Guten Tag! or as you would say in  Swabian: Grüss Gott!

Over the next few Wochen, we’ll explore some of the major German dialects. Today, I’ll introduce you to some expressions in the Schwäbisch Alltag (everyday/daily life), Swabian dialect. The Schwäbische Mundart is considered an Alamannic Upper German dialect. Nächste Woche, I’ll compare it to another dialect, and so on… this will show you the similarities and differences between all the diverse dialects. Für mich ist das sehr interessant because as an Alsatian dialect speaker, I notice many commonalities zwischen diesen beiden Dialekten – I’ll write about them when I introduce you to my dialect; a Germanic dialect with a long history.

Below, you will see some examples that will show you the differences between German and Swabian:

Deutsch
Schwäbisch Alltag
English
Auf Wiedersehen Adee  Goodbye
Es tut mir leid! Deesch mr abr arrg! I am sorry!
Durcheinander Vrwurschdeld Mixed-up
Moment! wardad se! One moment!
Kopfschmerzen Schäädelwaih Headache
Langsam laufen Däbbla Dawdling
Meinst du nicht auch? Isch nedd so? Don’t you think so?
Würdest du? Dädsch? Will you? or would you?
Jetzt langt es aber! Jetz ischs Hai hônda! That’s enough!

Swabia/an is known both as a dialect, and as a historic region in Southwestern Germany. This region – once a medieval duchy – encompassed the Southern part of Baden-Württemberg, the Southwestern part of Bavaria, Eastern Switzerland, and the Alsace region; now a part of France.

To the Romans this region was known as Alamannia. It was named after its first settlers, a Germanic tribe called the Alamanni. In 5 AD, the Suevi — Germanic migrants originating from the Baltic Sea area — migrated to the region and joined the Alamanni people. Eventually, the Alamannia region became the Swabia region; named after the Suevi tribe. Suevi may also be called Suebi.

Today, the name Swabia is occasionally used to denote the district formerly occupied by the Duchy, but the official use of the name is now confined to a province in Bavaria.

Vocabulary:

  • Nächste Woche – Next week
  • Wochen - Weeks
  • Oberdeutsch - Upper German
  • Schwäbische Mundart - Swabian dialect
  • Für mich – For me
  • Sehr – Very
  • Zwischen – Between
  • Beiden – Both

If you want to learn more about the Swabian dialect I recommend you check out this informative website:  http://www.schwaebisch-englisch.de/

Next time, I’ll introduce you to Franconian German. 

Adee,

Nathalie

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