3. Quotation marks: German uses single quotation marks for a quotation within a quotation
in the same way English does. Example: "Das
ist eine Zeile aus Goethes ,Erlkönig'
", sagte er.
Unlike English, German introduces a direct quotation with a colon
rather than a comma. Example: Er sagte:
"Ich gehe jetzt nach Hause."
4. Apostrophes: Contrary to English, German does NOT use apostrophes to denominate
Genitive. Examples: Sandras Schwester, Bettinas
Hund.
5. Colons and semi-colons: Colons and semi-colons are used in much the same way as English.
6. Brackets: Brackets or hyphens are frequently used (instead of a comma) to
add additional information.
7. Capitalisation: Headings, product names, proper names etc. are normally written
in capitals.
The greeting in letters (Dear…) is separated in German by
a comma and the first sentence starts in lower case.
Example: Sehr geehrter Herr Direktor,
ich freue mich…
Section Four - Measurements and Abbreviations
1. Measurements: The metric system is used for all measurements. Imperial measurements
are generally not used.
A comma is used to denote decimals. Example: 4,5 cm. Exception:
Currency (see below).
In contrast to High German, thousands are separated not by a full
stop, but either by an apostrophe or a space:
4000 = 4'000 or 4 000 / 50 000 = 50'000
or 50 000.
Times are written as follows: 10.30 am = 10.30 (Uhr) / noon = Mittag
/ 4.30
pm = 16.30 (Uhr) / midnight = Mitternacht.
Dates are written as follows:
20 February 2004/ 20th February 2004/ February 20 = 20. Februar 2004
20/02/2004 = 20.2.04 or 20.02.2004
There is normally a space between a figure and a measurement abbreviation.
There is normally a space before the % symbol, although this is
not compulsory.
There is normally a space between ° C. Example: 30° C.
Currency symbols are usually written with a space before the actual
number, i.e. Fr. 500, Euro 45. Numbers with
more than 6 digits are generally written
out in words.
Example: $ 6 million = 6 Millionen Dollar.
The international 3-letter code e.g. GBP for £, CHF for Swiss
Francs, appears instead of the symbol, i.e. before the number. Examples: GBP 200,
CHF 500.
Unlike the German version, full stops are used to indicate decimals
in currencies.
Examples: Fr. 3.50, Euro 500.12
2. Abbreviations:
N/a = -
No. (nos.) = Nr.
e.g. = z.B.
WxLxHxD = B x L x H x T
1st /
2nd / 3rd / 4th = 1./2./3./4.
Mr. / Mrs. = Hr. / Fr.
Messrs. = Herren
Miss = Frl. (or Frau)
Dear Sir / Madam = Sehr geehrte Dame/ sehr geehrter Herr
m (for metre) = m
cm (for centimetre) = cm
lb (for pound weight) - not used
g (for gram) = g
km (for kilometre) = km
yr (for year) - not used
k (for 1000) - not used
EMEA (Europe, Middle-East & Asia)
Days of the week: Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun = Mo, Di,
Mi, Do, Fr, Sa, So
Months: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
= Jan, Feb, Mär, Apr, Mai, Jun, Jul,
Aug, Sept, Okt, Nov, Dez
Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter (not normally abbreviated
in English) = Frühling, Sommer, Herbst,
Winter (not abbreviated)
Section Five - Hyphenation
Hyphens are used frequently to split words over lines (there are
specific rules on where words are to be
split, generally based on the syllabic structure).
As there is a tendency towards long noun clusters, hyphens are also
used to split up long nouns into their composites:
Zug-Fahrplan or Zugsfahrplan.
"N" dashes ( - ) can be used instead of commas to structure long
sentences.
The longer "M" dashes (—) are not used.
Section Six - Miscellaneous Peculiarities
Road signs in Switzerland are often given in two languages simultaneously,
i.e. Basel/Basle in places bordering on
two language regions. Similarly, packaging of Swiss products is usually tri-lingual: German, Italian
and French.
Surnames are sometimes given before first names, i.e. people introduce
themselves or are referred to as Schmid
Peter (Smith, Peter).
The typeface of High German in Switzerland does NOT include the
ß, but ONLY ss.
Section Seven - Geographic Distribution
Language Distribution in Switzerland:
German
German is by far the most widely spoken
language in Switzerland: 17 of the 26 cantons
are monolingual in German.
French
French is spoken in the western part of the country, the "Suisse
Romande." Four cantons are French-speaking: Geneva, Jura, Neuchâtel
and Vaud. Three cantons are bilingual: in
Bern, Fribourg and Valais both French and
German are spoken.
Italian
Italian is spoken in Ticino and 4 southern valleys of Grisons.
Rhaeto-Rumantsch (Rumantsch)
Rumantsch is spoken only in the trilingual canton of Graubünden.
The other two languages spoken there are
German and Italian. Rumantsch, like Italian
and French, is a language with Latin roots.
It is spoken by just 0.5% of the total Swiss population.
The many foreigners resident in Switzerland have brought with them
their own languages, which taken as a whole
now outnumber both Rumantsch and Italian.
The 2000 census showed that speakers of
Serbian/Croatian were the largest foreign
language group, with 1.4% of the population.
English was the main language for 1%.
SUMMARY Language Situation:
In Switzerland, [standard] High German is first and foremost a written
language, which Swiss German children have
to learn in school. All lessons are taught
in it, and it is the language of newspapers
and magazines and most books. It is also
widely used in the media.
The language spoken in German-speaking Switzerland is quite different
from standard German - called High German
- as spoken in Germany. The German Swiss
speak Swiss German - which itself is broken
up into numerous local dialects. These are
different enough to make it possible to
determine where a speaker comes from, but
generally not so different as to be incomprehensible
to other Swiss German speakers.
Sources:
-"Switzerland is yours" website: http://switzerland.isyours.com/e/guide/contexts/german.html
"Schweiz in Sicht" website:
http://www.schweiz-insicht.ch/eng/index.html?siteSect=601&sid=4039995&rubricId=14010
-Goethe Institute website:
http://www.goethe.de/dll/mat/gra/lks/enindex.htm
-German language website:
http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa031901b.htm
Section Eight - Character Set
[ ] = Alt key codes