Low Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic German

Alemannic German

Alemannic is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. It is spoken by approximately ten million people in six countries: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, France and Italy...

 and is often considered to be part of the German language

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, even though it is only partly intelligible to speakers of German.

Variants:

• Vorarlbergisch
• Upper Rhenish
• Alsatian
  Alsatian language
  Alsatian is a Low Alemannic German dialect spoken in most of Alsace, a region in eastern France which has passed between French and German control many times.-Language family:...
  
  , spoken in the Alsace
  Alsace
  Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
  
  , France
  France
  The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
  
  
• Low Alemannic of Black Forest
  Black Forest
  The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
  
   and Allgäu
  Allgäu
  The Allgäu is a southern German region in Swabia. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia and southeastern Baden-Württemberg. The region stretches from the prealpine lands up to the Alps...
  
  

Features

The feature that distinguishes Low Alemannic from High Alemannic

High Alemannic German

High Alemannic is a branch of Alemannic German and is often considered to be part of the German language, even though it is only partly intelligible to non-Alemannic speakers....

 is the retention of Germanic /k/, for instance kalt 'cold' vs. High Alemannic chalt.

The feature that distinguishes Low Alemannic from Swabian

Swabian German

Swabian is one of the Alemannic dialects of High German. It is spoken in Swabia, a region which covers much of Germany's southwestern state Baden-Württemberg, including its capital Stuttgart, the rural area known as the Swabian Alb, and Bavaria...

 is the retention of the Middle High German

Middle High German

Middle High German , abbreviated MHG , is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German...

 monophthong

Monophthong

A monophthong is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation....

s, for instance Huus 'house' vs. Swabian Hous or Ziit 'time' vs. Swabian Zejt.

Orthography

(All of the below is specific to the dialects spoken near Freiburg im Breisgau)

Vowels:

Short Vowel	Pronunciation	Long Vowel	Pronunciation
a	[a]	aa	[aː]
ä	[æ]	ää	[æː]
è	[ɛ]	èè	[ɛː]
e	[e, ə]	ee	[eː]
i	[ɪ]	ii	[iː]
o	[o]	oo	[oː]
ù	[ʊ]	ùù	[ʊː]
u	[y]	uu	[yː]
y	[i, y]	yy	[uː]

Consonants:

Are as in Standard German, with the following notes:

• kh is an aspirated [kʰ]
• ng is a velar nasal plosive [ŋ]
• ngg is a velar nasal plosive followed by a velar [ŋɡ]
• ph is an aspirated [pʰ]
• th is an aspirated [tʰ]
• z represents [dz] as opposed to Standard German [ts]

Articles

Definite Article

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nom/Acc Sg	der Man	d Frau	s Kind
Dat Sg	im Man	(in) der Frau	im Kind
Nom/Acc Pl	d Mane	d Fraue	d Kinder
Dat Pl	(in) der Mane	(in) der Fraue	(in) 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

• Class I: Plural = Singular (e.g. Ääber --> Ääber)
• Class II: Plural = Singular + Umlaut (e.g. Bach --> Bächer; Baum --> Baim)
• Class IIIa: Plural = Singular + -e (e.g. Man --> Mane; Ags --> Agse)
• Class IIIb: Plural = Singular + -"e (e.g. Frosch --> Fresche; Vader --> Väder)
• Class IVa: Plural = Singular + -er (e.g. Lyyb --> Lyyber; Schùg --> Schùger)
• Class IVb: Plural = Singular + -"er (e.g. Wald --> Wälder; Blad --> Bleder)
• Class V: No Plural (e.g. Chees; Zemänd)
• Class VI: No Singular (Plural Only) (e.g. Bilger; Fèèrine)

Diminutives

• Standard ending is -li (e.g. Aimer --> Aimerli)
• If the word ends in -l, then the ending is -eli (e.g. Dääl --> Dääleli)
• If the word ends in -el, then the ending is -i (e.g. Degel --> Degeli)
• If the word ends in -e, remove the -e and add -li (e.g. Bèère --> Bèèrli)
• The rules for this can be quite complex and depend on the region. Sometimes diminutives require umlaut, other times not.

Adjectives

Weak Declension

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nom/Acc Sg	der groos Man	di göed Frau	s klai Kind
Dat Sg	im (e) groose Man	in der / in ere göede Frau	im (e) 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

Comperative

• Standard ending -er (e.g. fèin --> fèiner)

Superlative

• Standard ending -(e)schd (e.g. fèin --> fèinschd)

Irregular

Positive	Comperative	Superlative
vyyl	mee	maischd
göed	beser	beschd

Prouns

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. Infinitive

Infinitive ends in -e

• Some monosyllabic verbs do not have this ending (e.g. chùù, döe, goo, gschää, haa, loo, nee, sää, schdoo, schlaa, syy, zie, etc.)

2. Participle

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 (e.g. broochd, glaubd, etc.)

2.2 Suffix

• Strong Verbs end in -e (e.g. gäse, glofe)
• Weak Verbs end in -d or -ed (e.g. bùzd, gchaufd)

2.3 Types

2.3.1 Infinitive and Present Sg y/èi/ai - Participle i

2.3.1.1 y -> i (e.g. abwyyse -> abgwiise)

2.3.1.2 èi -> i (e.g. verzèie -> verziie)

2.3.1.3 ai -> i (e.g. schaide -> gschiide)

2.3.2 Infinitive and Present Sg ie/u/au/èi/i - Participle o/öu/öe

2.3.2.1 ie -> o (e.g. biede -> bode)

2.3.2.2 u -> o (e.g. sufe -> gsofe)

2.3.2.3 au -> o (e.g. laufe -> glofe)

2.3.2.4 èi -> öu (e.g. rèie -> gröue)

2.3.2.5 ie -> öe (e.g. riefe -> gröefe)

2.3.2.5 i -> o (e.g. wiige -> gwooge)

2.3.3 Infinitive and Present Sg i - Participle ù

2.3.3.1 i -> u (e.g. binde -> bùnde)

2.3.4 Infinitive ä/e - Present i - Participle o/u

2.3.4.1 ä - i - o (e.g. bräche -> broche)

2.3.4.2 ä - i - u (e.g. hälfe -> ghùlfe)

2.3.4.3 e/è - i - o (e.g. verdèèrbe -> verdoorbe)

2.3.4.4 e - i - ù (e.g. schmelze -> gschmùlze)

2.3.5 Infinitive ä/i - Present i - Participle ä

2.3.5.1 ä - i - ä (e.g. äse -> gäse)

2.3.5.2 i - i - ä (e.g. bide -> bäde)

2.3.6 Infinitive Vowel is the same as the Participle

2.3.5.1 (e.g. bache -> bache; fale -> gfale)



3. Conjugation

3.1 Present Tense
3.1.1 Regular Verb

Person	Ending	Example
1st Sg	N/A	ich mach
2nd Sg	-sch	duu machsch
3rd Sg	-d	är machd
Plural	-e	mir mache

Numbers

	Cardinal	Ordinal	Mutiplicative I	Mutiplicative 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