Bernese German phonology

Vowels

Monophthongs

Bernese German Monophthongs

	Front		Central	Zurück
	unrounded	rounded
Schließen Sie	i	y		u
Near-close	ɪ	ʏ		ʊ
Mid			ə
Open-mid	ɛ	œ		ɔ
Öffnen Sie	æ̞		a

The vowel [ə] occurs only in weak unstressed syllables.

In northern Bernese German, /a/ is rounded to [ɒ] or even merged with /ɔ/.

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: /ɛi̯ œi̯ ɔu̯/
• 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/ → [ˈʃtawː] ‘stable’, /ˈʃtaːl/ → [ˈʃtaːw] ‘steel’, /ˈkfyə̯l/ → [ˈkfyə̯w] ‘feeling’.

Additionally, there are certain combinations with /j/, for instance /ˈmyə̯j/ ‘toil’ or /ˈd̥ræ̞ːjt/ ‘turns’ (from /ˈd̥ræːjə/ ‘to turn’).

In southern Bernese German (not in the city of Bern), there are no closing diphthongs, but /ɪ̞ː ʏ̞ː ʊ̞ː/ instead, for instance /ˈɣ̊lɪ̞ːd̥/ instead of /ˈɣ̊lɛ̞i̯d̥/ ‘cloth’.

In northern Bernese German, a following [w] triggers rounding of the preceding vowel, for instance [ʋʏ̞w] instead of [ʋɪ̞w] ‘because’.

Consonants

Bernese German Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Post alveolar	Palatal	Velar/ Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m	n			ŋ
Stop	p – b̥	t – d̥			k – ɡ̊
Affricate	p͡f	t͡s	t͡ʃ		k͡x
Fricative	f – v̥	s – z̥	ʃ – ʒ̊		x – ɣ̊	h
Approximant	ʋ	l		j	w1
Rhotic		r			ʀ2

1. The approximant [w] is an allophone of [l], see below.
2. In the old upper-class dialect of the patricians, [ʀ] is used instead of [r].

Fortis and lenis consonants

Bernese German obstruents occur in pairs, as in other Alemannic varieties. These pairs are usually called fortis and lenis. They are not distinguished by voicedness, but they differ in length. A difference in tenseness is also discussed. It has not been established whether length or tenseness is the primary feature that distinguishes these pairs. Likewise, there are different possibilities of transcription. They are often transcribed with the IPA-signs for pairs of voiceless and voiced obstruents (for instance [p – b], [f – v]). In order to explicate that no voicedness is involved in the contrast, the diacritic for voicelessness may be used (for instance [p – b̥], [s – z̥]). Another possibility of transciption is the notation of the length, either with the IPA length sign (for instance [pː – p], [sː – s]) or with doubling (for instance [pp – p], [ss – s]).

With the fricatives, the opposition does not occur at the beginning of a syllable. This is similar to the length opposition that occurs in the continuants [m n l]. With the stops, however, the opposition is not restricted with respect to syllable structure and also occurs in the syllable onset, for instance /ˈb̥axə/ ('to bake') vs. /ˈpaxə/ ('baked' [past participle]); in order for this opposition not to be neutralized, there must be a preceding voiced sound, for instance /i ʋɔt ə ɣ̊uəɣ̊ə b̥axə/ ('I want to bake a cake') vs. /i ha nə ɣ̊uəɣ̊ə paxə/ ('I have baked a cake'). In the Northern Bernese German, however, only lenis plosives may occur at the syllable onset, so /ˈb̥axə/ ('to bake') and /ˈb̥axə/ ('baked' [past participle]) sound identical.

The opposition is only possible if the obstruents is surrounded by voiced sounds. If there is another adjacent voiceless sound (except /h/), then there is no opposition. Likewise, there is no length opposition in the affricates since they consist of two adjacent voiceless sounds.

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. Fortis consonants may occur after either long or short vowels, and lenis consonants as well:

Vowel quantity before fortis/lenis consonants

	short vowel		long vowel
lenis consonant	/ˈɡ̊rad̥/	'just now'	/ˈɡ̊raːd̥/	'straight'
	/ˈɔv̥ə/	'oven'	/ɡ̊ɔːv̥ə/	'kids'
fortis consonant	/ˈʃtat/	'city'	/ˈʃtaːt/	'state'
	/ˈafə/	'apes'	/ˈʒ̊laːfə/	'to sleep'

Vocalization of /l/

Long /lː/ is pronounced [wː], for instance /ˈb̥alːə/ → [ˈb̥awːə] ‘ball’; /l/ at the end of a syllable [w], for instance /ˈɣ̊alt/ → [ɣ̊awt] ('cold').

This feature is absent in the old upper-class dialect of the patricians.

Velarization of /nd̥/

/nd̥/ is pronounced [ŋː], for instance /hʊnd̥/ → [hʊŋː] ('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 [jɣ̊], for instance /ˈd̥æŋk͡xə/ → [ˈd̥æjɣ̊ə] ('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 /ˈkaz̥inɔ/ ‘casino’ vs. standard German /kaˈziːno/.

Literature

• Werner Marti (1985): Berndeutsch-Grammatik, Bern: Francke. ISBN 3-7720-1587-5