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High German which is spoken in Germany & Austria
Swiss German (Schwyzedütsch) which is spoken in Switzerland
The difference between these 2 languages are the pronounciation & the grammars. Normally, it's easier for Swiss people to understand High German rather than German/ Austrian people to understand Swiss German. German ppl hardly know exactly what Swiss people talk about, when they start speak fast, although it's similar. The reason is, Swiss people write High German at school for all their subjects. The books are written according to High German.

EXAMPLE PRONOUNCIATION
Are you mad at me?
High German - Bist du verrückt mit mir?
Swiss German - Bisch hässig mit mir?

GRAMMAR
There's no where writes in Swiss German. Only for casual writing e.g. SMS or email, we write in Swiss German. Normally we spell it however we want that sounds more less like the way we speak it. So there's no rule of spelling & no certain grammar applied.
In the other hand for official writing e.g. school books, newspaper, magazine, manual instruction, etc. all of them are written in High German.

CHARACTERS
About people personality between these two are more less the same, but the German ones seem to be more open-minded & friendly in general; from older to young generation.

But for some Swiss Germans in older generation, they are more conservative; they don't really like foreigners live in their country & try to keep distance somehow. They see them in negative ways, but the young generation are very international mind. Actually, it depends on place to place. I mean in Swiss tourism city, people are more friendly & open for foreigners in compare to people at urban area. So basicly it's like everywhere else in the world.
About money, Swiss people are unbelievable. I don't know how to describe it in words. They can be super generous in certain circumstances but normally stingy. For them business is business, no matter if it's family or friends. Funny, even in a monopoly game, they take it too seriously & calculate every single money precisely. The worst case for some households, they use a motto: yours is yours, mine is mine. It's not unusual if you see boyfriend & girlfriend or husband & wife pay for themselves in a restaurant. Ridiculous, huh?

One thing can be sure! both German-Germans & Swiss-Germans are freaky punctual. They strict to appointments, rules/ regulation.

2007-03-11 05:53:46 · answer #1 · answered by Swiss 3 · 0 0

Three reasons may be responsible for the distinct development of the Swiss Germans versus the traditional Germans and their attitudinal differences.

1. Over the 700 years or so of Swiss independence, Switzerland has largely developed as a neutral state and emphasised its independent economic development, rather than festering in petty politics as was the case throughout German history. As such, the Swiss Germans have developed largely independently of German politics.

2. Switzerland has a multicultural foundation, comprised as it is of people of German (60%), French (30%) and Italian (10%) extraction.

3. Switzerland is essentially an alpine nation which means a difficult and a basically different lifestyle from life on the German plains. As survival priorities change, so does human attitude.


You will see a similar phenomenon among the English, who are again a largely Germanic race of humans - Angles, Saxons and Jutes. But who are supposedly far more liberal and open minded than the Germans. That is also the case with the Swiss.

2007-03-11 05:22:12 · answer #2 · answered by Zac 2 · 1 1

The Germans are more open minded and friewndly, The Swiss put on a good act. Swiss German is a dialect and there is more than one . Depending in what part of the German speaking area you go to . In the Region I lived in from vilage to villae there was anohter Dialect. Zurich has a ooo sound to their german . Proper high german is understood in Switzerland . Well they say that at least.

2007-03-14 03:03:36 · answer #3 · answered by Douglas B 1 · 0 0

How do you reached this wise scientific conclusion? Did you ran test or did a poll?
One of the differences I can mention is the difference in language in spoken form Swiss speak something called Switzerdütsch: Germans speak any of the dialects of Hochdeutsch (Bavarian, Prussian , Saxonian etc.)
As to their way of thinking: I have worked in both countries and they seem both equally addicted to precision. Trains leave at 12.30 not 12.31. You are invited for dinner at 8.00pm, not 8.01.pm. Open minded I wouldn't know.

2007-03-11 05:09:18 · answer #4 · answered by Dr. House 6 · 0 0

No question, people who live in Germany are much more open minded than the Swiss. The Swiss are very standoffish and conservative ( I would even go so far as to say "old fashioned") I lived there three years and I went nuts!

2007-03-12 15:10:39 · answer #5 · answered by nachosmyman 3 · 1 0

Since they are two different nations, there are of course some vast differences. It is quite naive to think that simply because their languages are similar (and I use the term liberally) that differences would cease to exist between Germans and Swiss.

2007-03-11 22:39:54 · answer #6 · answered by Lyn 6 · 0 1

In my expirience, they both are similar.

However, once they get to know you better, the german Germans are very relaxed and friendly - and very hospitable.

The swiss are a bit more stand-offish, although i haven`t had time to get to know them better.

I do know that courtesy is a highly valued character trait in both peoples, so in that respect they are equal.

As to the language, germany`s german is slightly easier to understand for me.

2007-03-11 05:09:45 · answer #7 · answered by U_S_S_Enterprise 7 · 1 0

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