Bernese German phonology describes the phonology of Bernese German, the dialect spoken in the Swiss plateau (Mittelland) portion of the canton of Bern.
Vowels
Monophthongs
| front | central | back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||
| close | i | y | u | |
| near-open | ɪ̞ | ʏ̞ | ʊ̞ | |
| mid | ə | |||
| open-mid | ɛ̝ | œ̝ | ɔ̝ | |
| open | æ̞ | a | ||
The vowel /ə/ occurs only in weak unstressed syllables.
In northern Bernese German, there is no /a/ but /ɒ/ or even a merger with /ɔ̝/.
Vowel length
There is a distinctive length opposition in all vowels except /ə/. Unlike in standard German, there is no interdependence of vowel length and vowel quantity.
Diphthongs
Bernese German has seven diphthong phonemes:
- Three closing diphthongs: /ɛ̝i̯ œ̝i̯ ɔ̝u̯/
- Three opening diphthongs: /iə̯ yə̯ uə̯/
- One long diphthong: /aːu̯/
The number of phonetic diphthongs and triphthongs is significantly higher, since all monophthongs (except for short /i y u ə/) and all opening diphthongs may be followed by a [w] (from vocalized /l/), for instance /ˈʃtalː/ → [ˈʃtaw] 'stable', /ˈʃtaːl/ → [ˈʃtaːw] 'steel', /ˈkfyə̯l/ → [ˈkfyə̯w] 'feeling'.
Additionally, there are certain combinations with /j/, for instance /ˈmyə̯j/ 'toil' or /ˈtræ̞ːjtː/ 'turns' (from /ˈtræːjə/ 'to turn').
In southern Bernese German (not in the city of Bern), there are no closing diphthongs, but /ɪ̞ː ʏ̞ː ʊ̞ː/ instead, for instance /ˈxlɪ̞ːt/ instead of /ˈxlɛ̞i̯t/ 'cloth'.
In northern Bernese German, a following [w] triggers rounding of the preceding vowel, for instance [ʋʏ̞w] instead of [ʋɪ̞w] 'because'.
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | k | ||||
| Affricates | p͡f | t͡s | t͡ʃ | k͡x | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ | x | h | ||
| Approximant | w | ʋ | j | ||||
| Rhotic | r | ||||||
| Lateral | l |
In the old upper-class dialect of the patricians, /ʀ/ is used instead of /r/.
Consonant length
Like in other Alemannic dialects, there is a length opposition in all the obstruents (plosives, nasals and fricatives) except /ŋ h/ if the obstruents is surrounded by voiced sounds. If there is another adjacent voiceless sound (except /h/), then the opposition is neutralized. Likewise, there is no length opposition in the affricates since they consist of two adjacent voiceless sounds.
In northern dialects, there are no long consonants at the beginning of a word, whereas in the other dialects, long plosives can occur—like in other Alemannic dialects—at the beginning of a word, for instance [ˈpaxːə] 'to bake' vs. [ˈpːaxːə] 'baked (past participle)' (though in order for this opposition not to be neutralized, there must be a preceding voiced sound).
Like in other Alemannic dialects, but unlike other Germanic languages, there is no interdependence of the length of a consonant with the length of the preceding vowel:
| short /a/ | long /aː/ | |
|---|---|---|
| short /f/ | /ˈhafə/ 'bowl' | /ti ˈpraːfə/ 'the honest ones' |
| long /fː/ | /ˈafːə/ 'apes' | /ˈʃlaːfːə/ 'to sleep' |
Vocalization of /l/
Long /lː/ is pronounced [wː], for instance /ˈpalːə/ → [ˈpawːə] 'ball'; /l/ at the end of a syllable [w], for instance /ˈxalt/ → [xawt] 'cold'.
This feature is absent in the old upper-class dialect of the patricians.
Velarization of /nt/
/nt/ is pronounced as [ŋː], for instance /hʊ̝nt/ → [hʊ̝ŋː] 'dog'.
This feature is absent in the old upper-class dialect of the patricians.
In the southwestern dialects of the Schwarzenburg area, it is pronounced [nː].
Reduction of /ŋk͡x/
In the western and southern dialects (not in the city of Bern), /ŋk͡x/ is pronounced [jx], for instance /ˈtæŋk͡xə/ → [ˈtæjxə] 'to think'.
Stress
In native word, the word stem is stressed, except verbs with a separable prefix where that prefix is stressed.
In loan words, there is—in comparison to standard German—a preference of initial stress, for instance Bernese German /ˈkːasinɔ̝/ 'casino' vs. standard German /kʰaˈziːno/.
Literature
- Werner Marti (1985): Berndeusch-Grammatik, Bern: Francke. ISBN 3-7720-1587-5