Bernese German - Phonology

Phonology

Bernese German is distinguished from other Swiss German dialects by the following characteristics:

• The shortening of many high vowels, e.g. Zit, Lüt, lut instead of Ziit, Lüüt, luut (Standard German Zeit, Leute, laut; 'time', 'people', 'loud').

• The vocalisation of l, e.g. Hauue, Esu instead of Halle, Esel ('hall', 'donkey'). This has led to a huge repertoire of diphthongs and triphthongs.

• The change of nd to ng, e.g. angers instead of anders ('different'). The many words ending with -ng created the joke that Bernese sounds almost like Chinese: "Schang chum hey d'Ching wei Hung" ("Schang (Jean) come home, the kids want honey(bread)")

• Words such as Fleisch ‘flesh’ and Oug ’eye’ are pronounced with the diphthongs /ei/ and /ou/, and not /aɪ/ and /aʊ/.