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by Domagoj Belancic
Raspberry Pi OS offers languages "Swiss High German" and "Walser" as well as time zone "Busingen"
15/2/2024
Translation: machine translated
When you start the Raspberry Pi OS operating system for the first time, you can select "Swiss High German" in the language selection. But you can also choose "Walser". And for the time zone, you can select "Busingen" as well as "Zurich". That makes me wonder.
Swiss High German? WTF?!
Raspberry Pi OS differs from other Linux distributions such as Ubuntu not only in its old-fashioned appearance, but also in the initial setup. Raspberry Pi OS does not first ask you for the (system) language and then for the keyboard layout. It takes care of these two steps with a single query. A bit premature, but that's exactly where the dog is buried.
After the first start, these two options can be found separately in the settings. There you select the language environment and the time zone individually and without a strange name.
When I read "Swiss High German" for the first time, I naturally wondered what it was supposed to be. The first thing that came to mind was a quote from a long-dead politician:
There are foreigners who speak German without any accent; they are lucky. And then there are foreigners who speak an accent without any German at all; they are Swiss.
So could "Swiss High German" be a term for the language that we Swiss try to speak when we speak High German?
Language standardisation: "Bärndütsch" becomes a written language?
It could also be that this is a move to create a new language standardisation. Just as a German accent was once used for High German, a certain Swiss German could soon become a new official written language.
Because of the popularity of the word "Grüezi", "Züri-Dütsch" would probably be the most suitable. In terms of pronunciation alone, the dialects from Basel, St. Gallen or Thurgau would probably be suitable, as the letter R is not rolled there. But purely in terms of the cosiness factor, the somewhat slower pace that we Swiss are said to have, it would have to be Bernese German.
Swiss people living in the "Highlands"
The "Hoch" could also be used to distinguish the mountain people from those in the lowlands. This could make sense, especially with "Bärndütsch", where the Oberlanders speak a different Bernese German dialect. Or maybe not.
Hodern or stoned Swiss German?
Almost lastly, it occurs to me that High could be an abbreviation for Highness. Swiss German, a language of sovereignty or the language of the sovereign.
It's the keyboard layout that says "Swiss High German"
As briefly mentioned at the beginning, the Swiss High German in Raspberry Pi OS is a result of trying to cover two options with one query. As a reminder: "Italian", "Swiss French", "Swiss High German" and "Walser" are available for selection.
And what about Walser? I only know Walliser and Valser
But what if I choose Walser? Why are there four languages anyway?
It is possible that those responsible for this selection were aware that there are four official languages in Switzerland. However, they did not know exactly which was the fourth. So they looked at the cantons. And when they came across Valais, they said to themselves: "That must be it!"
A dangerous half-google later, the people responsible ended up on Wikipedia and read that the Alemannic ethnic group of the Walser (Rhaeto-Romanic Gualsers) colonised the Alpine region from the late High Middle Ages, starting in Upper Valais and moving towards Graubünden.
After this "realisation", however, those responsible made a mistake. They probably assumed that the Walser language already existed in the system and incorrectly linked it to the Welsh. Yes, you read that correctly, in the Walser selection you get the setting for Wales under Raspberry Pi OS. This means English language output and a keyboard layout in which Y and Z are reversed. So Walser has absolutely no place in this list.
Büsingen time zone
I still don't understand why I can select the time zone "Busingen" in addition to "Zurich". If there were also Bern, Basel or Geneva, it would be a bit strange, as they all belong to the same time zone anyway. But Busingen and Büsingen respectively?
Büsingen is geographically located in Switzerland, but belongs to Germany. It is an enclave. This makes the fact that it belongs to Switzerland even more peculiar.
Or else, it explains it. Because why should the Kalingrad enclave be listed but Büsingen be missing? Although even with this logic, it is not clear why the second enclave, Campione in the canton of Ticino, is not also included.
If you have a better explanation for Büsingen or the Swiss High German and Walser languages, I look forward to your comment.
Header image: Martin Jud
Martin Jud
Senior Editor
martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.chI find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.
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