The Swiss dialect of German is spoken by the majority of the country's inhabitants. Dialects vary by canton. Speakers of Swiss German write in German. In cities with bilingual populations, signs are in German and French. Röstigraben is a kind of watershed between the French and German speaking regions. In Fribourg, the Zane River marks the border between the two languages.
In Switzerland, a distinction is made between “national languages” (“Landessprache”) and “official languages” (“Amtssprache”). In the first case, the emphasis is on language as a cultural and folklore factor, and therefore the “national languages” include German, French, Italian and Romansh.
In the second case, the semantic emphasis falls on languages as a tool of office work and bureaucracy. Therefore, only German, French, and Italian are official languages. It is in these languages that debates take place in the federal parliament, and only from and into these languages is all federal legislation translated, for example.
Romansh can be used as an "official" language, but on a limited scale, only where and in the case where we are talking about communication with people for whom this language is native.
In other words, Romansh is an "official language" of regional importance. A case in point: the most important for the country “Law on State Insurance for Old Age and Disability” (AHV) on the official website of the Swiss federal authorities is given only in German, French and Italian. Why? Because these languages are considered “official” at the federal level. Romansh is not among them.
German is spoken by about 64%, French by about 20%, and Italian by about 7% of the country's population. Romansh is the spoken language of less than one percent of the population.
The most noticeable linguistic fact in the German-speaking part of Switzerland is the parallel use of various dialects of German for spoken communication and literary ("standard") German for written communication ("diglossia").
French is spoken in the west of the country. In Italian - in the canton of Ticino and in the south of its neighboring canton of Grisons. The Romansh language, which itself is a conglomeration of five dialects (idioms), is used only by residents of certain communities and regions of Graubünden. Note that Romansh is not truly unique to Switzerland - languages similar to Romansh are spoken by some communities in South Tyrol and the Friuli region of northern Italy.
The Swiss constitution recognizes the right of linguistic groups to communicate in their own language. German, French, Italian are the main official languages of the Confederation, that is, let us remind you that all laws and official documents must be available in these languages.
Romansh is only a partial official language and is used to communicate with Romansh speakers. The Constitution contains provisions obliging the federal authorities to support the Italian and Romansh languages in the cantons of Ticino and Grisons.
Outside of Switzerland, it is often assumed that every Swiss person can speak all of these languages. In fact, this is far from the case. The Swiss tend to isolate themselves in their linguistic regions and, whenever possible, use media only in their native language.
The gap between French- and German-speaking areas is an undeniable reality. The Swiss themselves jokingly call the border between them "Röstigraben", or "Potato Ditch" - the name is based on "rösti", a typical potato dish popular in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, but little consumed in its French-speaking part.
However, the educated classes in Switzerland tend to speak many languages, including English. An atmosphere of mutual linguistic tolerance is cultivated in the country.
The small Alpine country, unlike many of its neighbors, has four official languages. They speak German, Italian, French and Romansh, and any resident of the country does not have to be able to speak each of them. According to the law, one is enough for him.
The German and French languages in the country of the world's best watches and chocolate have their own variant of sound and are called Swiss German and Swiss French, respectively.
Some statistics
The language map is painted in four colors and the areas shaded by each of them do not look entirely equivalent:
- German is the most widely spoken language in the country. More than 63% of the population speaks it. German-speaking Swiss live not in the north, in the center, a little in the south and partly in the east. German is the only official language in 17 of the 26 Swiss cantons.
- Just over one-fifth of the country's residents speak French. They live mainly in the west of the republic.
- 6.5% of Swiss speak Italian as their native language. It is distributed in the south in areas bordering.
- Romansh is found in the eastern and central-eastern regions and is used in daily communication by only 0.5% of Swiss citizens.
Several other dialects in circulation in the country do not make any special difference for statistics. Franco-Provençal, Gallo-Italian Lombard, Ticin and Yenish dialects, as well as Yiddish and Gypsy, are spoken by a few residents of Switzerland.
In fact, everything is simple
For a polyglot and a tourist who speaks foreign languages, Switzerland is a godsend. Television programs and newspapers are published here in different languages, and knowing at least one, you can always keep abreast of events and the situation in the world.
Residents of the country for the most part, although they do not know all the official languages of Switzerland, usually speak two of them perfectly. Plus English, which is widely studied as part of the school curriculum. As a result, it turns out that they will be able to carry on a conversation here in three languages, and therefore proper comfort for tourists is guaranteed everywhere.
By the way, the latest legislative initiatives of the Swiss Parliament are aimed at tightening the rules for obtaining citizenship and residence permits. Now only those who speak one of the official languages of Switzerland will be able to obtain an indefinite residence permit and citizenship.
According to the Constitution, the official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh.
German
The bulk of the Swiss population lives in the German-speaking cantons. In 19 of the 26 cantons, Swiss dialects are spoken predominantly.
French
In the west of the country, in Romande Switzerland (Suisse romande), they speak French. 4 cantons are French-speaking: Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura. 3 cantons are bilingual: in the cantons of Bern, Friborg and Wallis they speak German and French.
Italian language
In the canton of Ticino and in the four southern valleys of the canton of Grisons, Italian is spoken.
Romansh language
In the canton of Graubünden, three languages are spoken: German, Italian and Romansh. The Romansh people are Switzerland's smallest language group, making up 0.5% of the total population.
Other languages
The linguistic diversity of Switzerland, which has developed historically over many centuries, is complemented by the languages of foreigners emigrating to this country. As shown by the 2000 census results, emigrants from the countries of the former Yugoslavia constitute the largest linguistic group among other foreigners, accounting for 1.4% of the total population.
Linguistic minorities
About 35,000 Romanians speak, as a rule, German in addition to their native language. They have no other choice because they belong to linguistic minorities. The Italian-Swiss also cannot do without knowledge of other national languages.
The larger and more economically developed German-speaking part of Switzerland encourages Italian-speaking Swiss to learn German to maintain the economic and political importance of their region.
The geographical location and historical features of the country's development determined the diversity of the language culture. It so happened that the location of the country actually determined the presence of several official languages. The indigenous population of Switzerland mainly consists of:
- German-Swiss;
- Franco-Swiss;
- Italian-Swiss
- Romansh.
There are four constitutionally recognized state (national) languages in the country: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Switzerland has only three official languages: German, French and Italian, and Romansh, due to its low use, is not used in official documents at the country level. Although each canton, in accordance with the law, has the right to use its own language. However, the diversity of local languages is continuously supplemented by numerous foreign emigrants.
As in any European country, knowledge of the English language is quite high, and there are no problems communicating in English. But as for official communication (appealing to authorities, etc.) - each region has its own language norms
German
The majority of the country's inhabitants live in German-speaking cantons. The Swiss dialect of German is spoken by residents of Zurich, eastern, northern and central Switzerland. Swiss German is very different from true German. It often happens that the Germans themselves cannot understand the German-speaking Swiss. It should be noted that the written language of the Swiss is German, however, the purely German language in conversational terms is not in honor among the majority of the country's inhabitants. In addition, the German dialect differs greatly from city to city. And often words from other languages are used in speech.
French
Western part of Switzerland (Suisse romande):
- , Montreux, Neuchâtel, Friborg, Sion - partially speak French;
- 4 cantons are purely French-speaking: Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura;
- 3 cantons are bilingual: Friborg and Wallis, where they speak German and French.
The border between the two linguistic regions follows the “roshti border”, the eastern part of which prefers to eat potato “roshti”, while the western part does not. There is a fairly striking example of bilingualism: the name of the city of Biel/Bienne is always written in German and French.
Italian language
The Italian language predominates in the canton of Ticino, in southern Switzerland (Lugano, Bellinzona) and in the four southern valleys of the canton of Grisons.
Retro-Romance language
The smallest and most ancient language is Romansh, it is used in the Swiss hinterland in the southeast of the country. Within the language itself there are the following subgroups: Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter and Vallader. This language is recognized by the state as part of the country's cultural heritage, so it is carefully protected and protected from extinction. From school, children are taught German, and French as a second language. Mostly literary German is used in writing.
The relationship between the French-speaking and German-speaking parts of Switzerland is the main determining factor in the development of the country's history. Relations between the main cultural and linguistic environments of the country have remained complex since the beginning of the 19th century. Since the time when French territories were annexed to Switzerland and until now, linguistic relations have been characterized by the presence of conflicts and contradictions. The mixture of languages and dialects sometimes provokes misunderstandings between the inhabitants of small Switzerland.
What is the official language in Switzerland?
- The Swiss Confederation has four official languages: French, German, Italian and Romansh. Swiss Constitution: "The national languages are German, French, Italian and Romansh (sorry for the translation). Romansh is the official language for communication with native speakers of the Romansh language. The cantons themselves determine their own official languages." Romansh is the official language of the canton of Grisons. A group of romances also live in Italy, but more often they have to speak Italian. The directory, unfortunately, provides information only about one Romansh writer, D. F. Caderas (1830 - 1891), who is not translated into Russian.
- There are three of them - German, French. , Italian
- German and French
- German, French one hundred pounds
- They have four official languages
German,
French,
Italian,
Romansh - A COUNTRY THAT DOESN'T HAVE ITS OWN LANGUAGE OR EVEN AN ADVERB... WHAT IS THIS?
- In Switzerland, there are national languages (Landessprache) and official languages (Amtssprache).
In the first case, the emphasis is on language as a cultural and folklore factor, and therefore the national languages include German, French, Italian and Romansh.
In the second case, the semantic emphasis falls on languages as a tool of office work and bureaucracy. Therefore, only German, French, and Italian are official languages. More details: http://www.swissinfo.ch/rus/languages/34667444.
There are also links to various pressing issues in language issues in Switzerland. - Hey, I refuse to answer when they shove elbows like that, rushing to distinguish themselves... Well, so be it: Switzerland has four official languages - German (65% of the population), French (18%) and Italian (12%). And about 1% of the Swiss speak Romansh.
- French, Italian, German. Each canton has its own.
- Switzerland has 3 official languages: German, French and Italian
- German friends.
- Linguistic landscape
Sign at the bus stop in Biel (in German and French)
According to the Constitution, the national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh.
German
The bulk of the Swiss population lives in the German-speaking cantons. In 18 of the 26 cantons, Swiss dialects are spoken predominantly.
French
In the west of the country, in Romande Switzerland (Suisse romande), they speak French.
4 cantons are French-speaking: Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura. 3 cantons are bilingual: in the cantons of Bern, Friborg and Wallis, German and French are spoken.
Italian language
In the canton of Ticino and in the four southern valleys of the canton of Grisons, Italian is spoken.
Romansh language
In the canton of Graubünden, three languages are spoken: German, Italian and Romansh. The Romansh people are Switzerland's smallest language group, making up 0.5% of the total population.
Other languages
The linguistic diversity of Switzerland, which has developed historically over many centuries, is complemented by the languages of foreigners emigrating to this country. As the results of the 2000 census showed, emigrants from the countries of the former Yugoslavia constitute the largest linguistic group among other foreigners, accounting for 1.4% of the total population.
Distribution of the Swiss population by language
Languages in Switzerland