Low Alemannic German
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.
Subdivisions
- Lake Constance Alemannic
- *Northern Vorarlberg
- *Allgäu dialect
- *Baar dialect
- *Southern Württemberg
- Upper Rhenish Alemannic
- *Basel German
- *Baden dialects north of Markgräflerland
- *Alsatian, spoken in Alsace, in some villages of the Phalsbourg county and by some Amish in Indiana
- *Low Alemannic dialects in the Black Forest
- *Colonia Tovar dialect, Venezuela
Features
The feature that distinguishes Low Alemannic from Swabian is the retention of the Middle High German monophthongs, for instance Huus 'house' vs. Swabian Hous or Ziit 'time' vs. Swabian Zejt.
Orthography
Vowels:Consonants:
Are as in Standard German, with the following notes:
- kh is an aspirated
- ng is a velar nasal
- ngg is a velar nasal followed by a velar plosive
- ph is an aspirated
- th is an aspirated
- z represents as opposed to Standard German
Articles
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nom/Acc Sg | der Man | d Frau | s Kind |
| Dat Sg | im Man | der Frau | im Kind |
| Nom/Acc Pl | d Mane | d Fraue | d Kinder |
| Dat Pl | der Mane | der Fraue | der Kinder |
Indefinite Article
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nom/Acc Sg | e Man | e Frau | e Kind |
| Dat Sg | im e Man | in ere Frau | im e Kind |
Substantives
Plurals- Class I: Plural = Singular
- Class II: Plural = Singular + Umlaut
- Class IIIa: Plural = Singular + -e
- Class IIIb: Plural = Singular + -̈e
- Class IVa: Plural = Singular + -er
- Class IVb: Plural = Singular + -̈er
- Class V: No Plural
- Class VI: No Singular
- Standard ending is -li
- If the word ends in -l, then the ending is -eli
- If the word ends in -el, then the ending is -i
- If the word ends in -e, remove the -e and add -li
- The rules for this can be quite complex and depend on the region. Sometimes diminutives require umlaut, other times not.
Adjectives
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nom/Acc Sg | der groos Man | di göed Frau | s klai Kind |
| Dat Sg | im groose Man | in der / in ere göede Frau | im klaine Kind |
| Nom/Acc Pl | di groose Mane | di göede Fraue | di klaine Kinder |
| Dat Pl | in der groose Mane | in der göede Fraue | in der klaine Kinder |
Strong Declension
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nom/Acc Sg | göede Wyy | göedi Frau | göed Brood |
| Dat Sg | göedem Wyy | göeder Frau | göedem Brood |
| Nom/Acc Pl | groosi Mane | groosi Fraue | klaini Kinder |
| Dat Pl | in groose Mane | in groose Fraue | in klaine Kinder |
Comparative
- Standard ending -er
- Standard ending -schd
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| vyyl | mee | maischd |
| göed | beser | beschd |
Pronouns
Personal Pronouns| English | Hochdeutsch | Alemmanisch Nom | Dative | Accusative |
| I | ich | ich, ii, i | miir, mir, mer | mii, mi |
| you | du | duu, du, de | diir, dir, der | dii, di |
| he | er | äär, är, er | iim, im, em | iin, in, en, e |
| she | sie | sii, si | iire, ire, ere | sii, si |
| it | es | ääs, äs, es, s | iim, im, em | ääs, äs, es, s |
| we | wir | miir, mir, mer | ùns, is | ùns, is |
| you | ihr | iir, ir, er | èich, ich | èich, ich |
| they | sie | sii, si | iine, ine, ene | sii, si |
Verbs
1. InfinitiveInfinitive ends in -e
- Some monosyllabic verbs do not have this ending
2.1 Prefix
- The prefix for g- or ge-
- Before b, d, g, bf, dsch, and z is merged into the word and not visible
- Strong Verbs end in -e
- Weak Verbs end in -d or -ed
2.3.1 Infinitive and Present Sg y/èi/ai - Participle i
2.3.1.1 y > i
2.3.1.2 èi > i
2.3.1.3 ai > i
2.3.2 Infinitive and Present Sg ie/u/au/èi/i - Participle o/öu/öe
2.3.2.1 ie > o
2.3.2.2 u > o
2.3.2.3 au > o
2.3.2.4 èi > öu
2.3.2.5 ie > öe
2.3.2.5 i > o
2.3.3 Infinitive and Present Sg i - Participle ù
2.3.3.1 i > u
2.3.4 Infinitive ä/e - Present i - Participle o/u
2.3.4.1 ä - i - o
2.3.4.2 ä - i - u
2.3.4.3 e/è - i - o
2.3.4.4 e - i - ù
2.3.5 Infinitive ä/i - Present i - Participle ä
2.3.5.1 ä - i - ä
2.3.5.2 i - i - ä
2.3.6 Infinitive Vowel is the same as the Participle
2.3.5.1
3. Conjugation
3.1 Present Tense
3.1.1 Regular Verb
| Person | Ending | Example |
| 1st Sg | -Ø | ich mach |
| 2nd Sg | -sch | duu machsch |
| 3rd Sg | -d | är machd |
| Plural | -e | mir mache |
Numbers
| Cardinal | Ordinal | Multiplicative I | Multiplicative II | |
| 1 | ais | èèrschd | aifach | aimool |
| 2 | zwai | zwaid | zwaifach | zwaimool |
| 3 | drèi | drid | drèifach | drèimool |
| 4 | vier | vierd | vierfach | viermool |
| 5 | fimf | fimfd | fimffach | fimfmool |
| 6 | segs | segsd | segsfach | segsmool |
| 7 | siibe | sibd | siibefach | siibemool |
| 8 | aachd | aachd | aachdfach | aachdmool |
| 9 | nyyn | nyynd | nyynfach | nyynmool |
| 10 | zee | zeend | zeefach | zeemool |
| 11 | elf | elfd | elffach | elfmool |
| 12 | zwelf | zwelfd | zwelffach | zwelfmool |
| 13 | dryzee | dryzeend | dryzeefach | dryzeemool |
| 14 | vierzee | vierzeend | vierzeefach | vierzeemool |
| 15 | fùfzee | fùfzeend | fùfzeefach | fùfzeemool |
| 16 | sächzee | sächzeend | sächzeefach | sächzeemool |
| 17 | sibzee | sibzeend | sibzeefach | sibzeemool |
| 18 | aachdzee | aachdzeend | aachdzeefach | aachdzeemool |
| 19 | nyynzee | nyynzeend | nyynzeefach | nyynzeemool |
| 20 | zwanzg | zwanzigschd | zwanzgfach | zwanzgmool |
| 21 | ainezwanzg | ainezwanzigschd | ainezwanzgfach | ainezwanzgmool |