Walser German

Last updated
Walser German
Walscher, Wallissertitsch
Hoechstalemannisch.png
Distribution of Highest Alemannic dialects
Regionupper Valais & Walser, the Alps
EthnicityWalser People
Native speakers
22,780 (10,000 in Switzerland) (2004) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 wae
Glottolog wals1238
IETF wae [2]
Lang Status 40-SE.svg
Walser German is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Walser German (German : Walserdeutsch) and Walliser German (Walliserdeutsch, locally Wallisertiitsch) are a group of Highest Alemannic dialects spoken in parts of Switzerland (Valais, Ticino, Grisons), Italy (Piedmont, Aosta Valley), Liechtenstein (Triesenberg, Planken), and Austria (Vorarlberg). [3]

Contents

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, people migrated out of the Upper Valais, across the higher valleys of the Alps.

History

The Alemannic immigration to the Rhone valley started in the 8th century. There were presumably two different immigration routes, from what is now the Bernese Oberland, 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. [4] 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 which were lost in other variants of German. [4] The dialect of the Lötschental, for instance, preserved three distinct classes of weak verbs until the beginning of the 20th century.[ clarification needed ]

Walser German dialects are considered endangered, and language shift to the majority language (French, Italian, Standard German) has taken place in the course of the later 20th century. [3]

Classification

Walser German is part of the Highest Alemannic group, most closely related to dialects spoken in the Bernese Oberland and in Central Switzerland (Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Glarus).

There is limited mutual intelligibility with High Alemannic forms of Swiss German (whose speakers are called Üsserschwyzer "outer Swiss" by the Walliser), and barely any mutual intelligibility with Standard German.

Usage

Walser German is almost never spoken between children of Walser people, it is rarely spoken by their parents and most commonly by the grandparents. Oftentimes 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. [5]

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. [6] 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. [3] 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.

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 (höchstalemannisch) dialect group, which is made up of dialects that share similar features. The Highest Alemannic German group contains German dialects of Valais; 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 (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-: su 'son',sunna 'sun', and si 'to be'. The second feature is a change from -nk- to -ch- or -h-: German denken to Pomattertitsch teche 'think', German trinken to Pomattertitsch triche 'drink'. The final feature is the lack of diphthongs where they are present in German words: German bauen to Pomattertitsch büwe 'build', German schneien to Pomattertitsch schnie 'snow'. [4]

Morphology

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

Nouns

Pomattertitsch marks number (singular and plural) and gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) on nouns, like most dialects of German. It also marks case (nominative/accusative, genitive, dative) on nouns, although it has been reduced over time. It also distinguishes between strong and weak nouns.

Table 1 Nouns: [4]

Masc. StrongMasc. WeakNeuterFem. StrongFem. Weak
Nom./Acc. sg.tagattujarhandmatta
Gen. sg.tagschattejarschhandmattu
Dat. sg.tagattejarhandmattu
Nom./Acc. pl.tagaattejarhendmatte
Gen. pl.tagu (tago)attujaru (jaro)hendu (hendo)mattu
Dat. pl.taguattujaruhendumattu

Pomattertitsch has definite (English 'the') and indefinite (English 'a') articles that agree in case, number, and gender with the noun:

Table 2 Definite Articles: [4]

Masc.NeuterFem.Plural
Nom.derdsd(i)d(i)
Acc.der/dedsd(i)d(i)
Gen.tsch/dstsch/dsderde
Dat.demdemderde

Table 3 Indefinite Articles: [4]

Masc.NeuterFem.
Nom.e(n)ese(n)
Acc.e(n)ese(n)
Gen.eseser(e)(n)
Dat.em/emeem/emeer(e)(n)/ener(e)(n)

Adjectives 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': [4]

Masc.NeuterFem.
SingularNom./Acc.midämidsmidi
Dat.midemidemidu
PluralNom./Acc.midmidimid
Dat.midemidemide

Table 5 Weak Attributive 'tired': [4]

Masc.NeuterFem.
SingularNom./Acc.midmidmid
Dat.midemidemidu
PluralNom./Acc.midumidumidu
Dat.midemidemide

Table 6 Predicative 'tired': [4]

Masc.NeuterFem.
Singularmidämidsmidi
Pluralmidmidimidu

In Pomattertitsch, there is a distinction between impersonal and personal pronouns. The impersonal pronoun is mu, 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: [4]

First PersonSecond PersonThird Person
SingularNom.ich/-iMasc:är/-er

Neuter:äs/-s

Fem:schi/-sch

Acc.mich/-midich/-diMasc:är/-ne

Neuter:äs/-s

Fem:schi/-scha

Dat.mir/-merdir/-derMasc:imu/-mu

Neuter:imu/-mu

Fem:iru/-ru

PluralNom.wir/-werir/-erschi/-tsch/-schi
Acc.intsch/-ischeich (ewch)schi/-schu
Dat.intscheich (ewch)ine/-ne

Verbs

The verbs in Pomattertitsch can be categorized into one of four classes depending on their past participle and infinitive endings: [4]

  1. Strong verbs: infinitive ending in , past participle ending in . Examples: schlissä/gschlossä 'close', wärfä/gworfä 'throw', mälchä/gmolchä 'milk'.
  2. Weak verbs, Old High German -jan, -en: infinitive ending in , past participle ending in -t. Examples: zellä/zellt 'speak', läbä/gläbt 'live'.
  3. Weak verbs, Old High German -on: infinitive ending in -u, past participle ending in -(u)t. Examples: machu/gmachut 'make', losu/glost 'listen', malu/gmalut 'paint'.
  4. Weak verbs derived from Italian: infinitive ending in -ire, past participle ending in -irt. Examples: pentsire/pentsirt 'think', studire/studirt '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. [4]

Table 8 Verb Conjugations in Present Indicative of 'Normal Verbs': [4]

Class 1Class 2Class 3
ich 'I'wärfäzellämachu
'you'wirfsch(t)zellsch(t)machuscht
är/äs/schi 'he, it, she'wirftzelltmachut
wiər 'we'wärfäzellämachu
ir 'you all'wärfätzellätmachut
schi 'they'wärfänzellänmachun

Table 9 Verb Conjugations in Present Indicative of 'Special Verbs': [4]

'to be''to do''to go''to know''can''must'
ich 'I'bigaweischamös
'you'bisch(t)tösch(t)ge(i)schtweischtchantschmöscht
är/äs/schi 'he, it, she'isch(t)tötge(i)tweischanmös
wiər 'we'sitiəgängewissuchunnumössu
ir 'you all'sittitgängetwistchuntmössut
schi 'they'sintingängenwissunchunnummössun

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: ich tö zellä 'I do speak/I speak'. [4]

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 de at the end of an inflected verb and after enclitic pronouns, if there are any in the sentence. [4]

The passive is expressed in Pomattertitsch by using the auxiliary cho 'come' followed by the past participle of the verb, which agrees in gender and number with the subject of the sentence: der salam chun röwä gässä '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: und töt ds metjie z ässä 'and he makes the girl eat'. The imperative is expressed most commonly by using 'do' plus the infinitive, as stated above: tö frägä! 'do ask, ask!'. Another way is the bare indicative stem for the singular form, and the same present indicative form for the plural: zel titsch, dü! 'speak German, you!' and chomet hier! 'come (pl) here!'. [4]

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 das 'that'. The second form is used for the conditional mood, where the conjunction wenn 'if' can be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence. [4]

Table 10 Subjunctive 1: [4]

'to be''to do''to go''can''to eat''to work'
ich 'I'sigitijigängechenneässewärche
'you'sigischttijischtgängischtchennischtässischtwärchischt
är/äs/schi 'he, it, she'sigitijigängechenneässewärche
wir 'we'sigitijigängechenneässewärche
ir 'you all'sigittijitgängetchennetässetwärchet
schi 'they'sigitijigängechenneässewärche

Table 11 Subjunctive 2: [4]

'to be''to do''to go''can''to eat''to work'
ich 'I'wetti (wei)tätigängtichentiästi (issti)wärchuti
'you'wettisch(t)tätisch(t)gängtisch(t)chentisch(t)ästisch(t)wärchutisch(t)
är/äs/schi 'he, it, she'wetti (wei)tätigängtichentiästiwärchuti
wir 'we'wettitätigängtichentiästiwärchuti
ir 'you all'wettittätitgängtitchentitästitwärchutit
schi 'they'wettitätigängtichentiästiwärchuti

Syntax

The Walser German dialect group has the same word order 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: [8]

Peter hat vorhin den Ball ins Tor geworfen

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: [8]

de pappa òn d mamma heingmacht ds chriz dem chénn

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. [8]

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, and German is not, [9] which means that Italian is influencing some southern dialects of Walser German. [8]

Example

Bilingual road signs (French - Toitschu) in Issime - Eischeme, Aosta Valley. Panneaux bilingues Issime AO.JPG
Bilingual road signs (French - Töitschu) in Issime - Éischeme, Aosta Valley.

«Méin oalten atte ischt gsinh van in z'Überlann, un d'oaltun mamma ischt van Éischeme, ischt gsing héi van im Proa. Stévenin ischt gsinh dar pappa, la nonna ischt gsinh des Chamonal. [...] D'alpu ischt gsinh aschua van méin oalten pappa. Ich wiss nöit ol z'is heji... Ischt gsinh aschuan d'oaltu, un d'ketschu, gmachut a schian ketschu in z'Überlann. Méin pappa ischt gsinh la déscendance, dschéin pappa, aschuan méin oalten atte, ischt gsinh aschuan doa .. Vitor van z'Überlann. Un té hedder kheen a su, hets amun gleit das méin pappa hetti kheisse amun Vitor. Eer het dschi gwéibut das s'het kheen sekschuvöfzg joar un het kheen zwia wetti das .. zwienu sén gsinh gmannutu un zwianu sén nöit gsinh gmannutu. Dsch'hen génh gweerhut middim un dschi pheebe middim. Un darnoa ischt mu gcheen a wénghjen eina discher wettu. [10] »

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 [in the Bourines Valley] probably 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

Related Research Articles

Swiss German is any of the Alemannic dialects spoken in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and in some Alpine communities in Northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Occasionally, the Alemannic dialects spoken in other countries are grouped together with Swiss German as well, especially the dialects of Liechtenstein and Austrian Vorarlberg, which are closely associated to Switzerland's.

The Finnish language is spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns elsewhere. Unlike the languages spoken in neighbouring countries, such as Swedish and Norwegian, which are North Germanic languages, or Russian, which is a Slavic language, Finnish is a Uralic language of the Finnic languages group. Typologically, Finnish is agglutinative. As in some other Uralic languages, Finnish has vowel harmony, and like other Finnic languages, it has consonant gradation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alemannic German</span> Group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family

Alemannic, or rarely Alemannish, is a group of High German dialects. The name derives from the ancient Germanic tribal confederation known as the Alemanni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catalan grammar</span> Morphology and syntax of Catalan

Catalan grammar, the morphology and syntax of the Catalan language, is similar to the grammar of most other Romance languages. Catalan is a relatively synthetic, fusional language. Features include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English verbs</span> Verbs in the English language

Verbs constitute one of the main parts of speech in the English language. Like other types of words in the language, English verbs are not heavily inflected. Most combinations of tense, aspect, mood and voice are expressed periphrastically, using constructions with auxiliary verbs.

In Portuguese grammar, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and articles are moderately inflected: there are two genders and two numbers. The case system of the ancestor language, Latin, has been lost, but personal pronouns are still declined with three main types of forms: subject, object of verb, and object of preposition. Most nouns and many adjectives can take diminutive or augmentative derivational suffixes, and most adjectives can take a so-called "superlative" derivational suffix. Adjectives usually follow their respective nouns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walser people</span> Speakers of the Walser German dialects

The Walser people are the speakers of the Walser German dialects, a variety of Highest Alemannic. They inhabit the region of the Alps of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as the fringes of Italy and Austria. The Walser people are named after the Wallis (Valais), the uppermost Rhône valley, where they settled from roughly the 10th century in the late phase of the migration of the Alamanni, crossing from the Bernese Oberland; because of linguistic differences among the Walser dialects, it is supposed that there were two independent immigration routes.

Swedish is descended from Old Norse. Compared to its progenitor, Swedish grammar is much less characterized by inflection. Modern Swedish has two genders and no longer conjugates verbs based on person or number. Its nouns have lost the morphological distinction between nominative and accusative cases that denoted grammatical subject and object in Old Norse in favor of marking by word order. Swedish uses some inflection with nouns, adjectives, and verbs. It is generally a subject–verb–object (SVO) language with V2 word order.

This article describes the grammar of Afrikaans, a language spoken in South Africa and Namibia which originated from 17th century Dutch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highest Alemannic German</span> Branch of Alemannic German

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low Alemannic German</span> Northern branch of Alemannic in western Germany

Low Alemannic German is a branch of Alemannic German, which is part of Upper German. Its varieties are only partly intelligible to non-Alemannic speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilaki language</span> Iranian language spoken in Gilan Province, Iran

Gilaki is an Iranian language of the Northwestern branch, spoken in south of Caspian Sea by Gilak people. Gilaki is closely related to Mazandarani. The two languages of Gilaki and Mazandarani have similar vocabularies. The Gilaki and Mazandarani languages share certain typological features with Caucasian languages, reflecting the history, ethnic identity, and close relatedness to the Caucasus region and Caucasian peoples of the Gilak people and Mazandarani people.

German verbs may be classified as either weak, with a dental consonant inflection, or strong, showing a vowel gradation (ablaut). Both of these are regular systems. Most verbs of both types are regular, though various subgroups and anomalies do arise; however, textbooks for learners often class all strong verbs as irregular. The only completely irregular verb in the language is sein. There are more than 200 strong and irregular verbs, but just as in English, there is a gradual tendency for strong verbs to become weak.

Eastern Lombard grammar reflects the main features of Romance languages: the word order of Eastern Lombard is usually SVO, nouns are inflected in number, adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns, verbs are conjugated in tenses, aspects and moods and agree with the subject in number and person. The case system is present only for the weak form of the pronoun.

Somali is an agglutinative language, using many affixes and particles to determine and alter the meaning of words. As in other related Afroasiatic languages, Somali nouns are inflected for gender, number and case, while verbs are inflected for persons, number, tenses, and moods.

Verbs in Middle High German are divided into strong or weak verbs. Strong verbs indicate tense by a change in the quality of a vowel, while weak verbs indicate tense by the addition of an ending.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inflection</span> Process of word formation

In linguistic morphology, inflection is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, case, voice, aspect, person, number, gender, mood, animacy, and definiteness. The inflection of verbs is called conjugation, and one can refer to the inflection of nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, determiners, participles, prepositions and postpositions, numerals, articles, etc., as declension.

Old Norse has three categories of verbs and two categories of nouns. Conjugation and declension are carried out by a mix of inflection and two nonconcatenative morphological processes: umlaut, a backness-based alteration to the root vowel; and ablaut, a replacement of the root vowel, in verbs.

This article discusses the conjugation of verbs in a number of varieties of Catalan, including Old Catalan. Each verbal form is accompanied by its phonetic transcription. Widely used dialectal forms are included, even if they are not considered standard in either of the written norms: those of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans and the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. Other dialectal forms exist, including those characteristic of minor dialects such as Ribagorçan and Algherese and transitional forms of major dialects.

Portuguese verbs display a high degree of inflection. A typical regular verb has over fifty different forms, expressing up to six different grammatical tenses and three moods. Two forms are peculiar to Portuguese within the Romance languages:

References

  1. Walser German at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. "Walser". IANA language subtag registry. 29 July 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Dal Negro, Silvia (2014). "Language contact and variation patterns in Walser German subordination". STUF - Language Typology and Universals. 67 (4): 469–487. doi:10.1515/stuf-2014-0025. S2CID   146871462.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Dal Negro, Silvia (2004). The Decay of a Language: the Case of a German Dialect in the Italian Alps. European Academic Publishers. pp. 38–39, 82–83, 84–86, 88, 90–91, 92–98. ISBN   3-03910-212-5.
  5. Dal Negro, Silvia (2004). The Decay of a Language. Bern: PeterLang. pp. 60–61. ISBN   3-03910-212-5.
  6. "Walser". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  7. Particularly in the hamlets Gettaz-des-Allemands, French for "Gettaz of the Germans", and Boden, German for "valley floor" - Lovevda.org.
  8. 1 2 3 4 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.
  9. With the reservation that colloquial and dialectal German, unlike the standard language, are also partially pro-drop.
  10. Michel Musso, Sicché ischt phieri gsinh gmischluts, in Association Augusta, Issime, 2007, page 14