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Bernese German phonology describes the Phonology of Bernese German , the dialect spoken in the Swiss Plateau (Mittelland) portion of the canton of Bern. VOWELS Monophthongs The vowel occurs only in weak unstressed syllables. In northern Bernese German, /a/ is rounded to or even merged with . Vowel length There is a distinctive Length opposition in all vowels except . Unlike in standard German , there is no interdependence of vowel length and vowel quantity. Diphthongs Bernese German has seven Diphthong phonemes:
The number of phonetic diphthongs and Triphthong s is significantly higher, since all monophthongs (except for short ) and all opening diphthongs may be followed by a (from vocalized ), for instance → 'stable', → 'steel', → 'feeling'. Additionally, there are certain combinations with , for instance 'toil' or 'turns' (from 'to turn'). In southern Bernese German (not in the city of Bern), there are no closing diphthongs, but instead, for instance instead of 'cloth'. In northern Bernese German, a following triggers rounding of the preceding vowel, for instance instead of 'because'. CONSONANTS In the old upper-class dialect of the patricians, is used instead of . Consonant length Like in other Alemannic dialects, there is a Length opposition in all the obstruents (plosives, nasals and fricatives) except if the obstruents is surrounded by voiced sounds. If there is another adjacent voiceless sound (except ), then the opposition is neutralized. Likewise, there is no length opposition in the affricates since they consist of two adjacent voiceless sounds. In northern dialects, there are no long consonants at the beginning of a word, whereas in the other dialects, long plosives can occur—like in other Alemannic dialects—at the beginning of a word, for instance 'to bake' vs. 'baked (past participle)' (though in order for this opposition not to be neutralized, there must be a preceding voiced sound, for instance 'they wanted to bake this' vs. 'they wanted to have this baked'). Like in other Alemannic dialects, but unlike other Germanic languages, there is no interdependence of the length of a consonant with the length of the preceding vowel: Vocalization of /l/ Long is pronounced , for instance → 'ball'; at the end of a syllable , for instance → 'cold'. This feature is absent in the old upper-class dialect of the patricians. Velarization of /nt/ /nt/ is pronounced as , for instance → 'dog'. This feature is absent in the old upper-class dialect of the patricians. In the southwestern dialects of the Schwarzenburg area, it is pronounced . Reduction of In the western and southern dialects (not in the city of Bern), is pronounced , for instance → 'to think'. STRESS In native word, the word stem is stressed, except verbs with a separable prefix where that prefix is stressed. In loan words, there is—in comparison to standard German—a preference of initial stress, for instance Bernese German 'casino' vs. standard German . LITERATURE
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