Is there a clear linguistic reason for Swiss German not being considered its own Germanic language?

Question

This question has been inspired by the fact that I’ve recently heard the Swiss talk among each other and I started to dig deeper. Having done minors in Italian and American studies which each included different depths of linguistics, I found it fascinating how I couldn’t make out a single word while speaking German.

Then I learned Swiss German (Allemanic) and Standard German differ substantially — the former doesn't have all the cases like dative, accusative, nominative and genitive, but only two; it has different suffixes; word orders and of course a lot of loan words well integrated in its vocabulary and some mutually unrecognizable variations of common words among other specificities.

I read more, but I couldn’t find an answer as to why Swiss German is classified as a dialect as opposed to a whole different language. A Slovak will understand a Czech and vice-versa — they are still different languages. Same is true for Serbian and Croatian, but in turn, they are considered one language: Serbo-Croatian.*

Conversely, I found the following anecdotal evidence in comments about the topic to support that Swiss German is, in fact, it’s own language:

“I'm Swiss myself but I had a similar experience once. I was using a public bathroom and overheard a conversation between two women. I couldn't understand what they were saying and I didn't recognize the language at all. Until it suddenly dawned on me that they were speaking Swiss German. I'm from one end of the country and they were from the other. it took me several minutes to realize that they weren't speaking in a foreign language and I still didn't manage to understand half of what they were saying.“

Furthermore, the following even more extreme example:

“In the RS (military bootcamp) we had on[e] guy from [G]risons and one from [V]alais that couldn't understand eachother (sic!) at all. Some of us from cantons inbetween (sic!) had to translate for them [as they each were talking their own Swiss German dialects].”

A native speaker of Standard German will not understand a Swiss speaking Allemanic; and a Swiss German would not understand Standard German if Swiss Standard German would not be taught and used in formal education and in the limited written settings as it is. Television, ads, news papers, even politicians in the federal congress will speak Swiss German and will only use (Swiss) Standard German for keeping records and the laws, regulation and executive actions are probably set forth in the Swiss Standard German (the formalized standard as accepted in Switzerland which may slightly differ from Standard German in Germany).

I see the cultural and/or political motivation for the non-claiming of these two languages, but I don’t see a philosophical or linguistic reason for it; accordingly, is there such a reason or how could it be argued?

*Corrected

Answer 1

Is the premise of the question actually true? Alemannic German actually is considered its own language for many purposes. For example, it has its own ISO code, Wikipedia etc. As far as I know, there's no serious debate about the fact that it's extremely hard for an ordinary standard German speaker to understand the Alemannic German dialects of Switzerland.

The ambiguity about the classification revolves around a few points:

1. Alemannic is composed of many dialects and has no single standard.

2. Alemannic dialects and other German dialects are part of the same dialect continuum.

3. Standard German and Alemannic co-exist in diglossia - standard German is the dominant formal written language of bureaucracy and commerce in the areas where Alemannic is the dominant spoken language.

4. The Alemannic endonym for Alemannic dialects is Tüütsch or some cognate thereof.

These points muddy the waters but there are obvious counterpoints. For example, Dutch is also part of that same dialect continuum and Dutch is also a cognate of Deutsch. Paradoxically, standard German is an artificial Ausbausprache so it is not necessarily part of the continuum.

Answer 2

Unlike Luxembourg (and unlike the Dutch some centuries earlier) the speakers of Swiss German did not take the effort to create a Hochsprache for their languages/dialects, so Standard High German continues to act as a Dachsprache of Swiss German, and Swiss German contributes to Standard High German as well (both via literature and via journalism). The pluricentric nature of the German language is well acknowledged and taken into account by the relevant lexicographers of the German language.

Answer 3

My wife is Swiss, and I’ve learned to speak swiss german over the course of two decades. I believe the sole reason it is not considered its own language is because it has never been standardized. Though many swiss people write in swiss german, each person is writing the words phonetically based on their unique dialect. Consequently, though two people may have the same dialect, their spelling of the same words will vary. This is different to other regional dialects in other countries with a standardized language. Though they may have different dialects, they will spell the words the same way and will be taught in school with the same rules regarding language.

My wife is from a small village near Olten. Her father from a small village near Thun. And her mother is from Winterthur. They all have different dialects, have different accents, use different words for the same object and what words they do say the same way, they spell differently.

I wish Switzerland would standardize the language, so it can be preserved. It’s a beautiful, fun, melodic language. I fear that without standardixation, it will eventually suffer the same fate Romansch in Graubünden is now suffering, a slow extinction.

Answer 4

_{I’ve recently heard the Swiss talk among each other [...] I found it fascinating how I couldn’t make out a single word while speaking German.}

_{Swiss German (Allemanic) and Standard German differ substantially}

_{why Swiss German is classified as a dialect as opposed to a whole different language.}

_{Swiss German is, in fact, it’s own language:}

_{I couldn't understand what they were saying and I didn't recognize the language at all. Until it suddenly dawned on me that they were speaking Swiss German.}

_{on[e] guy from [G]risons and one from [V]alais that couldn't understand eachother (sic!) at all.}

_{A native speaker of Standard German will not understand a Swiss speaking Allemanic; and a Swiss German would not understand Standard German}

The main problem with your argument is as follows:

• the above holds true for countless local or regional dialects within Germany itself.

To state the matter as clearly and as plainly as humanly possible:

• within Germany itself, mutual intelligibility between its various local or regional dialects is not a given;
• if anything, it is the exception, rather than the rule.

Which is also why there was never any coordinated effort to create a literary form of either Swiss or Austrian German, different from Standard German itself, as JK points out in his answer.