In response to Ruth Erickson’s claim that
”
Swiss
”
is not a language: try telling the Swiss people that! Swiss
German is not German.
Dear Editor:
In response to Ruth Erickson’s claim that “Swiss” is not a language: try telling the Swiss people that! Swiss German is not German. It is a language of its own. The Swiss are very proud of that fact and will tell you that it is, in fact, an older language than German. That is a discussion that has been going on for a very long time. No agreement reached there yet. It is also a written language. However, in school and business, German is used as the written language. And yes, there are parts of Switzerland where they also speak French, and Italian, and not to forget, Romanche. Do not go to Switzerland and think you will understand what’s being said just because you speak German. Big mistake.
Being courteous, they will of course answer your German with German – but in the Swiss German parts, they will be speaking Swiss.
Joy Law,
Hollister
