Beyond the Alps - Lerne Schweizerdeutsch· Staffel 1· Folge 3

3 Why Is Swiss German Not a Language?

Dienstag, 11. November 2025 · 13 min

MP3

Shownotes

Explore one of the biggest linguistic debates in Switzerland: is Swiss German just a dialect, or could it actually be considered a language of its own?
You’ll learn what defines a language, why Swiss German doesn’t (yet) meet the criteria and what would need to change for it to be officially recognised.
And, of course, I’ll share my personal take as a proud Swiss German speaker.
Transcripts: The Swiss German transcript of every episode was written by myself, by hand — because no software can truly capture the beauty of the dialect. ⁠⁠Get it here⁠⁠ (swissgermanbeginners-shop.fourthwall.com/colle…) ⁠⁠.
⁠⁠My Patreon supporters⁠⁠ (patreon.com/swissgermanbeginners) receive all episode transcripts as part of their perks — thank you for helping me share Swiss German with the world.

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