German is not German – ‘Schweizerdeutsch’ and Austrian German
Jun 10th, 2009 | By Marc | Category: English
German is spoken in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. However, there are drastic differences within the countries because they speak different dialects. The Swiss insist on calling their ‘Schweizerdeutsch’ a language for itself. Individual words also differ between the German language and the Swiss ‘Schweizerdeutsch’. Some examples can be found below.
| Swiss German | German |
| Velo | Fahrrad |
| Parkieren | Parken |
| Grillieren | Grillen |
| Tschutimatsch | Fussballspiel |
Based upon the first example, one can see the strong influence of the French language, one of the neighbours of Switzerland. ‘Velo’ is a French word.
The Austrian German experienced a strong influence from Bavaria, a part of southern Germany, hence numerous Bavarian expressions are popular in Austria.
| Austrian German | German |
| Bim | Straßenbahn |
| Watschen | Ohrfeige |
| Tschick | Zigarette |
| Taxler | Taxifahrer |
For many Germans the regional differences and dialects are unusual and a strong dialect is difficult to understand. Hence calling the dialects an individual language is justified in some sense.
