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Treasures of the Alemannische Wikipedia

I am always looking for resources for Swiss German on the internet. Out of curiosity and personal interest but also to expand my collection of resources for learners of Swiss German. Anyway, I guess I was bound to stumble upon the Alemannische Wikipedia at some point. Though not a purely Swiss German encyclopedia it's probably the closest to one that anything will ever get.

Alemannische Wikipedia (Alemanic Wikipedia)

The Alemannische Wikipedia describes itself: "D'alemannischa Wikipedia isch e Enyklopedi en de Dialäkt vom alemannische Sprochraum, also von dr Deitscha Schweiz, vom Elsass, vo Liachtaschtei, vo Oberbade, etc. " which translates to 'The Alemannische Wikipedia is an encyclopedia of the dialects of the alemanic (e.g. germanic) language area which means of the German part of Switzerland, the Elsass, Liechtenstein, etc.'

Indeed, there are several dialects contributing to this wikipedia and it is not always clear in which dialect an article is written. However, if you are looking for an explanation of a certain word of a dialect you'll realize this is indeed a great resource!

I was spending time with a couple of Bernese people last month and as I find their dialect much nicer than my own Züridütsch (Zurich dialect of Swiss German) I started looking up Bernese words. I mean, have a look at the word for kiss. In Züridütsch it's similar to the German "Kuss" but pronounced slightly differently. In Berndütsch (Bernese dialect) the word for kiss is "Müntschi". Now tell me, which is nicer?! And I l absolutely loved the description of "Müntschi" here on the Alemannische Wikipedia:

Mitemne Müntschi chame Gfüeu wi Zueneigi, Liebi, Verlange oder Erregig usdrücke. Je nach Muntsch bruucht me derzue d'Lippe oder d'Zunge. D'Lippe u d'Zunge si sehr empfindlech, so das bim Müntschele vor auem ds'Gschpüri zum Zug chunnt, was o erklärt, werum mes aus intiim empfindet.

English Translation:
With a Müntschi (kiss) you can express feelings like affection, love, desire or arousal. Depending on the Muntsch (kiss) you'll use the lips or the tongue. The lips and the tongue are very sensitive, therefore it is mainly intuition that is needed in Müntschele (kissing), and this also explains why we feel it is something very intimate.

Alemannische Wikipedia




© 2013 IRENE WYRSCH "A HUMOROUS GUIDE TO SWITZERLAND" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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