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Walser German () and Walliser German (, locally ) are a group of
Highest Alemannic Highest Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic German and is often considered to be part of the German language, even though mutual intelligibility with Standard German and other non-Alemannic German dialects is very limited. Highest Alemannic dialect ...
dialects A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...
spoken in parts of Switzerland (
Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...
,
Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...
,
Grisons The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include: * ; *Romansh language, Romansh: ** ** ** ** ** **; * ; * ; * . See also list of European regions with alternative names#G, other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton ...
), Italy (
Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...
,
Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...
),
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
(
Triesenberg Triesenberg () is a Municipalities of Liechtenstein, municipality in Liechtenstein with a population of 2,636. Its area of makes it the largest municipality in Liechtenstein. The center of the municipality rests at an elevation of . History Tri ...
, Planken), and Austria (
Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...
). Usage of the terms Walser and Walliser has come to reflect a difference of geography, rather than language. The term '' Walser'' refers to those speakers whose ancestors migrated into other Alpine valleys in medieval times, whereas ''Walliser'' refers only to a speaker from Upper Valais – that is, the upper Rhone valley. In a series of migrations during the
Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...
, people migrated out of the Upper Valais, across the higher valleys of the Alps.


History

The
Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...
c immigration to the Rhone valley started in the 8th century. There were presumably two different immigration routes, from what is now the
Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...
, that led to two main groups of Walliser dialects. In the 12th or 13th century, the Walliser began to settle other parts of the
Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...
. These new settlements are known as Walser migration. In many of these settlements, people still speak Walser. Because the people who speak Walser German live in the isolated valleys of the high mountains, Walser German has preserved certain archaisms retained from
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
which were lost in other variants of German. The dialect of the Lötschental, for instance, preserved three distinct classes of weak verbs until the beginning of the 20th century. Walser German dialects are considered endangered, and language shift to the majority language ( French,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
,
Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the umbrella term for the standard language, standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for commun ...
) has taken place in the course of the later 20th century.


Classification

Walser German is part of the
Highest Alemannic Highest Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic German and is often considered to be part of the German language, even though mutual intelligibility with Standard German and other non-Alemannic German dialects is very limited. Highest Alemannic dialect ...
group, most closely related to dialects spoken in the
Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...
and in
Central Switzerland Central Switzerland is the region of the Alpine Foothills geographically the heart and historically the origin of Switzerland, with the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Lucerne and Zug. Central Switzerland is one of the NUTS 2 s ...
( Uri,
Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...
,
Unterwalden Unterwalden, translated from the Latin ''inter silvas'' ("between the forests"), is the old name of a forest-canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy in central Switzerland, south of Lake Lucerne, consisting of two valleys or '' Talschaften'', now tw ...
,
Glarus Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.High Alemannic High Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic German spoken in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg and in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Intelligibility of these dialects to non-Alemannic speakers tends to be limited. Language area The High ...
forms of
Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...
(whose speakers are called ' "outer Swiss" by the Walliser), and barely any mutual intelligibility with
Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the umbrella term for the standard language, standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for commun ...
.


Usage in Italy

In Italy, Walser German is almost never spoken between children of Walser people and is rarely spoken by their parents and most commonly by the grandparents. Often, older people will speak to younger people in Walser German, with the younger people responding in Italian. Walser German is most commonly but not exclusively used in private and familial settings when no non-speakers are present.


Distribution and dialects

The total number of speakers in the world estimated at 22,000 speakers (as of 2004), of whom about 10,000 are in Switzerland. Because the dialect group is quite spread out, there is rarely any contact between the dialects. Therefore, the dialects that compose Walser German are very different from each other as well. Specific Walser dialects can be traced to eastern or western dialects of the Upper Valais. Conservative Walser dialects are more similar to the respective groups of Wallis dialects than to neighboring Walser dialects. *
Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...
: Simplon, Gondo ( Zwischbergen) *valleys in the
Monte Rosa Monte Rosa (; ; ; or ; ) is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over , is the D ...
massif: **
Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...
:
Gressoney-La-Trinité Gressoney-La-Trinité (; Gressoney or ''Greschòney Oberteil''; ) is a town or ''comune, commune'' and renowned alpine resort at the foot of Monte Rosa in the Lys (Dora Baltea), Lys Valley, which is part of the Aosta Valley region of Northwest It ...
, Gressoney-Saint-Jean, Issime, historically in upper Ayas Valley and in Champdepraz. ** province of Vercelli: Alagna Valsesia, Alto Sermenza, Rimella, Riva Valdobbia **
province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola The province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola (, ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. It was created in 1992 through the fusion of three geographical areas which had previously been part of the province of Novara. The ar ...
: Formazza, Macugnaga, Ornavasso, Agaro and Salecchio ( of Premia), Ausone, Campello Monti (
frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' ('municipality') in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidat ...
of Valstrona) *
Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...
: Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Planalp * Canton of Grisons: Rheinwald, Obersaxen, Vals GR, Signina (Gemeinde Riein,
Safiental Safiental () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Surselva Region in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The municipalities of Valendas, Versam, Safien and Tenna, Switzerland, Tenna merged on 1 Jan ...
, Tenna, Valendas, Versam, Tschappina, Avers, Mutten, Schanfigg, upper Landwassertal,
Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...
, Prättigau *
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...
(probably settled from Prättigau):
Triesenberg Triesenberg () is a Municipalities of Liechtenstein, municipality in Liechtenstein with a population of 2,636. Its area of makes it the largest municipality in Liechtenstein. The center of the municipality rests at an elevation of . History Tri ...
, Planken *
Canton of Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzo ...
: Bosco/Gurin * Canton of St. Gall: Calfeisental, Taminatal *
Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...
and Tirol: Großes Walsertal, Kleines Walsertal; Tannberg,
Schröcken Schröcken is a municipality in the district of Bregenz, in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Geography Schröcken is in the Austrian Alps, at an altitude of 1,269 meters. 12.4% of the area are forested, 39.4% Alpine area. History ...
, Lech and Warth, parts of Steeg in Tirol, Galtür and
Ischgl Ischgl () is a town in the Paznaun valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Its ski resort is connected with that of Samnaun across the border in Switzerland to form one of the largest in the Alps. Ischgl was a major hotspot in 2020 of the COVID-19 ...
in the Paznauntal,
Brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
, Bürserberg, Dünserberg, Ebnit, Laternsertal, Damüls, Silbertal * Allgäu: Kleinwalsertal


Phonology

Because the dialects of Walser German are different from each other, it is difficult to make generalizations about the language that apply to all the dialects. This section will be about the Walser German dialect of Formazza, or Pomattertitsch. Pomattertitsch is part of the Highest Alemannic German () dialect group, which is made up of dialects that share similar features. The Highest Alemannic German group contains German dialects of
Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...
; Walser German dialects in Italy and Ticino; and eastern Walser German dialects in Grisons, Vorarlberg, and Liechtenstein. The first feature that is shared by this group is the palatalization of
Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...
(MHG) ''-s-'' to ''-sch-''. This is very typical of Walser German dialects in general. For Pomattertitsch, however, this does not apply to every word that contains -''s''-: 'son,'' 'sun', and 'to be'. The second feature is a change from ''-nk-'' to ''-ch-'' or ''-h-:'' German to Pomattertitsch 'think', German to Pomattertitsch 'drink'. The final feature is the lack of diphthongs where they are present in German words: German to Pomattertitsch 'build', German to Pomattertitsch 'snow'.


Morphology

Again, this section will be about the Walser German dialect Pomattertitsch.


Nouns

Pomattertitsch marks
number A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
(singular and plural) and
gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...
(masculine, feminine, neuter) on
noun In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
s, like most dialects of German. It also marks
case Case or CASE may refer to: Instances * Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design * Special case, an instance that differs in a certain way from others of the type Containers * Case (goods), a package of relate ...
(nominative/accusative, genitive, dative) on nouns, although it has been reduced over time. It also distinguishes between strong and weak nouns. Table 1 Nouns: Pomattertitsch has definite (English 'the') and indefinite (English 'a') articles that agree in case, number, and gender with the noun: Table 2 Definite Articles: Table 3 Indefinite Articles:
Adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
s also agree in number, and gender with the noun it is modifying in Pomattertitsch. For adjectives in the attributive position, there is also agreement in strong versus weak nouns, and in case. Table 4 Strong Attributive 'tired': Table 5 Weak Attributive 'tired': Table 6 Predicative 'tired': In Pomattertitsch, there is a distinction between impersonal and personal
pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...
s. The impersonal pronoun is , which is third person singular. The personal pronouns agree in number and case, with third person agreeing in gender as well for singular pronouns only. Table 7 Personal Pronouns:


Verbs

The
verb A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
s in Pomattertitsch can be categorized into one of four classes depending on their past participle and infinitive endings: # Strong verbs: infinitive ending in ''-ä'', past participle ending in ''-ä''. Examples: 'close', 'throw', 'milk'. # Weak verbs, Old High German ''-jan'', ''-en'': infinitive ending in ''-ä'', past participle ending in ''-t''. Examples: 'speak', 'live'. # Weak verbs, Old High German ''-on'': infinitive ending in ''-u'', past participle ending in ''-(u)t''. Examples: 'make', 'listen', 'paint'. # Weak verbs derived from Italian: infinitive ending in ''-ire'', past participle ending in ''-irt''. Examples: 'think', 'study'. The two classes that are most productive are three and four. The third class is most productive in deriving verbs from nouns, and the fourth class is most productive in deriving loan-words from Italian. Table 8 Verb Conjugations in Present Indicative of 'Normal Verbs': Table 9 Verb Conjugations in Present Indicative of 'Special Verbs': In Pomattertitsch, a 'dummy' auxiliary 'do' followed by the infinitive form of a verb is common for the present indicative, subjunctive, and imperative. This insertion has the same meaning as if the verb was to be conjugated normally: 'I do speak/I speak'. There is not a preterite form in Pomattertitsch. Instead, past tense is expressed using the present perfect, which is formed with auxiliaries 'to be' and 'to have' followed by the past participle. On the other hand, the future tense is expressed morphologically by adding the particle at the end of an inflected verb and after enclitic pronouns, if there are any in the sentence. The passive is expressed in Pomattertitsch by using the auxiliary 'come' followed by the past participle of the verb, which agrees in gender and number with the subject of the sentence: 'salami is eaten raw'. The causative is expressed using 'do' followed by the agent of the caused event, then the preposition ''z'' (separate word, not morpheme), and then the infinitive: 'and he makes the girl eat'. The imperative is expressed most commonly by using 'do' plus the infinitive, as stated above: 'do ask, ask!'. Another way is the bare indicative stem for the singular form, and the same present indicative form for the plural: 'speak German, you!' and 'come (pl) here!'. There are two different subjunctive forms used in Pomattertitsch. The first form is used mainly in reported speech and in subordinate clauses that follow 'say' or 'think'. It also occurs in complement clauses that follow 'that'. The second form is used for the conditional mood, where the conjunction 'if' can be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence. Table 10 Subjunctive 1: Table 11 Subjunctive 2:


Syntax

The Walser German dialect group has the same
word order In linguistics, word order (also known as linear order) is the order of the syntactic constituents of a language. Word order typology studies it from a cross-linguistic perspective, and examines how languages employ different orders. Correlatio ...
as German, for the most part. For some dialects, however, there is a change occurring in the word order of verbal brace constructions. In German, the finite verb occurs in the second position, and the non-finite verb occurs in the final position:Ramat, Anna Giacalone. "The Pairing of Structure and Function in Syntactic Development." ''INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS IN SYNTACTIC CHANGE, Gerritsen, Marinel, & Stein, Dieter Eds], Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter, 1992, Pp 317-339.ProQuest.'' Web. 19 Apr. 2016. Peter has just now the ball into the goal thrown 'Peter threw the ball into the goal just now' In some dialects, specifically Gressoney, Formazza, and Rimella, the finite and non-finite verbs occur right next to each other, with the complements and adverbials at the end of the sentence. An example of this in Rimella is given below: the father and the mother have made the cross to the child 'The father and mother made a cross for the child' This is a change from SOV (subject, object, verb) to SVO word order. This change is due to the increasing influence of Italian on Walser German. However, the SOV word order is still used when there is negation and when there is an inverted subject. Some southern dialects of Walser German are starting to omit the subject pronoun of sentences, just having the inflection on the verb to indicate what the subject is. This phenomenon is known as pro-dropping, and is common among languages. Italian is a
pro-drop language A pro-drop language (from "pronoun-dropping") is a language in which certain classes of pronouns may be omitted when they can be pragmatically or grammatically inferable. The precise conditions vary from language to language, and can be quite ...
, and German is not, which means that Italian is influencing some southern dialects of Walser German.


Example

*An example of "" from Issime - Éischeme,
Aosta Valley The Aosta Valley ( ; ; ; or ), officially the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley, is a mountainous Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region in northwestern Italy. It is bordered by Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Fr ...
, Italy: «» :English rough translation: "My grandfather came from Gaby, my grandmother from Issime, from hamlet Praz. Stévenin was the father, the grandmother came from the Chémonal family. ..The pasture n the Bourines Valleyprobably belonged to my grandfather. I don't know whether he was from my father's side. It belonged to my family, they had a beautiful house in Gaby. Victor, my father, was from his lineage, his father, my grandfather, came from over there... Victor le gabençois. Later he had a son, to whom he gave his name, so that my father's name was Victor too. He then got married when he was 56, and he had four sisters, two of them got married and two did not. They always worked and lived with him. Later one of them died."


See also

*
Germanic languages The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...


References


External links


Google Map of Walser Settlements 1200 to Present


{{Authority control German dialects Alemannic German language Swiss German language Languages of Piedmont Languages of Austria Languages of Liechtenstein Languages of France Languages of Italy Severely endangered languages