Friday, August 29, 2008
Ebbe, alytte and oder
Through empiricial studies I hereby declare the above words to be the three most used words in Swiss German. In every conversation they are heard. Despite that I'm not sure I have completely grasped the meaning, but this is my interpretation:
Ebbe is used mostly to put emphasis on things, when you really want to say that you agree you go 'EBBE', usually loud.
Alytte is an ensurance that you will be in touch, like I'll call you or we'll be in touch. Soon. It's obviously just a saying since ze Swiss are very bad at keeping in touch.
Oder is used for confirmation. A sentence has to be ended with 'oder' like a question mark. I think so-and-so, 'oder'? Like they are not sure. Which is probably true.
When I went to that Swiss party last weekend I wrote a card for the guy who had got the Swiss passport to say he now has to learn to say "alytte" properly. He looked questioningly at me and said 'a-light'? How the heck did he end up with a Swiss passport?
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4 comments:
'ebbe...'
Hmm, I get the ebbe and oder (so true), I also managed to pick up oder and say it all the time when I attempt to speak German - a sign of my lack of self-assurance I'm sure. but cant place 'alytte'. must have a different way of think phonetically. hmmm, gonna make me nuts til I figure it out
Hehe, don't you have a Swiss nearby that you can ask?
'alytte'
ah, now I've got it, aluute ;)
ps my Swiss wasnt much help but this page was:
http://www.eldrid.ch/swgerman.htm
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