Zurich German (natively Züritüütsch ; ) is the High Alemannic dialect spoken in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Its area covers most of the canton, with the exception of the parts north of the Thur and the Rhine, which belong to the areal of the northeastern (Schaffhausen and Thurgau) Swiss dialects. Zurich German was traditionally divided into six sub-dialects, now increasingly homogenised owing to larger commuting distances: Akin to all Swiss German dialects, it is essentially a spoken language, whereas the written language is standard German. Likewise, there is no official orthography of the Zurich dialect. When it is written, it rarely follows the guidelines published by Eugen Dieth in his book Schwyzertütschi Dialäktschrift. Furthermore, Dieth's spelling uses a lot of diacritical marks not found on a normal keyboard. Young people often use Swiss German for personal messages, such as when texting with their mobile phones. As they do not have a standard way of writing they tend to blend Standard German spelling with Swiss German phrasing. The Zurich dialect is generally perceived as fast spoken and less melodic than, for example, Bernese German. Characteristic of the city dialect is that it most easily adopts external influences. The second-generation Italian immigrants (secondi) have had a crucial influence, as has the English language through the media. The wave of Turkish and ex-Yugoslavian immigration of the 1990s is also leaving its imprint on the dialect of the city.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Sample

The sample text is a reading of the first sentence of The North Wind and the Sun. It is a recording of a 67-year old male from the town of Meilen, about 15 kilometers from the city of Zurich.

Phonemic transcription

Phonetic transcription

Orthographic version

Emaal händ de Biiswind und d Sune gschtritte, wèèr vo bäidne das ächt de schtèrcher seig.