Neither my wife nor I speak German. As in any language there are several formal & informal ways to say "hello" & "goodbye" in Swiss German.
For those of you familiar with the language, as a visitor what would be the preferred words for the above?
Thank you.
Hi Kit, here's a quick german lesson, but make sure you grab a phrase guide to help. Most europeans speak better english than our german, BTW. I usually start out a bit formal, but have found the Germans, Swiss, and Austrians love it when you try a few simple phrases:
Guten morgen (pronounce Gooten) --FOrmal GOod morning greeting;
Guten Tag (gooten tahg)-- Formal good day greeting or departing;
Gute Nacht-- Formal good night;
or near NE Switzerland/Austria: Gruss Gott (God is great)-- Good day/Hello;
Aufwiedersehen--)oufveedersahn) a semi formal goodbye
Another one: Sehr Schoen (sahr shern)-- very beautiful-- which works for scenery or people!
Informally: Tag (tahg) mean "hi"
Tchuss (chooss): informal good bye
or one that will get a smile from just about everyone: Ausgetzeitnet! (ousgetzightnet)-- means roughly "Superb outstanding and wonderful"-- all rolled into one. Tough to pronounce, but they'll crack up anyway!
Prosit!
John
The simple "hello" in Swiss German is "Grüezi" (greet you, pronounced like Gru-ah-tsi). And "good bye" is "wiadaluaga" (see you later, pronounced veah-dah-lua-gah).
Thank you, John. I appreciate it. I am indeed familiar with some of the formal German expressions. However, I understand that the Swiss put their own twist on the language. Please correct me if I am wrong:
Good Morning Guete Morge
Good Afternoon Guete Tag
Good Evening Guete Obe
Goodbye Uf Wiederluege
Thank You Merci Vilmal.
Also, is the greeting "Gruetzi" pronounced "groytsee"?
"Gruß Gott" means "greet God," maybe short for "I greet you in the name of God." That's what they say in Bavaria and Austria. I've also noticed that in that part of the German-speaking world, they say "Auf Wiederschau'n" instead of "Auf Wiedersehen." "Schauen" means "to look at," so it's "Until we look (at each other) again." Bavarians seem to get a big kick out of hearing "Amis" use the local words. Either that, or I've been making a total idiot of myself all along and they can't help grinning, though they're too polite to burst out in loud guffaws!
The ü is pronounced like a long E with your lips rounded as if you were saying "Oo".
"Most europeans speak better english than our german". That doesn't say much for our German, because most Europeans do not speak English, at least well enough to have a basic conversation (source: European Union Eurobarometer survey.
Although the Swiss German dialect is noticeably different from standard (or hoch or schrift) Deutsch, and the Swiss use their dialect in everyday life, almost all of them have been taught standard German in school and will understand it. (This, BTW, is no different from Germany, where most people also speak a dialect in everyday life).
Tag is actually pronounced "Tahk". This is a principle called “devoicing” of the final consonant, or, in German, "Entvokalisierung im Wortauslaut". A final “g”, when not –ig or –ing is pronounced as a “k”. Similarly, final “b” is a “p”, and final “d” is a “t”.
To Lee - actually, the vast majority of people in the Swiss-German part of Switzerland speaks excellent English, and that goes for both young and old. Even in the small mountain towns like Muerren. That did not prevent me from always starting out in Schwytzer Tuutsch, because I need to practice it, but once I ran out of it and automatically continued in English, the other party would just smile and seamlessly switch to English as well.
"most Europeans do not speak English, at least well enough to have a basic conversation"...
I guess in my last 5 European trips I always managed to run into that small minority of Europeans who spoke excellent English...and French and German and Italian!
the regional difference in swiss german come into play as you get closer to the boarders... in Zurich you still say "danke" - but in Bern they say "merci" or "merci-viel-mal" (thanks a lot). In Bern they also say "gruesich" or "gruesich-vol" a popular alternative to "gruetzi" but both are fine on both the streets or the trails! a universal Hallo works too!
for fun - when asked if the food was good - say "tip-top" (pronounced teeep-tope") - in bern and berner oberland. A "sehr-gut, merci" works too.
"I guess in my last 5 European trips I always managed to run into that small minority of Europeans who spoke excellent English...and French and German and Italian!"
If you only go to places that cater to English speaking tourists, you will probably find that everyone speaks English, but those tourist areas are not representative of Europe as a whole.
I, also, have made 5 European trips, to Germany. German speaking countries have the highest percentage of English speakers (50% in Germany) amongst the major language groups in Europe, but I have encounter very few people there (less than 20%, I think) who spoke English. Admittedly, however, in my travels, I have generally avoided the areas frequented by foreign tourists.
On the other hand, I spent my last week on the middle Rhine, which is featured in Rick's (and other) guidebooks, and, therefore, attracts a lot of American tourist. Most of the Germans there could speak English.
Natasha, you said, "the vast majority of people in the Swiss-German part of Switzerland speaks excellent English". Can you show sources to back up your claim? The only website I found with that statistic, http://switzerland.isyours.com, shows that 68% (hardly a vast majority) of German-speaking Swiss speak English. And, a third of those only speak it at a basic level, not excellent.
To Lee - is not 68% a "vast majority"?
My late husband was Swiss German, and so I have relatives there, mostly in Bern and its surroundings. When I go there, I usually have to deal with the relatives,take care of some business, like paying bills at the post office, sending some packages, and so on. This time, I also had to visit the family notar, take my father-in-law to the hospital, and deal with a real estate agent. Hardly the places tourists frequent, wouldn't you say?
I agree - 68% is prety damn good for a non english country almost 3/4 seems vast to me! - only Scandinavia is probably higher (excluding former UK-colonies). Im not sure why people always expect the whole world to speak english, perhaps not enough foreign language in our grade schools... But these days any touristy place will have plenty. Actually - in Bern - a lady waiting our table was obviously not swiss (east-euro) and probably could not speak engish any better than german - so imigrants from all over (20% in Switzerland) can throw off the "vast majority)...
just noticed's Lee's other comment - YES - if you spend all your time out in the sticks and farm areas (always fun to do for real local experience) then usually only the yonger folks (or bank/biz folks) will be fluent... of the %68 - im sure 90% is cities! (ok enough with all these statis and %)! just go have fun and learn how to say Hi and thanks!
