Swiss Standard German

Swiss Standard German or Swiss High German is the written form of one of the four official languages of Switzerland. It is mainly written, and not spoken.

Swiss Standard German
Swiss High German
Schweizer Standarddeutsch Schweizer Hochdeutsch, Schweizerhochdeutsch
Pronunciation	[ˈʃʋaɪtsərˌʃtandarddɔɪtʃ], [ˈʃʋaɪtsərˌhoːxdɔɪtʃ]
Region	Switzerland, Liechtenstein
Ethnicity	Swiss (Liechtensteiners)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic High German Standard German Swiss Standard German
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None
IETF	de-CH

Written Swiss Standard German

An example of Swiss Standard German used for a "no parking" sign. Fehlbare werden für Umtriebe behaftet would instead be written as Zuwiderhandelnde haften für die Kosten des entstehenden Aufwands in High German. "Fehlbare" (as used in this situation), "Umtriebe", and "behaftet" are Swiss in origin.

Swiss Standard German is the official written language. It is used in books, all official laws, in newspapers, printed notices, most advertising, and other printed writing. Authors write books mainly using Swiss Standard German.

There are differences in the spelling of Swiss Standard German and Standard German, for example replacing the German ß with ss. For example:

Swiss Standard German	Non-Swiss Standard German	English
Strasse	Straße	street
gross	groß	big
Fussball	Fußball	football
süss	süß	sweet
weiss, Weiss	weiß, Weiß	white
fliessen	fließen	to flow

There are some differences in vocabulary, including using a loanword from another language.

Swiss Standard German	Non-Swiss Standard German	English
Billett	Fahrkarte	ticket (for bus/tram/train etc.)
Führerausweis or Fahrausweis	Führerschein	driving licence
Velo	Fahrrad	bicycle
Handy	Handy or Mobiltelefon	mobile phone
parkieren	parken	to park
Poulet	Hähnchen	chicken
Jupe	Rock	skirt

Spoken Swiss Standard German

Swiss Standard German is only spoken in very few specific formal situations, such as in news broadcasts, education, and in religious sermons.

Diglossia

Swiss Standard German and Swiss German dialects has been called a typical case of Diglossia, or when a group of people have two languages or dialects that they use.