minister of Indian Railways, Laloo Prasad Yadav, demands teaching of English language in schools. The great demand for admission in English medium schools throughout the country is a testimony to the attraction of English to the people of India. Many of the leaders, who denounce English, send their own children to English medium schools. Many of the schools in the country have English as the sole or additional medium of instruction. A language attracts people because of the wealth of literature and knowledge enshrined in it. English poses no danger to Indian languages. The Indian languages are vibrant and are developing by the contributions of great minds using them as their vehicle of expression. English is available to us as a historical heritage in addition to our own language. We must make the best use of English to develop ourselves culturally and materially so that we can compete with the best in the world of mind and matter. English language is our window to the world. English language is one tool to establish our viewpoint. We can learn from others experience. We can check the theories of foreigners against our experience. We can reject the untenable and accept the tenable. We can also propagate our theories among the international audience and readers. We can make use of English to promote our worldview and spiritual heritage throughout the globe. Swami Vivekananda established the greatness of Indian view of religion at the world conference of religions in Chicago in 1893. He addressed the gathering in impressive English. Many spiritual gurus have since converted thousands of English people to our spirituality by expressing their thought and ideas in masterful English. English has thus become an effective means of promoting Indian view of life, and strengthening our cultural identity in the world. When William Caxton set up his printing press in London (1477) the new hybrid language (vernacular English mixed with courtly French and scholarly Latin) became increasingly standardized, and by 1611, when the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible was published, the educated English of London had become the core of what is now called Standard English. By the time of Johnson’s dictionary (1755) and the American Declaration of Independence (1776), English was international and recognizable as the language we use today. The Orthography of English was more or less established by 1650 and, in England in particular, a form of standard educated speech, known as Received Pronunciation (RP) spread from the major public schools in the 19th century. This accent was adopted in the early 20th century by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for its announcers and readers, and is variously known as RP, BBC English, Oxford English, and the King’s or Queen’s English. Generally, Standard English today does not depend on accent but rather on shared educational experience, mainly of the printed language. Present-day English is an immensely varied language, having absorbed material from many other tongues. It is spoken by more than 300 million native speakers, and between 400 and 800 million foreign users. It is the official language of air transport and shipping; the leading language of science, technology, computers, and commerce; and a major medium of education, publishing, and international negotiation. For this reason, scholars frequently refer to its latest phase as World English.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Helvetism
Helvetisms (New Latin Helvetia = Switzerland and -ism) are a large group of words typical for Swiss Standard German, which do not appear in either of Standard German or Standard German dialects. The most frequent characteristics of helvetisms are in vocabulary and pronunciation, but certain helvetisms denote themselves as special in syntax and orthography likewise.
Although the Swiss (mainly those of the German-speaking parts, though) would traditionally use their native vocabulary, this may yet not be regarded as "false German", since even the definitive work for German orthography, the Duden, explicitly declares a number of helvetisms as correct Standard German - albeit with the [schweiz.] annotation, denoting that the usage of the word is limited to Swiss territory. But yet not each and every word may be considered part of the "Swiss standard language"/"Swiss standard German" category, because its frequency of usage must be evaluated as well; if this does not apply, or if its use is known to span one or more certain dialectal regions only, they must be categorized "dialectal" In orthographical terms, the most significant difference to Standard German outside Switzerland is the absence of ß. (After having been officially abandoned in the Canton of Zürich in 1935, this character gradually fell into disuse, until it was eventually dropped by the NZZ in 1974.)
In everyday language, Helvetisms may both be used consciously and unconsciously by a Swiss German native speaker. Classic examples of Helvetism usage throughout the whole literary work are found in a great part of Swiss literature, notably Jeremias Gotthelf's novels located in the Emmental; a contemporary example would be Tim Krohn in his Quatemberkinder. Another group, the most notable of whom is Peter Bichsel, deliberately use helvetisms to arouse a sort of emotional attachment to the readers' home country: Bichsel is notorious for using dialectal words like "Beiz" (instead of "Kneipe" [English: pub]), or "Kasten" (instead of "Schrank" [English: cupboard/cabinet/closet]) in his "San Salvador" short story. Lastly, there is yet another group of authors whose book readers' are known to be located all over the German-speaking territory (Germany, Austria, Switzerland as well as some smaller minorities in other European countries) and thus traditionally refrain from using any helvetisms in their literary works.
Nor are helvetisms easy to notice, either, simply because there may be just one article which makes the difference: in his book "Zündels Abgang", author Markus Werner uses "Tram" ("streetcar") - which would normally take the female article, "die" - with the typically Swiss neuter article "das".
Also words which are used outside Switzerland, but which originate from Swiss German may be called "helvetisms." For instance, the word Putsch is one of those widely used in political context even in notable Standard German newspapers. The word Müsli, however, is a special case: in Swiss German (and only there), Müsli is the diminutive of Mus ("mouse") and stands for "little mouse". To describe the food, the Swiss would use a special spelling, which is nowhere used abroad: Müesli.
Analogously to "helvetisms", there are also Austriacisms and Teutonisms (which are also wrongly called "Germanisms"), together coining the national variety.
Abbreviations used in following word list
· inf. used in informal situations
· dial. dialect
· aust. Austrian
· TM. trademark
After the helvetism, you see the German word followed by the English translation.
Vocabulary
Some vocables are used instead of or besides a Standard German vocable. In some parts of the German language area, those vocables are known, too - but used seldom.
Kitchen, Dining and Restaurant
· der/das Apéro or Apero (Umtrunk=Taking appetizers and drinks - standing - before a feast)
· das Aromat (TM., special Swiss condiment)
· das Bahnhofbuffet (Bahnhofrestaurant=railway restaurant)
· der Ballon/das Ballönli dial./inf. (Glas Wein=a glass of wine)
· die Baumnuss (Walnuss=walnut)
· die Beiz inf. (Kneipe=drinking hole, compare with: Beis(e) l, aust.)
· der Bierteller (Bierdeckel=table mat for glasses of beer)
· der/das Café Mélange (Kaffee mit Schlagsahne=coffee with cream)
· der/die Coupe (Eisbecher=sundae)
· das Cüpli (Glas Champagner/Sekt=glass of champagne)
· durchzogen (mittelmässig=middle-rate, aust., "durchwachsen")
· der Gipfel, das Gipfeli (Hörnchen=Croissant)
· die Glace/das Glacé (Speiseeis=ice cream)
· grillieren (grillen=making a barbecue)
· das Gue(t)zli/Güe(t)zi dial./inf. (Plätzchen, Keks=cookie, biscuit)
· der/das Kaffee crème oftmals auch Café crème (Kaffee mit Sahne=coffee with cream)
· der Kartoffelstock (Kartoffelpüree=potato mash)
· der Kirsch (Kirschwasser=kirsch)
· die Metzgete (Schlachtplatte=meat platter)
· der Milken (Kalbsbries, Kalbsmilch=calf milk)
· das Morgenessen (Frühstück=breakfast)
· das Nachtessen (Abendessen=evening meal)
· der Nüsslisalat bzw. (in Bern) Nüssler (field salad, lambs' lettuce)
· das Panaché (Radler=shandy)
· die Peperoni (Paprika=red pepper, but yellow and green ones, too)
· die Pinte (Restaurant)
· der Pflümli (schnaps made of plums)
· das Poulet (poultry)
· das Praliné ("Praline", but accentuated on the "a"=praline)
· die Rande;seldom in sing. (rote Bete=beetroot)
· rezent ;related to cheese: scharf, salzig=peppery and salty)
· das Rüebli dial./inf. (Möhre, Karotte=carrot)
· der Sauerrahm" (Creme fraiche)
· die Schale oder Schale gold (heller Milchkaffee=blonde white coffee)
· die Schoggi dial./inf. (Schokolade=chocolate)
· die Serviertochter; antiquated (Kellnerin=waitress)
· das Supplément (zusätzliche Portion, Nachschlag=additional dish)
· der Süssmost (Apfelsaft=apple juice)
· das Tearoom oder Tea Room; antiquated (Café=café)
· der Thon (Thunfisch=tuna, tunny fish)
· tischen (den Tisch decken=cover the table)
· das Voressen (Gulasch, Ragout=goulash)
· währschaft (deftig, solide, urwüchsig=solid, ethnic)
· die Weindegustation (also aust., Weinprobe=degustation of wine)
· der/das Zmorge dial./inf. (Frühstück=breakfast)
· der/das Znüni dial./inf. (Zwischenmahlzeit am Vormittag=snack before midday)
· der/das Zmittag dial./inf. (Mittagessen=lunch)
· der/das Zvieri dial./inf. (Zwischenmahlzeit am Nachmittag=snack after midday)
· der/das Znacht dial./inf. (Abendessen=dinner)
· die Zucchetti (Zucchini=zucchini)
Home and Household
· der Abwart (Hausmeister, Hauswart=caretaker)
· die Alterssiedlung (Altenwohnheim=home for the aged)
· die Attikawohnung (Penthouse=attic flat)
· die Aufrichte (Richtfest, aust: Firstfeier=topping-out ceremony)
· der Estrich (Dachboden=screed)
· die Finken (Hausschuhe, Pantoffeln=finches, slippers)
· der Harass/die Harasse (Getränkekiste=a solid box, bottles come in)
· der Kehricht (look under Güsel / Ghüder)
· die (Lamellen-)Store (Jalousie=jalousie)
· der Mietzins (aust., too; Miete=rent)
· die Pfanne (Topf=pot)
· posten (einkaufen gehen=go shopping (rather for daily shopping than for luxury))
· das Riegelhaus (Fachwerkhaus=(half-)timbered house)
· ringhörig (hellhörig=clairaudient)
· der Schüttstein (Ausguss in Küche=sink in kitchen)
· das Lavabo (Ausguss im Badezimmer=washbasin in bathroom)
· das Sackmesser (south-German, too; Taschenmesser=pocket knife)
· der Spannteppich (Teppichboden=room carpet, fitted carpet)
· das Spital (aust., too;Krankenhaus=hospital)
· das Stöckli (Altenteil, Ausgedinge=cottage of estate reserved for use by parents.(That's the informal synonym for the Swiss Ständerat, too))
· der Tumbler ((Kleider-) Trockner=dryer for clothes)
· versorgen (wegräumen=to put sth. away)
· wischen (kehren, fegen=sweeping)
· zügeln (umziehen=relocating)
Trading
· der Abriss (Nepp=gyp)
· die Lehre (auch aust., Anlernzeit=apprenticeship)
· die Betreibung (Zwangsvollstreckung=prosecution)
· das Bierdepot (Bierverlag, nicht Bierpfand=beer distributor)
· das Brockenhaus (Gebrauchtwarenladen, v.a. für Möbel=secondhand store orig. merely for furniture, but some have e.g. books and clothes, too)
· der Coiffeur (Friseur=hairdresser)
· das Depot (Pfand bei Mehrwegverpackungen=deposit (e.g. on bottles))
· der Detailhandel (Einzelhandel=retailing)
· der Einzahlungsschein (Überweisung,Zahlkarte, Erlagschein=credit slip)
· der Gesamtarbeitsvertrag, Abbrev. GAV (Tarifvertrag, Kollektivvertrag=collective labor agreement)
· die Lehrtochter (die Auszubildende=girl in an apprenticeship)
· der Lehrsohn (der Auszubildende=boy in apprenticeship)
· die Offerte (das Angebot=the offer)
· die Papeterie (Schreibwarenhandlung=stationery shop)
· der Redaktor;accentuated on second syllable (Redakteur=editor)
· das Sackgeld (Taschengeld=pocket money)
· der Zeitungsverträger (Zeitungsausträger=paperboy)
Traffic
· die Ausfahrt (aust., too Abfahrt=slip road for leaving motorway)
· die Abzweigung (aust., too Abzweiger=branch of the street to turn to)
· der Autobus short Bus (Omnibus=omnibus)
· der Autocar short Car (Reisebus=motor-coach)
· der Automobilist (Autofahrer=car driver)
· das Autopermis short Permis (Führerschein=driving license)
· der Autoverlad (aust., too PW-Huckepackverkehr=car pickaback on train)
· das Billet (Fahrkarte, inf. also Führerschein=entry ticket for e.g. a concert, inf. for driving license, too)
· der Camionneur (Fuhrunternehmer=carter)
· der Dolendeckel/Senklochdeckel;Dolendeckel is South-German, too (Kanaldeckel, Gully=gully cover)
· der Fahrausweis (Führerschein=driving license)
· der Führerausweis (Führerschein=driving license)
· die Garage (KFZ-Werkstatt= auto (car)repair shop)
· der "Garagist" (Werkstatteigentümer=owner of auto /(car) repair shop)
· der Kondukteur (Schaffner, Zugbegleiter=conductor)
· die Kondukteuse;Made-up word, doesn't even exist in French (Schaffnerin, Zugbegleiterin=female conductor.)
· der Lenker (Fahrer=driver)
· das Lichtsignal (Verkehrsampel=traffic lights)
· das Motorfahrzeug (Kraftfahrzeug=motor vehicle)
· die Occasion accentuated on first syllable (Ware aus zweiter Hand, especially: Der Gebrauchtwagen=second-hand car)
· der ÖV, öffentlicher Verkehr (öffentlicher Verkehr=public transport)
· parkieren (parken=to park)
· die Passerelle (Fussgängerbrücke=bridge for pedestrians)
· das/der Perron (Bahnsteig=railway station platform)
· der Pneu (Autoreifen=tires)
· der PW (PKW, Personenkraftwagen=passenger car, private car)
· der Rank dial./inf. (Kurve=curve)
· das Retourbillet (Rückfahrkarte=return ticket)
· das Rotlicht (Ampelanlage=traffic lights)
· das/der Töff inf. (Motorrad=motorbike)
· das Tram (also Aust. and South-German, Straßenbahn=streetcar, tram)
· das Trassee (Trasse, Bahnkörper=railroad roadbed)
· das Trottinet (Tretroller=scooter)
· das Trottoiraccentuated on first syllable (also Aust. and South-German; Bürgersteig, Gehweg=sidewalk, pavement)
· das Velo (von Veloziped; Fahrrad=bicycle)
· der Zwischenhalt (Zwischenstation=intermediate station)
Military
· das Abgeben (Entlassung aus der Dienstpflicht=discharge from service duty)
· der Auditor (Ankläger bei Militärgericht=prosecutor at military court)
· der Dienstverweigerer (Wehrdienstverweigerer=person who refuses to carry out military service)
· der Endalarm (Entwarnung=all-clear)
· der Feldweibel (Feldwebel=sarge)
· das Kantonnement (Truppenunterkunft=troup quarters)
· der Kommandant (Kommandeur=commander)
· die Rekrutenschule Abk.: RS (militärische Grundausbildung=military basic education)
· die Wacht (Wache="watch" or guard)
· der Wiederholungskurs Abk.: WK (akin "Reservistenübung"=reservist's drill)
Education
· das Gymi (ausgesprochen: ['gimi]) spec. Gymer (only canton of Bern) inf. (Gymnasium=grammar school)
· der Hauptlehrer (verbeamteter Lehrer=functionary teacher)
· die Kantonsschule inf. Kanti (Gymnasium=grammar school)
· die Legitimationskarte, abgekürzt inf. Legi (Studentenausweis=student's pass)
· der Maibummel (Maiwanderung=hike in May)
· die Matur, Matura (Matura also Aust.; Abitur=university-entrance diploma)
· der Maturand (Abiturient; aust.: Maturant=student achieving university-entrance diploma)
· die Mittelschule (also aust., höhere Schule=high school)
· der Mittelschullehrer (Gymnasiallehrer; Studienrat; aust.: high school professor)
· die Promotion (also aust., Versetzung=displacement)
· die Schulreise (Klassenfahrt=school trip)
· der Schulthek/Thek (Schulranzen, Tornister=school satchel)
· der Sporttag (Schulsportfest=school sports' day)
Politics, State and Law
· der Aktivbürger (volljähriger Staatsbürger=adult citizen with right to vote)
· die Absenz (das Fernbleiben, and its annotation= absence, and its annotation)
· ausmehren (bei einer Landsgemeinde die Mehrheit ermitteln=finding the majority at a voting event)
· ausschaffen (abschieben=deportation (of refugees, criminals))
· bedingt (also Aust., mit Bewährungsfrist=on probation)
· der Bezüger (Bezieher=recipient (of e.g. unemployment benefit))
· die Busse, (Bussgeld), auch: gebüsst werden=monetary fine)
· die Classe politique (die Politiker=the politicians (often pejorative))
· der Courant normal (normale Tagesgeschäfte=daily business)
· das Departement (Ministerium, Fakultät, Abteilung=department)
· auf etwas eintreten (auf etwas eingehen=agree to a proposal)
· die Einwohnerkontrolle (Einwohnermeldeamt=residents' registration office)
· der Entscheid (amtliche Entscheidung, Beschluss=the official decision)
· fehlbar (schuldig=guilty)
· der Fürsprecher mainly in region Bern, also Fürsprech (Anwalt=advocate)
· das Gegenmehr (Gegenstimmen=opposing votes)
· der Gemeindeammann (in some cantons: Bürgermeister=governor)
· der Gemeindepräsident (in some cantons: Bürgermeister=governor, mayor)
· grossmehrheitlich (mit grosser Mehrheit=with large majority)
· die Identitätskarte (kurz ID) (Personalausweis=ID)
· der Landammann (in some cantons: Ministerpräsident=Prime Minister)
· der Personalausweis; compare with ID (Mitarbeiterausweis=employee's pass)
· der Regierungsrat (in most cantons: Regierung=government)
· die Schriften (Ausweispapiere, Heimatschein=identity papers and certificate of residence)
· die Schwellentelle (Grundsteuer=main tax, basic tax)
· der Secondo, die Seconda (Einwandererssohn, Einwandererstochter=son/daughter of immigrant)
· das Signalement (spoken German) (Personenbeschreibung=Description of a person's look)
· der Souverän (das Volk, Inhaber der Staatsgewalt=the people, holder of state power)
· der Staatsrat (Regierung; Minister=government, minister)
· der Stadtammann (in some cantons Oberbürgermeister=chief governor)
· der Stadtpräsident'; bzw. inf.: Stapi (Oberbürgermeister=chief governor)
· die Standeskommission (Appenzell Innerrhoden: Regierung=government)
· das Steueramt (Finanzamt=finance office, tax office)
· der Stimmbürger (Wahlberechtigter=adult inhabitant with right to vote)
· der Teilstaat (Bundesstaat, especially USA=country)
· die Traktandenliste (Tagesordnung=agenda of a congress)
· das Traktandum (Tagesordnungspunkt=point in the agenda)
· unbedingt (ohne Bewährungsfrist=without probation)
· die Vernehmlassung (Umfrage bei Parteien und Verbänden über ein Gesetzesprojekt=making a poll among parties and club regarding a planned law)
· verzeigen (jemanden anzeigen=to make a report)
Society and Local Culture
· der Alpaufzug (Almauftrieb=bringing the cattle on the alps each year)
· die Auffahrt (Christi Himmelfahrt=Ascension of Christ)
· der Ausgang (verb:ausgehen=to date)
· die Badi dial./inf. (Freibad=open air bath)
· die Besammlung (Sich-Versammeln=gathering)
· die Cervelatprominenz; a cervelat is a sausage (Lokalprominenz=local celebrities)
· die Chilbi/Kilbi (Kirchweih; Kirmes=parish fair)
· der Familiengarten (besides Schrebergarten=allotment garden)
· die Fasnacht (Fastnacht, Karneval, Fasching=carnival)
· das Grosskind (Enkelkind=grandson)
· der Hinschied (Hinscheiden=dying)
· der Kronfavorit (Spitzenkandidat, Topfavorit=top favorite)
· das Leidmahl (Leichenmahl=funereal meal)
· der Mesmer (in north-east of Switzerland: Küster=sexton)
· die Pfadi (Pfadfinder=Boy Scout movement)
· der Redaktor (Redakteur=editor)
· der Schmutzli (Knecht Rupprecht=assistant of Santa Claus (Samichlaus))
· der Sigrist (Küster=sexton)
· urchig dial./inf. (urig=very old-fashioned (used on Swiss ethnical topics))
Nature
· die Alp (Alm=Alps)
· einnachten (Nacht werden=getting dusk)
· die Bise (kalter, trockender Nordostwind=cold dry wind from north-east)
· der Erdschlipf (Erdrutsch=landslide)
· der Föhn (Wind über die Alpen=a wind that goes through the alps)
· das Gitzi dial.inf. (Zicklein=little goat)
· der Muni dial./inf. (Stier=male bull)
· der Pflotsch (Matsch=mud (also used for melting snow))
· die Rüfe (Erdlawine=kind of avalanche consisting of dirt)
· das Tobel (Schlucht=canyon)
· die Trute (Pute, Truthenne=turkey)
Sports
(Football features a lot of Anglicisms)
· der Ausstich (Stechen=play-off)
· der Corner (Eckball=corner)
· der Final (das Finale=final)
· der Flanke or Flangge (der Querpass=cross)
· das Goal (Tor=goal)
· der Goalie (also aust., Torhüter=goal keeper)
· die Nati; spoken "Natzi", pronunciation on 1st syllable short (Nationalmannschaft=national team)
· das Offside (Abseits=offside)
· das Hands (Handspiel=handball, hands)
· der Penalty pronunciation on first syllable short (Elfmeter=penalty)
· crawlen for kraulen (Kraulschwimmen=crawling)
· schlitteln (Schlitten fahren=riding on a bobsledge)
· skifahren (also Aust., schilaufen=skiing)
· snöben inf. (Snowboard fahren=snowboarding)
Human Attitudes
· angriffig (angriffslustig, draufgängerisch=aggressive)
· antönen (andeuten=denoting)
· sich auffangen; Aust.:sich erfangen (sein seelisches Gleichgewicht wiederfinden=calming down, finding balance in soul)
· aufgestellt (gut drauf; gut gelaunt=happy)
· Aufsteller (gute Nachricht=good news)
· "Entenklemmer" (geiziger Mensch=stingy person)
· eindrücklich (eindrucksvoll=impressive)
· fuhrwerken (herummachen, hantieren=to handle, to tamper), and verfuhrwerken (verpfuschen=botching)
· herzig (liebenswürdig, "süss"=sweet)
· krampfen (angestrengt arbeiten=working hard)
· (ab)serbeln (dahinsiechen=being seriously sick, going towards death (used for plants, too))
· speditiv (rasch, zügig=swiftly)
· der Rappenspalter (stingy person)
· zwängeln (quengeln=whining, grouching)
· die Zwängerei (Drängerei; unnachgiebiges Beharren=whining, grouching)
Others
· allfällig (etwaig=case, that are possible. e.g. "allfällige Unfällig"="possible accidents")
· das Argumentarium (Liste von Argumenten=list of arguments)
· der Beschrieb (Beschreibung=description)
· die Wegleitung (Beschreibung, Leitfaden=description, vade-mecum)
· die/der Jupe;spoken French or German (Joppe, Rock=skirt)
· der Leerschlag (Leerzeichen=space character)
· das Nastuch inf. (Taschentuch=kleenex, paper hanky)
· das Natel from NATionales AutoTELefon; TM. (Mobiltelefon, Handy=cell phone)
· die Notfallstation (Unfallstation=med station)
· rezyklieren (wiederverwerten, recyceln=to recycle)
· die Sanität (Sanitätsdienst, Rettung=medical emergency service)
· der Sauglattismus (modischer Schwachsinn=modern and disproportional Stupidity)
· schlussendlich (Aust., too letzten Endes, letztendlich=finally)
· die Spitex (ambulante Krankenpflege=out-patient nursing)
· strub (verworren, wild, schwierig=diffuse, wild, difficult, gross)
· der Unterbruch (Unterbrechung=interruption)
· die Zigi inf. (Zigarette=cigarette)
Other/Additional Meaning
· die Abdankung (Trauerfeier=funeral)
· der Ableger (Filiale=subsidiary)
· die Aktion (also aust., Sonderangebot=special offer)
· aufgestellt (umgänglich, fröhlich, spontan=sympathetic, spontaneous)
· der Ausläufer (Bote, Laufbursche=delivery boy)
· der Estrich (Dachboden, Speicher=attic)
· das Gipfeli or der Gipfel (Hörnchen, Aust. Kipferl=croissant)
· harzig (zäh, langsam=slowly, not swiftly)
· kehren (umdrehen=turning e.g. a piece of paper)
· der Kommissär (Kriminal-Kommissar=commissar)
· der Kübel (Glas Bier von 5 dl=glass of beer containing 5 dezilitres)
· die Laube (Arkade, Bogengang; Balkon eines Bauernhauses=archway, terrace of a farmer house)
· die Legislatur (Legislaturperiode, Gesetzgebungsperiode=election period)
· die Mutation (Änderung, z. B. Adressänderung=changes e.g. in addresses)
· der Nationalrat (Abgeordneter der Volkskammer des Parlamentes=delegate of the people's congress of the parliament)
· der Notfall (Unfallstation=medical emergency station)
· das Paprika (Gewürz aus der Chilischote=spice from the vegetable chili)
· die Peperoncini (die Chilischote; vom Italienischen il peperoncino=the vegetable chili)
· die Peperoni; from the Italian (Paprika=red peppers, but also yellow and green ones)
· der Plausch inf. (Vergnügen=fun)
· das Puff inf. (Unordnung, Durcheinander, Bordell=chaos, confusion - but may also mean brothel)
· das Quartier (Stadtviertel=the neighborhood)
· schmecken (riechen=to smell)
· der Sack (Tüte, Tasche=bag)
· senkrecht (aufrichtig, brav, patriotisch=spotless, patriotic)
· sprechen (Gelder, Kredite bewilligen=allow e.g. credits)
· die Stange (Glas Bier von 3 dl=glass of beer containing 3 dezilitres)
· stimmen (seine Stimme abgeben=to vote)
· stossen (drücken (an Türen), schieben (Fahrrad)=pushing e.g. doors open, pushing a bicycle)
· die Streifung (leichter Schlaganfall=light apoplexia)
· der Trainer (Trainingsanzug=a sweat suit)
· tönen (klingen=sounding)
· der Umschwung (Hofstatt um das Haus herum=land around the and belonging to the house)
· verdanken (in formeller Weise für etwas danken=writing a letter to thank someone)
· der Verwaltungsrat (Aufsichtsrat, only in private industry=governing body)
· der Vortritt (Vorfahrt=right of way)
· wischen (kehren, fegen=sweep)
Antiquated in Other Language Areas (or Parts of Them)
· der Advokat (Rechtsanwalt=advocate)
· amten (ein Amt ausüben=administering an office)
· ennet (jenseits=on the other side)
· innert (binnen/innerhalb=within)
· der Knabe (Junge=boy)
· minim (geringfügig, minimal=minimal)
· obschon (obwohl=although, despite)
· rekognoszieren, not only used in combination with military or medicine (erkunden=explore)
Figures of Speech
· mit abgesägten Hosen dastehen (den kürzeren gezogen haben=being in an unlucky and hopeless situation)
· aus Abschied und Traktanden (fallen) (ausser Betracht fallen=when a thing doesn't matter anymore)
· es macht den Anschein (es hat den Anschein=it seems)
· in den Ausgang gehen (ausgehen=to date)
· von Auge (mit blossem Auge=by naked eye)
· ausjassen (aushandeln=bargaining something)
· von Beginn weg (von Beginn an=from the beginnings)
· ab Blatt (spielen) (vom Blatt spielen, ohne Übung=not playing by heart, not having practised)
· Bach ab schicken (etw. verwerfen=refusing something, e.g. a project)
· Einsitz nehmen (Mitglied in einem Gremium werden=becoming a member of a gremium)
· dastehen wie der Esel am Berg (dastehen wie der Ochse vorm Berg=getting stuck and perplexed by an unexpected situation)
· die Faust im Sack machen (die Faust in der Tasche ballen=holding back/hiding aggression)
· innert nützlicher Frist (angemessen schnell=in a quick way)
· das Fuder überladen (des Guten zuviel tun=doing too much)
· handkehrum (andererseits=on the other hand)
· Hans was Heiri (Jacke wie Hose=when two things result in the same or are the same)
· es hat (es gibt=there are)
· sein Heu nicht auf derselben Bühne haben mit (nicht dieselben Ansichten haben wie=don't like someone, having other interests)
· jemandem geht der Knopf auf (jemandem geht ein Licht auf=suddenly getting an idea to solve a problem)
· den Rank finden (eine Lösung finden=finding a solution)
· zu reden geben (für Gesprächsstoff sorgen=a thing being controversial, being much discussed)
· kein Schleck (kein Honigschlecken=no picnic)
· neben den Schuhen stehen (falsch liegen; sich nicht wohl fühlen in seiner Haut=don't feeling well in a situation)
· es streng haben (viel zu tun haben=having a lot of work)
· in Tat und Wahrheit (in Wirklichkeit=the truth is that...)
· einen Tolggen im Reinheft haben (einen (Schönheits-) Fehler haben=having one single flashy mistake)
· gut tönen (gut klingen, vielsprechend sein=sounding well/interesting)
· keinen Wank tun/machen (sich nicht rühren=being still, don't moving)
· es wird sich weisen (es wird sich zeigen=future will show it)
· werweissen (hin und her raten=thinking about sth., more like guessing)
· Jetzt ist genug Heu unten (Jetzt reicht es!=enough!)
Swiss Specifics
In the areas kitchen, local culture and politics, there are numerous peculiarities, that are not well known outside of Switzerland and which are missing a German expression.
· Kitchen: Älplermagronen (Meal with cut potatoes, Hörnli (Pippete Rigate), cream and melte cheese, Basler Läckerli, Gnagi, Kaffee fertig (Coffee with Schnaps), Quorn
· Local Culture: Hornussen (a native throwing game, esp. in Kanton Bern), der/das Nouss ("Dish" used in Hornussen), Jass (a card game), Schwingen (a kind of ring fight), Schwinget (tournament for said ring fight)
· State: Gemeindeversammlung (Gathering of the voting community), Halbkanton (Half canton), Initiative, Landsgemeinde, Ständerat, Ständemehr, Vernehmlassung
Pronunciation
Because of their characteristic of helvetisms in pronunciation, speakers of Swiss Standard German will be instantly recognized by other German speakers in most cases.
In general, the pronunciation of Swiss Standard German is influenced by the respective Swiss German dialect of every speaker. The degree of that influence may vary according to the education.
Differing Pronunciation
In Switzerland, some words are stressed on other syllables than in the rest of the German-speaking area (Here marked with an accent):
· Family names that have a preposition are always accentuated on the preposition, even when those names are written with a space (blank character) between preposition and the rest of the name. E.g. in Michael vón Grünigen
· Acronyms like CD, WC, FDP etc. are not accentuated on the last, but on the first letter. (like this: CéDe, WéZe, 'éffdeepee)
· A lot of foreign words from different languages are accentuated on the first syllable, e.g. Ásphalt, Ápostroph, Bíllet, Búdget, Fílet, Gárage, Lábor, Pápagei, Pénalty, Pórtemonnaie.
Consonants
· /b d g z/ are voiceless lenes [b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ z̥]
· There is no final obstruent devoicing.
· /v/ is pronounced as an approximant [ʋ]; in some words, it is replaced by a voiceless lenis [v̥], z. B. in Möve oder Advent.
· Double consonants are often geminated, e.g. immer as [ˈɪmːər].
· Initial is pronounced as a [x], for instance in local names like Chur and Cham or in foreign words like China or Chemie, Chirurgie usw.
· The ending <-ig> is pronounced as [-ɪɡ̊], not [-ɪç], e.g. König [køːnɪɡ̊] 'king'
· is pronounced [xs] or [çs], not [ks], e.g. Dachs as [daxs] or sechs as [z̥ɛçs] 'six'.
· The is not vocalized. In Switzerland, Vater 'father' is pronounced [ˈfaːtər] and not [ˈfaːtɐ].
· In Switzerland (except the eastern part and Basel-Stadt) the alveolar [r] is more usual than the uvular [ʀ].
· There is often no glottal stop.
· Sometimes, /x/ is always pronounced as [x], and not differentiated into [x] and [ç], e.g. in nicht [nɪxt] instead of [nɪçt] 'not'.
· Sometimes, /k/ is pronounced as velar affricate [k͡x], e.g. Kunst [k͡xʊnst].
· Seldom /st sp/ are pronounced as [ʃt ʃp] instead of [st sp] in all positions, not only at the beginning of a word stem, e.g. Ast as [aʃt] 'branch'.
Vowels
· Unstressed /ɛ/ is often not pronounced as schwa, but as [e] or [ɛ], e.g. Gedanke [ɡ̊ɛˈd̥aŋkɛ] or [ɡ̊eˈd̥aŋke] 'thought'.
· Depending on the dialect, /a/ may be pronounced as a back [ɑ]).
· Depending on the dialect, short vowels may be pronounced more closed, e.g. Bett [b̥et] instead of [b̥ɛt] 'bed', offen [ˈofən] instead of [ˈɔfən] 'open', Hölle [hølːe] instead of [ˈhœlːe] 'hell'.
· Depending on the dialect, long vowels may be pronounced more open, e.g. See [z̥ɛː] instead of [ˈz̥eː] 'lake', schon [ʃɔːn] instead of [ʃoːn] 'already', schön [ʃœːn] instead of [ʃøːn] 'beautiful'.
Prosody
A special feature of the Swiss standard German, is a somewhat "singing" cadence. That means: Each word's accentuated syllable isn't only marked through the higher voice volume, but even through a hearable modification of the voice's sound. In general, the pitch of the accentuated syllable sinks.
· On the word Merci ("thanks!"), the first syllable is spoken louder and deeper than the second.
· On the calling Profitieren Sie! (Benefit!) in the shopping malls' transmissions, the pitch sinks from pro- to -fi-, until it has reached the deepest point at -tie-; at -ren and Sie the voice approx. reaches its original pitch again.
Orthography
In orthography, the most visible difference from Standard German usage outside Switzerland is the absence of ß (officially abolished in the Canton of Zürich in 1935, the sign fell gradually out use; it was dropped by the NZZ in 1974).
French and Italian Loanwords are written in their original forms - despite the reformation of German language's spelling rules. Majonäse stays Mayonnaise, and Spagetti stays Spaghetti. The newspaper NZZ has even chosen the word placieren, to not have to write platzieren.
Geographic names, like streets, are mostly written together: Baslerstrasse, Genfersee, Zugerberg usw., but also Schweizergrenze, Schweizervolk (very often)
Umlauts at Swiss proper names's beginning are written as, and : Aebi, Oerlikon, Uetliberg (= Üetliberg, not Ütliberg!).
Finally, there are specialities like e.g.
· Bretzel instead of Brezel
Some of the above mentioned specialities are due to the general introduction of the typewriter in economy and administration. Because a Swiss typewriter must be able not to write only German texts, but also French and Italian texts, the limited number of characters wasn't enough for all those languages' special characters. So, the "Eszett" and the high-case Umlauts (Ä, Ö and Ü), but also the high-case accentuated vocals (e.g. À or É) were skipped.
Syntax
The Swiss German differs from Standard German in e.g. the gender (das E-Mail, das Tram und das SMS statt die) or in verbs' valence -the preposition they require- (jemanden anfragen instead of bei jmdm. anfragen).
In general, more often than in Germany or Austria, the Swiss use female descriptions of professions instead of using a generic masculine (e.g. Bundesrätin Ruth Metzler, Frieda U. wurde zur Primarschullehrerin gewählt). The "Binnen-I" isn't only used by the "politically correct" people.
Relative pronouns: The relative pronoun "welche(r)", that is clumsy and antiquated in Standard German is used without hesitation, e.g. in Damit wurde in der Schweiz ein Kompetenzzentrum für Klimafragen geschaffen, welches verstärkt die Bedürfnisse der Bevölkerung in den Mittelpunkt ihrer Forschung stellt. (from Jahresbericht 2001, Annual report of the ETH Zürich).
Differing Cases
Rabatt is used in Dative; in Standard German in Accusative. Example: "20% Rabatt auf allen Artikeln"
Sentence structure
The syntax has a lot of construction with shorted main clause and following subordinate clause, that only is marked through the beginning position of a verb, e.g.
· Gut, gibt es Schweizer Bauern. statt Es ist gut, dass es Schweizer Bauern gibt.
· Schön, haben Sie heute Zeit. statt (Es ist) schön, dass Sie heute Zeit haben.
· Schade, bist du gestern nicht hier gewesen. statt (Es ist) schade, dass du gestern nicht hier gewesen bist.
Swiss Expressions That Were Imported Into Standard German
Of course, they mostly describe Swiss speciality in fauna, flora, kitchen and politics, that became known right together with the till now unknown thing.
· Nature:
o Gletscher (in Western Alpen; in East Alps, they say Ferner or Kees=glacier)
o Gülle (=liquid manure)
o Lärche (=larch)
o Lawine (=avalanche)
o Murmeltier(=marmott)
o Senn(=Swiss alps farmer)
· Politics:
o Putsch (=the putsch)
o Reichsdeutsche (=Germans of the Reich;this term was coined 1871 by the Swiss-German-speaking people)
o Überfremdung (=over-alienation of the country)
· conventions and customs:
o Heimweh (=homesickness; first described on Swiss soldiers that missed the alps)
o Vignette (=Sticker, that you having to buy before using Swiss freeways)
· kitchen:
o Müsli (=Müsli)
o Cordon bleu (=cordon bleu)
o Fondue (=fondue - a melted cheese dish)
o Raclette (=raclette - a melted cheese dish)
o Bündnerfleisch (=cold meat from the canton of Graubünden)
· other:
o unentwegt (=steadfast)
Although the Swiss (mainly those of the German-speaking parts, though) would traditionally use their native vocabulary, this may yet not be regarded as "false German", since even the definitive work for German orthography, the Duden, explicitly declares a number of helvetisms as correct Standard German - albeit with the [schweiz.] annotation, denoting that the usage of the word is limited to Swiss territory. But yet not each and every word may be considered part of the "Swiss standard language"/"Swiss standard German" category, because its frequency of usage must be evaluated as well; if this does not apply, or if its use is known to span one or more certain dialectal regions only, they must be categorized "dialectal" In orthographical terms, the most significant difference to Standard German outside Switzerland is the absence of ß. (After having been officially abandoned in the Canton of Zürich in 1935, this character gradually fell into disuse, until it was eventually dropped by the NZZ in 1974.)
In everyday language, Helvetisms may both be used consciously and unconsciously by a Swiss German native speaker. Classic examples of Helvetism usage throughout the whole literary work are found in a great part of Swiss literature, notably Jeremias Gotthelf's novels located in the Emmental; a contemporary example would be Tim Krohn in his Quatemberkinder. Another group, the most notable of whom is Peter Bichsel, deliberately use helvetisms to arouse a sort of emotional attachment to the readers' home country: Bichsel is notorious for using dialectal words like "Beiz" (instead of "Kneipe" [English: pub]), or "Kasten" (instead of "Schrank" [English: cupboard/cabinet/closet]) in his "San Salvador" short story. Lastly, there is yet another group of authors whose book readers' are known to be located all over the German-speaking territory (Germany, Austria, Switzerland as well as some smaller minorities in other European countries) and thus traditionally refrain from using any helvetisms in their literary works.
Nor are helvetisms easy to notice, either, simply because there may be just one article which makes the difference: in his book "Zündels Abgang", author Markus Werner uses "Tram" ("streetcar") - which would normally take the female article, "die" - with the typically Swiss neuter article "das".
Also words which are used outside Switzerland, but which originate from Swiss German may be called "helvetisms." For instance, the word Putsch is one of those widely used in political context even in notable Standard German newspapers. The word Müsli, however, is a special case: in Swiss German (and only there), Müsli is the diminutive of Mus ("mouse") and stands for "little mouse". To describe the food, the Swiss would use a special spelling, which is nowhere used abroad: Müesli.
Analogously to "helvetisms", there are also Austriacisms and Teutonisms (which are also wrongly called "Germanisms"), together coining the national variety.
Abbreviations used in following word list
· inf. used in informal situations
· dial. dialect
· aust. Austrian
· TM. trademark
After the helvetism, you see the German word followed by the English translation.
Vocabulary
Some vocables are used instead of or besides a Standard German vocable. In some parts of the German language area, those vocables are known, too - but used seldom.
Kitchen, Dining and Restaurant
· der/das Apéro or Apero (Umtrunk=Taking appetizers and drinks - standing - before a feast)
· das Aromat (TM., special Swiss condiment)
· das Bahnhofbuffet (Bahnhofrestaurant=railway restaurant)
· der Ballon/das Ballönli dial./inf. (Glas Wein=a glass of wine)
· die Baumnuss (Walnuss=walnut)
· die Beiz inf. (Kneipe=drinking hole, compare with: Beis(e) l, aust.)
· der Bierteller (Bierdeckel=table mat for glasses of beer)
· der/das Café Mélange (Kaffee mit Schlagsahne=coffee with cream)
· der/die Coupe (Eisbecher=sundae)
· das Cüpli (Glas Champagner/Sekt=glass of champagne)
· durchzogen (mittelmässig=middle-rate, aust., "durchwachsen")
· der Gipfel, das Gipfeli (Hörnchen=Croissant)
· die Glace/das Glacé (Speiseeis=ice cream)
· grillieren (grillen=making a barbecue)
· das Gue(t)zli/Güe(t)zi dial./inf. (Plätzchen, Keks=cookie, biscuit)
· der/das Kaffee crème oftmals auch Café crème (Kaffee mit Sahne=coffee with cream)
· der Kartoffelstock (Kartoffelpüree=potato mash)
· der Kirsch (Kirschwasser=kirsch)
· die Metzgete (Schlachtplatte=meat platter)
· der Milken (Kalbsbries, Kalbsmilch=calf milk)
· das Morgenessen (Frühstück=breakfast)
· das Nachtessen (Abendessen=evening meal)
· der Nüsslisalat bzw. (in Bern) Nüssler (field salad, lambs' lettuce)
· das Panaché (Radler=shandy)
· die Peperoni (Paprika=red pepper, but yellow and green ones, too)
· die Pinte (Restaurant)
· der Pflümli (schnaps made of plums)
· das Poulet (poultry)
· das Praliné ("Praline", but accentuated on the "a"=praline)
· die Rande;seldom in sing. (rote Bete=beetroot)
· rezent ;related to cheese: scharf, salzig=peppery and salty)
· das Rüebli dial./inf. (Möhre, Karotte=carrot)
· der Sauerrahm" (Creme fraiche)
· die Schale oder Schale gold (heller Milchkaffee=blonde white coffee)
· die Schoggi dial./inf. (Schokolade=chocolate)
· die Serviertochter; antiquated (Kellnerin=waitress)
· das Supplément (zusätzliche Portion, Nachschlag=additional dish)
· der Süssmost (Apfelsaft=apple juice)
· das Tearoom oder Tea Room; antiquated (Café=café)
· der Thon (Thunfisch=tuna, tunny fish)
· tischen (den Tisch decken=cover the table)
· das Voressen (Gulasch, Ragout=goulash)
· währschaft (deftig, solide, urwüchsig=solid, ethnic)
· die Weindegustation (also aust., Weinprobe=degustation of wine)
· der/das Zmorge dial./inf. (Frühstück=breakfast)
· der/das Znüni dial./inf. (Zwischenmahlzeit am Vormittag=snack before midday)
· der/das Zmittag dial./inf. (Mittagessen=lunch)
· der/das Zvieri dial./inf. (Zwischenmahlzeit am Nachmittag=snack after midday)
· der/das Znacht dial./inf. (Abendessen=dinner)
· die Zucchetti (Zucchini=zucchini)
Home and Household
· der Abwart (Hausmeister, Hauswart=caretaker)
· die Alterssiedlung (Altenwohnheim=home for the aged)
· die Attikawohnung (Penthouse=attic flat)
· die Aufrichte (Richtfest, aust: Firstfeier=topping-out ceremony)
· der Estrich (Dachboden=screed)
· die Finken (Hausschuhe, Pantoffeln=finches, slippers)
· der Harass/die Harasse (Getränkekiste=a solid box, bottles come in)
· der Kehricht (look under Güsel / Ghüder)
· die (Lamellen-)Store (Jalousie=jalousie)
· der Mietzins (aust., too; Miete=rent)
· die Pfanne (Topf=pot)
· posten (einkaufen gehen=go shopping (rather for daily shopping than for luxury))
· das Riegelhaus (Fachwerkhaus=(half-)timbered house)
· ringhörig (hellhörig=clairaudient)
· der Schüttstein (Ausguss in Küche=sink in kitchen)
· das Lavabo (Ausguss im Badezimmer=washbasin in bathroom)
· das Sackmesser (south-German, too; Taschenmesser=pocket knife)
· der Spannteppich (Teppichboden=room carpet, fitted carpet)
· das Spital (aust., too;Krankenhaus=hospital)
· das Stöckli (Altenteil, Ausgedinge=cottage of estate reserved for use by parents.(That's the informal synonym for the Swiss Ständerat, too))
· der Tumbler ((Kleider-) Trockner=dryer for clothes)
· versorgen (wegräumen=to put sth. away)
· wischen (kehren, fegen=sweeping)
· zügeln (umziehen=relocating)
Trading
· der Abriss (Nepp=gyp)
· die Lehre (auch aust., Anlernzeit=apprenticeship)
· die Betreibung (Zwangsvollstreckung=prosecution)
· das Bierdepot (Bierverlag, nicht Bierpfand=beer distributor)
· das Brockenhaus (Gebrauchtwarenladen, v.a. für Möbel=secondhand store orig. merely for furniture, but some have e.g. books and clothes, too)
· der Coiffeur (Friseur=hairdresser)
· das Depot (Pfand bei Mehrwegverpackungen=deposit (e.g. on bottles))
· der Detailhandel (Einzelhandel=retailing)
· der Einzahlungsschein (Überweisung,Zahlkarte, Erlagschein=credit slip)
· der Gesamtarbeitsvertrag, Abbrev. GAV (Tarifvertrag, Kollektivvertrag=collective labor agreement)
· die Lehrtochter (die Auszubildende=girl in an apprenticeship)
· der Lehrsohn (der Auszubildende=boy in apprenticeship)
· die Offerte (das Angebot=the offer)
· die Papeterie (Schreibwarenhandlung=stationery shop)
· der Redaktor;accentuated on second syllable (Redakteur=editor)
· das Sackgeld (Taschengeld=pocket money)
· der Zeitungsverträger (Zeitungsausträger=paperboy)
Traffic
· die Ausfahrt (aust., too Abfahrt=slip road for leaving motorway)
· die Abzweigung (aust., too Abzweiger=branch of the street to turn to)
· der Autobus short Bus (Omnibus=omnibus)
· der Autocar short Car (Reisebus=motor-coach)
· der Automobilist (Autofahrer=car driver)
· das Autopermis short Permis (Führerschein=driving license)
· der Autoverlad (aust., too PW-Huckepackverkehr=car pickaback on train)
· das Billet (Fahrkarte, inf. also Führerschein=entry ticket for e.g. a concert, inf. for driving license, too)
· der Camionneur (Fuhrunternehmer=carter)
· der Dolendeckel/Senklochdeckel;Dolendeckel is South-German, too (Kanaldeckel, Gully=gully cover)
· der Fahrausweis (Führerschein=driving license)
· der Führerausweis (Führerschein=driving license)
· die Garage (KFZ-Werkstatt= auto (car)repair shop)
· der "Garagist" (Werkstatteigentümer=owner of auto /(car) repair shop)
· der Kondukteur (Schaffner, Zugbegleiter=conductor)
· die Kondukteuse;Made-up word, doesn't even exist in French (Schaffnerin, Zugbegleiterin=female conductor.)
· der Lenker (Fahrer=driver)
· das Lichtsignal (Verkehrsampel=traffic lights)
· das Motorfahrzeug (Kraftfahrzeug=motor vehicle)
· die Occasion accentuated on first syllable (Ware aus zweiter Hand, especially: Der Gebrauchtwagen=second-hand car)
· der ÖV, öffentlicher Verkehr (öffentlicher Verkehr=public transport)
· parkieren (parken=to park)
· die Passerelle (Fussgängerbrücke=bridge for pedestrians)
· das/der Perron (Bahnsteig=railway station platform)
· der Pneu (Autoreifen=tires)
· der PW (PKW, Personenkraftwagen=passenger car, private car)
· der Rank dial./inf. (Kurve=curve)
· das Retourbillet (Rückfahrkarte=return ticket)
· das Rotlicht (Ampelanlage=traffic lights)
· das/der Töff inf. (Motorrad=motorbike)
· das Tram (also Aust. and South-German, Straßenbahn=streetcar, tram)
· das Trassee (Trasse, Bahnkörper=railroad roadbed)
· das Trottinet (Tretroller=scooter)
· das Trottoiraccentuated on first syllable (also Aust. and South-German; Bürgersteig, Gehweg=sidewalk, pavement)
· das Velo (von Veloziped; Fahrrad=bicycle)
· der Zwischenhalt (Zwischenstation=intermediate station)
Military
· das Abgeben (Entlassung aus der Dienstpflicht=discharge from service duty)
· der Auditor (Ankläger bei Militärgericht=prosecutor at military court)
· der Dienstverweigerer (Wehrdienstverweigerer=person who refuses to carry out military service)
· der Endalarm (Entwarnung=all-clear)
· der Feldweibel (Feldwebel=sarge)
· das Kantonnement (Truppenunterkunft=troup quarters)
· der Kommandant (Kommandeur=commander)
· die Rekrutenschule Abk.: RS (militärische Grundausbildung=military basic education)
· die Wacht (Wache="watch" or guard)
· der Wiederholungskurs Abk.: WK (akin "Reservistenübung"=reservist's drill)
Education
· das Gymi (ausgesprochen: ['gimi]) spec. Gymer (only canton of Bern) inf. (Gymnasium=grammar school)
· der Hauptlehrer (verbeamteter Lehrer=functionary teacher)
· die Kantonsschule inf. Kanti (Gymnasium=grammar school)
· die Legitimationskarte, abgekürzt inf. Legi (Studentenausweis=student's pass)
· der Maibummel (Maiwanderung=hike in May)
· die Matur, Matura (Matura also Aust.; Abitur=university-entrance diploma)
· der Maturand (Abiturient; aust.: Maturant=student achieving university-entrance diploma)
· die Mittelschule (also aust., höhere Schule=high school)
· der Mittelschullehrer (Gymnasiallehrer; Studienrat; aust.: high school professor)
· die Promotion (also aust., Versetzung=displacement)
· die Schulreise (Klassenfahrt=school trip)
· der Schulthek/Thek (Schulranzen, Tornister=school satchel)
· der Sporttag (Schulsportfest=school sports' day)
Politics, State and Law
· der Aktivbürger (volljähriger Staatsbürger=adult citizen with right to vote)
· die Absenz (das Fernbleiben, and its annotation= absence, and its annotation)
· ausmehren (bei einer Landsgemeinde die Mehrheit ermitteln=finding the majority at a voting event)
· ausschaffen (abschieben=deportation (of refugees, criminals))
· bedingt (also Aust., mit Bewährungsfrist=on probation)
· der Bezüger (Bezieher=recipient (of e.g. unemployment benefit))
· die Busse, (Bussgeld), auch: gebüsst werden=monetary fine)
· die Classe politique (die Politiker=the politicians (often pejorative))
· der Courant normal (normale Tagesgeschäfte=daily business)
· das Departement (Ministerium, Fakultät, Abteilung=department)
· auf etwas eintreten (auf etwas eingehen=agree to a proposal)
· die Einwohnerkontrolle (Einwohnermeldeamt=residents' registration office)
· der Entscheid (amtliche Entscheidung, Beschluss=the official decision)
· fehlbar (schuldig=guilty)
· der Fürsprecher mainly in region Bern, also Fürsprech (Anwalt=advocate)
· das Gegenmehr (Gegenstimmen=opposing votes)
· der Gemeindeammann (in some cantons: Bürgermeister=governor)
· der Gemeindepräsident (in some cantons: Bürgermeister=governor, mayor)
· grossmehrheitlich (mit grosser Mehrheit=with large majority)
· die Identitätskarte (kurz ID) (Personalausweis=ID)
· der Landammann (in some cantons: Ministerpräsident=Prime Minister)
· der Personalausweis; compare with ID (Mitarbeiterausweis=employee's pass)
· der Regierungsrat (in most cantons: Regierung=government)
· die Schriften (Ausweispapiere, Heimatschein=identity papers and certificate of residence)
· die Schwellentelle (Grundsteuer=main tax, basic tax)
· der Secondo, die Seconda (Einwandererssohn, Einwandererstochter=son/daughter of immigrant)
· das Signalement (spoken German) (Personenbeschreibung=Description of a person's look)
· der Souverän (das Volk, Inhaber der Staatsgewalt=the people, holder of state power)
· der Staatsrat (Regierung; Minister=government, minister)
· der Stadtammann (in some cantons Oberbürgermeister=chief governor)
· der Stadtpräsident'; bzw. inf.: Stapi (Oberbürgermeister=chief governor)
· die Standeskommission (Appenzell Innerrhoden: Regierung=government)
· das Steueramt (Finanzamt=finance office, tax office)
· der Stimmbürger (Wahlberechtigter=adult inhabitant with right to vote)
· der Teilstaat (Bundesstaat, especially USA=country)
· die Traktandenliste (Tagesordnung=agenda of a congress)
· das Traktandum (Tagesordnungspunkt=point in the agenda)
· unbedingt (ohne Bewährungsfrist=without probation)
· die Vernehmlassung (Umfrage bei Parteien und Verbänden über ein Gesetzesprojekt=making a poll among parties and club regarding a planned law)
· verzeigen (jemanden anzeigen=to make a report)
Society and Local Culture
· der Alpaufzug (Almauftrieb=bringing the cattle on the alps each year)
· die Auffahrt (Christi Himmelfahrt=Ascension of Christ)
· der Ausgang (verb:ausgehen=to date)
· die Badi dial./inf. (Freibad=open air bath)
· die Besammlung (Sich-Versammeln=gathering)
· die Cervelatprominenz; a cervelat is a sausage (Lokalprominenz=local celebrities)
· die Chilbi/Kilbi (Kirchweih; Kirmes=parish fair)
· der Familiengarten (besides Schrebergarten=allotment garden)
· die Fasnacht (Fastnacht, Karneval, Fasching=carnival)
· das Grosskind (Enkelkind=grandson)
· der Hinschied (Hinscheiden=dying)
· der Kronfavorit (Spitzenkandidat, Topfavorit=top favorite)
· das Leidmahl (Leichenmahl=funereal meal)
· der Mesmer (in north-east of Switzerland: Küster=sexton)
· die Pfadi (Pfadfinder=Boy Scout movement)
· der Redaktor (Redakteur=editor)
· der Schmutzli (Knecht Rupprecht=assistant of Santa Claus (Samichlaus))
· der Sigrist (Küster=sexton)
· urchig dial./inf. (urig=very old-fashioned (used on Swiss ethnical topics))
Nature
· die Alp (Alm=Alps)
· einnachten (Nacht werden=getting dusk)
· die Bise (kalter, trockender Nordostwind=cold dry wind from north-east)
· der Erdschlipf (Erdrutsch=landslide)
· der Föhn (Wind über die Alpen=a wind that goes through the alps)
· das Gitzi dial.inf. (Zicklein=little goat)
· der Muni dial./inf. (Stier=male bull)
· der Pflotsch (Matsch=mud (also used for melting snow))
· die Rüfe (Erdlawine=kind of avalanche consisting of dirt)
· das Tobel (Schlucht=canyon)
· die Trute (Pute, Truthenne=turkey)
Sports
(Football features a lot of Anglicisms)
· der Ausstich (Stechen=play-off)
· der Corner (Eckball=corner)
· der Final (das Finale=final)
· der Flanke or Flangge (der Querpass=cross)
· das Goal (Tor=goal)
· der Goalie (also aust., Torhüter=goal keeper)
· die Nati; spoken "Natzi", pronunciation on 1st syllable short (Nationalmannschaft=national team)
· das Offside (Abseits=offside)
· das Hands (Handspiel=handball, hands)
· der Penalty pronunciation on first syllable short (Elfmeter=penalty)
· crawlen for kraulen (Kraulschwimmen=crawling)
· schlitteln (Schlitten fahren=riding on a bobsledge)
· skifahren (also Aust., schilaufen=skiing)
· snöben inf. (Snowboard fahren=snowboarding)
Human Attitudes
· angriffig (angriffslustig, draufgängerisch=aggressive)
· antönen (andeuten=denoting)
· sich auffangen; Aust.:sich erfangen (sein seelisches Gleichgewicht wiederfinden=calming down, finding balance in soul)
· aufgestellt (gut drauf; gut gelaunt=happy)
· Aufsteller (gute Nachricht=good news)
· "Entenklemmer" (geiziger Mensch=stingy person)
· eindrücklich (eindrucksvoll=impressive)
· fuhrwerken (herummachen, hantieren=to handle, to tamper), and verfuhrwerken (verpfuschen=botching)
· herzig (liebenswürdig, "süss"=sweet)
· krampfen (angestrengt arbeiten=working hard)
· (ab)serbeln (dahinsiechen=being seriously sick, going towards death (used for plants, too))
· speditiv (rasch, zügig=swiftly)
· der Rappenspalter (stingy person)
· zwängeln (quengeln=whining, grouching)
· die Zwängerei (Drängerei; unnachgiebiges Beharren=whining, grouching)
Others
· allfällig (etwaig=case, that are possible. e.g. "allfällige Unfällig"="possible accidents")
· das Argumentarium (Liste von Argumenten=list of arguments)
· der Beschrieb (Beschreibung=description)
· die Wegleitung (Beschreibung, Leitfaden=description, vade-mecum)
· die/der Jupe;spoken French or German (Joppe, Rock=skirt)
· der Leerschlag (Leerzeichen=space character)
· das Nastuch inf. (Taschentuch=kleenex, paper hanky)
· das Natel from NATionales AutoTELefon; TM. (Mobiltelefon, Handy=cell phone)
· die Notfallstation (Unfallstation=med station)
· rezyklieren (wiederverwerten, recyceln=to recycle)
· die Sanität (Sanitätsdienst, Rettung=medical emergency service)
· der Sauglattismus (modischer Schwachsinn=modern and disproportional Stupidity)
· schlussendlich (Aust., too letzten Endes, letztendlich=finally)
· die Spitex (ambulante Krankenpflege=out-patient nursing)
· strub (verworren, wild, schwierig=diffuse, wild, difficult, gross)
· der Unterbruch (Unterbrechung=interruption)
· die Zigi inf. (Zigarette=cigarette)
Other/Additional Meaning
· die Abdankung (Trauerfeier=funeral)
· der Ableger (Filiale=subsidiary)
· die Aktion (also aust., Sonderangebot=special offer)
· aufgestellt (umgänglich, fröhlich, spontan=sympathetic, spontaneous)
· der Ausläufer (Bote, Laufbursche=delivery boy)
· der Estrich (Dachboden, Speicher=attic)
· das Gipfeli or der Gipfel (Hörnchen, Aust. Kipferl=croissant)
· harzig (zäh, langsam=slowly, not swiftly)
· kehren (umdrehen=turning e.g. a piece of paper)
· der Kommissär (Kriminal-Kommissar=commissar)
· der Kübel (Glas Bier von 5 dl=glass of beer containing 5 dezilitres)
· die Laube (Arkade, Bogengang; Balkon eines Bauernhauses=archway, terrace of a farmer house)
· die Legislatur (Legislaturperiode, Gesetzgebungsperiode=election period)
· die Mutation (Änderung, z. B. Adressänderung=changes e.g. in addresses)
· der Nationalrat (Abgeordneter der Volkskammer des Parlamentes=delegate of the people's congress of the parliament)
· der Notfall (Unfallstation=medical emergency station)
· das Paprika (Gewürz aus der Chilischote=spice from the vegetable chili)
· die Peperoncini (die Chilischote; vom Italienischen il peperoncino=the vegetable chili)
· die Peperoni; from the Italian (Paprika=red peppers, but also yellow and green ones)
· der Plausch inf. (Vergnügen=fun)
· das Puff inf. (Unordnung, Durcheinander, Bordell=chaos, confusion - but may also mean brothel)
· das Quartier (Stadtviertel=the neighborhood)
· schmecken (riechen=to smell)
· der Sack (Tüte, Tasche=bag)
· senkrecht (aufrichtig, brav, patriotisch=spotless, patriotic)
· sprechen (Gelder, Kredite bewilligen=allow e.g. credits)
· die Stange (Glas Bier von 3 dl=glass of beer containing 3 dezilitres)
· stimmen (seine Stimme abgeben=to vote)
· stossen (drücken (an Türen), schieben (Fahrrad)=pushing e.g. doors open, pushing a bicycle)
· die Streifung (leichter Schlaganfall=light apoplexia)
· der Trainer (Trainingsanzug=a sweat suit)
· tönen (klingen=sounding)
· der Umschwung (Hofstatt um das Haus herum=land around the and belonging to the house)
· verdanken (in formeller Weise für etwas danken=writing a letter to thank someone)
· der Verwaltungsrat (Aufsichtsrat, only in private industry=governing body)
· der Vortritt (Vorfahrt=right of way)
· wischen (kehren, fegen=sweep)
Antiquated in Other Language Areas (or Parts of Them)
· der Advokat (Rechtsanwalt=advocate)
· amten (ein Amt ausüben=administering an office)
· ennet (jenseits=on the other side)
· innert (binnen/innerhalb=within)
· der Knabe (Junge=boy)
· minim (geringfügig, minimal=minimal)
· obschon (obwohl=although, despite)
· rekognoszieren, not only used in combination with military or medicine (erkunden=explore)
Figures of Speech
· mit abgesägten Hosen dastehen (den kürzeren gezogen haben=being in an unlucky and hopeless situation)
· aus Abschied und Traktanden (fallen) (ausser Betracht fallen=when a thing doesn't matter anymore)
· es macht den Anschein (es hat den Anschein=it seems)
· in den Ausgang gehen (ausgehen=to date)
· von Auge (mit blossem Auge=by naked eye)
· ausjassen (aushandeln=bargaining something)
· von Beginn weg (von Beginn an=from the beginnings)
· ab Blatt (spielen) (vom Blatt spielen, ohne Übung=not playing by heart, not having practised)
· Bach ab schicken (etw. verwerfen=refusing something, e.g. a project)
· Einsitz nehmen (Mitglied in einem Gremium werden=becoming a member of a gremium)
· dastehen wie der Esel am Berg (dastehen wie der Ochse vorm Berg=getting stuck and perplexed by an unexpected situation)
· die Faust im Sack machen (die Faust in der Tasche ballen=holding back/hiding aggression)
· innert nützlicher Frist (angemessen schnell=in a quick way)
· das Fuder überladen (des Guten zuviel tun=doing too much)
· handkehrum (andererseits=on the other hand)
· Hans was Heiri (Jacke wie Hose=when two things result in the same or are the same)
· es hat (es gibt=there are)
· sein Heu nicht auf derselben Bühne haben mit (nicht dieselben Ansichten haben wie=don't like someone, having other interests)
· jemandem geht der Knopf auf (jemandem geht ein Licht auf=suddenly getting an idea to solve a problem)
· den Rank finden (eine Lösung finden=finding a solution)
· zu reden geben (für Gesprächsstoff sorgen=a thing being controversial, being much discussed)
· kein Schleck (kein Honigschlecken=no picnic)
· neben den Schuhen stehen (falsch liegen; sich nicht wohl fühlen in seiner Haut=don't feeling well in a situation)
· es streng haben (viel zu tun haben=having a lot of work)
· in Tat und Wahrheit (in Wirklichkeit=the truth is that...)
· einen Tolggen im Reinheft haben (einen (Schönheits-) Fehler haben=having one single flashy mistake)
· gut tönen (gut klingen, vielsprechend sein=sounding well/interesting)
· keinen Wank tun/machen (sich nicht rühren=being still, don't moving)
· es wird sich weisen (es wird sich zeigen=future will show it)
· werweissen (hin und her raten=thinking about sth., more like guessing)
· Jetzt ist genug Heu unten (Jetzt reicht es!=enough!)
Swiss Specifics
In the areas kitchen, local culture and politics, there are numerous peculiarities, that are not well known outside of Switzerland and which are missing a German expression.
· Kitchen: Älplermagronen (Meal with cut potatoes, Hörnli (Pippete Rigate), cream and melte cheese, Basler Läckerli, Gnagi, Kaffee fertig (Coffee with Schnaps), Quorn
· Local Culture: Hornussen (a native throwing game, esp. in Kanton Bern), der/das Nouss ("Dish" used in Hornussen), Jass (a card game), Schwingen (a kind of ring fight), Schwinget (tournament for said ring fight)
· State: Gemeindeversammlung (Gathering of the voting community), Halbkanton (Half canton), Initiative, Landsgemeinde, Ständerat, Ständemehr, Vernehmlassung
Pronunciation
Because of their characteristic of helvetisms in pronunciation, speakers of Swiss Standard German will be instantly recognized by other German speakers in most cases.
In general, the pronunciation of Swiss Standard German is influenced by the respective Swiss German dialect of every speaker. The degree of that influence may vary according to the education.
Differing Pronunciation
In Switzerland, some words are stressed on other syllables than in the rest of the German-speaking area (Here marked with an accent):
· Family names that have a preposition are always accentuated on the preposition, even when those names are written with a space (blank character) between preposition and the rest of the name. E.g. in Michael vón Grünigen
· Acronyms like CD, WC, FDP etc. are not accentuated on the last, but on the first letter. (like this: CéDe, WéZe, 'éffdeepee)
· A lot of foreign words from different languages are accentuated on the first syllable, e.g. Ásphalt, Ápostroph, Bíllet, Búdget, Fílet, Gárage, Lábor, Pápagei, Pénalty, Pórtemonnaie.
Consonants
· /b d g z/ are voiceless lenes [b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ z̥]
· There is no final obstruent devoicing.
· /v/ is pronounced as an approximant [ʋ]; in some words, it is replaced by a voiceless lenis [v̥], z. B. in Möve oder Advent.
· Double consonants are often geminated, e.g. immer as [ˈɪmːər].
· Initial
· The ending <-ig> is pronounced as [-ɪɡ̊], not [-ɪç], e.g. König [køːnɪɡ̊] 'king'
·
· The
· In Switzerland (except the eastern part and Basel-Stadt) the alveolar [r] is more usual than the uvular [ʀ].
· There is often no glottal stop.
· Sometimes, /x/ is always pronounced as [x], and not differentiated into [x] and [ç], e.g. in nicht [nɪxt] instead of [nɪçt] 'not'.
· Sometimes, /k/ is pronounced as velar affricate [k͡x], e.g. Kunst [k͡xʊnst].
· Seldom /st sp/ are pronounced as [ʃt ʃp] instead of [st sp] in all positions, not only at the beginning of a word stem, e.g. Ast as [aʃt] 'branch'.
Vowels
· Unstressed /ɛ/ is often not pronounced as schwa, but as [e] or [ɛ], e.g. Gedanke [ɡ̊ɛˈd̥aŋkɛ] or [ɡ̊eˈd̥aŋke] 'thought'.
· Depending on the dialect, /a/ may be pronounced as a back [ɑ]).
· Depending on the dialect, short vowels may be pronounced more closed, e.g. Bett [b̥et] instead of [b̥ɛt] 'bed', offen [ˈofən] instead of [ˈɔfən] 'open', Hölle [hølːe] instead of [ˈhœlːe] 'hell'.
· Depending on the dialect, long vowels may be pronounced more open, e.g. See [z̥ɛː] instead of [ˈz̥eː] 'lake', schon [ʃɔːn] instead of [ʃoːn] 'already', schön [ʃœːn] instead of [ʃøːn] 'beautiful'.
Prosody
A special feature of the Swiss standard German, is a somewhat "singing" cadence. That means: Each word's accentuated syllable isn't only marked through the higher voice volume, but even through a hearable modification of the voice's sound. In general, the pitch of the accentuated syllable sinks.
· On the word Merci ("thanks!"), the first syllable is spoken louder and deeper than the second.
· On the calling Profitieren Sie! (Benefit!) in the shopping malls' transmissions, the pitch sinks from pro- to -fi-, until it has reached the deepest point at -tie-; at -ren and Sie the voice approx. reaches its original pitch again.
Orthography
In orthography, the most visible difference from Standard German usage outside Switzerland is the absence of ß (officially abolished in the Canton of Zürich in 1935, the sign fell gradually out use; it was dropped by the NZZ in 1974).
French and Italian Loanwords are written in their original forms - despite the reformation of German language's spelling rules. Majonäse stays Mayonnaise, and Spagetti stays Spaghetti. The newspaper NZZ has even chosen the word placieren, to not have to write platzieren.
Geographic names, like streets, are mostly written together: Baslerstrasse, Genfersee, Zugerberg usw., but also Schweizergrenze, Schweizervolk (very often)
Umlauts at Swiss proper names's beginning are written as
Finally, there are specialities like e.g.
· Bretzel instead of Brezel
Some of the above mentioned specialities are due to the general introduction of the typewriter in economy and administration. Because a Swiss typewriter must be able not to write only German texts, but also French and Italian texts, the limited number of characters wasn't enough for all those languages' special characters. So, the "Eszett" and the high-case Umlauts (Ä, Ö and Ü), but also the high-case accentuated vocals (e.g. À or É) were skipped.
Syntax
The Swiss German differs from Standard German in e.g. the gender (das E-Mail, das Tram und das SMS statt die) or in verbs' valence -the preposition they require- (jemanden anfragen instead of bei jmdm. anfragen).
In general, more often than in Germany or Austria, the Swiss use female descriptions of professions instead of using a generic masculine (e.g. Bundesrätin Ruth Metzler, Frieda U. wurde zur Primarschullehrerin gewählt). The "Binnen-I" isn't only used by the "politically correct" people.
Relative pronouns: The relative pronoun "welche(r)", that is clumsy and antiquated in Standard German is used without hesitation, e.g. in Damit wurde in der Schweiz ein Kompetenzzentrum für Klimafragen geschaffen, welches verstärkt die Bedürfnisse der Bevölkerung in den Mittelpunkt ihrer Forschung stellt. (from Jahresbericht 2001, Annual report of the ETH Zürich).
Differing Cases
Rabatt is used in Dative; in Standard German in Accusative. Example: "20% Rabatt auf allen Artikeln"
Sentence structure
The syntax has a lot of construction with shorted main clause and following subordinate clause, that only is marked through the beginning position of a verb, e.g.
· Gut, gibt es Schweizer Bauern. statt Es ist gut, dass es Schweizer Bauern gibt.
· Schön, haben Sie heute Zeit. statt (Es ist) schön, dass Sie heute Zeit haben.
· Schade, bist du gestern nicht hier gewesen. statt (Es ist) schade, dass du gestern nicht hier gewesen bist.
Swiss Expressions That Were Imported Into Standard German
Of course, they mostly describe Swiss speciality in fauna, flora, kitchen and politics, that became known right together with the till now unknown thing.
· Nature:
o Gletscher (in Western Alpen; in East Alps, they say Ferner or Kees=glacier)
o Gülle (=liquid manure)
o Lärche (=larch)
o Lawine (=avalanche)
o Murmeltier(=marmott)
o Senn(=Swiss alps farmer)
· Politics:
o Putsch (=the putsch)
o Reichsdeutsche (=Germans of the Reich;this term was coined 1871 by the Swiss-German-speaking people)
o Überfremdung (=over-alienation of the country)
· conventions and customs:
o Heimweh (=homesickness; first described on Swiss soldiers that missed the alps)
o Vignette (=Sticker, that you having to buy before using Swiss freeways)
· kitchen:
o Müsli (=Müsli)
o Cordon bleu (=cordon bleu)
o Fondue (=fondue - a melted cheese dish)
o Raclette (=raclette - a melted cheese dish)
o Bündnerfleisch (=cold meat from the canton of Graubünden)
· other:
o unentwegt (=steadfast)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)