Decoding Swiss German

Become familiar with the Swiss way of life and culture with typical words, expressions and stories.

Switzerland is home to a large variety of regional dialects. Although Schwizertütsch has no uniform spelling, writing in dialect is becoming more common (i.e. text messages, media, songs, poetry).

Letters and endings are often dropped in Swiss German and the remains are then melted together into one string of sounds. Words are sometimes altogether omitted. By using assimilation of letters and sounds to make speech more efficient, a “flattening” effect is created making it difficult to detect individual words. The outcome often sounds like one single long, slurred word making it near impossible to detect where initially one word started and the other one ended.

In this booklet we will tell you how to decode Swiss German. Learn all the differences and transformation rules

between Swiss German and German and you will be surprised that grammar and vocabulary is almost the same as in German.

These insights and tips will help you master practical situations in everyday life.