How Swissness is expressed in language

Helvetisms are part of Swiss self-confidence.FROM ROMAN PROBST*In German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland or Ticino, Swiss language habits differ from those of our neighboring countries. Germans and Swiss Germans understand each other, but there are numerous linguistic differences that determine whether you win over your customers for your company or push them over the edge.A translation of marketing texts does not add any value for your customers if it merely replaces the words, phrases and sentences of the source language with those of the target language. In order to increase your sales with marketing texts in foreign markets, the translated texts must really appeal to the potential customers, i.e. they must take into account the local and cultural conditions.This is undoubtedly obvious. But what about within the same language? The German language, for example, is spoken and written in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, East Belgium, South Tyrol, Alsace and Lorraine, as well as by minorities in other Central European countries. For its part, French is spoken in Switzerland (over 20 %), France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, West and Central Africa, and other regions. It is obvious that this diversity of countries and regions does not form a homogeneous area, and the differences in the language - also in the written one - are accordingly considerable. It is no different with the use of the Italian language.Helvetisms are part of Swiss self-confidenceIn the German-speaking part of Switzerland, students at all levels were, until recently, taught to avoid all Helvetisms and to write only "High German" even in written communication within Switzerland. In the course of an increased Swiss self-confidence (keyword: Swissness) and a less norm-oriented linguistics, the peculiarities of the language written in the German-speaking part of Switzerland are now more strongly recognized. One speaks now of Swiss High German or of the Swiss standard language - in the short form: German (CH). The background to this development is far-reaching: although the globalization process has brought about standardization at the level of the financial and economic system, it has also provoked counter-reactions in cultural terms. In Switzerland, these are manifested in an increased use of Swiss dialects in the spoken word, and at the written level in the use of Swiss High German, French and Italian. The migration movements occurring in the context of globalization, in our case especially the immigration of well-educated German and French professionals to Switzerland, have intensified the problem - the language simply reacts very sensitively to social changes.What the Cervelat is to the Swiss, the local celebrity is to the Germans.What does this mean for marketing and the corresponding texts as well as their translation? Foreign-language texts must not simply be translated into German, French or Italian, but into the respective Swiss variant - a requirement that your language service provider must meet!The peculiarities of the Swiss German standard language, for example, range from orthography (such as the basic use of the comma as a decimal point, except for monetary amounts, punctuation, an increased use of the fugue-s, the double S instead of ß), to sentence structure (conspicuously shortened main clauses), to vocabulary, which in numerous cases differs from that in Germany, for example, Rahm for cream, Cervelatprominenz for local celebrity, Spital for hospital, Leckerli for gingerbread.In French, the vocabulary differs significantly in the area of political, economic, institutional, health organizations. It forms a whole new world: in Switzerland, after the bachelor's degree, a variety of formations postgrads are offered, while in France, there is talk of a master's degree or 3e cycle. And the maturité does not correspond to maturity, but to the French baccalauréat. Have you been treated in a division privée ou commune or en chambre double ou particulière in hospital? Do you have sufficient coverage with the caisse maladie or the sécurité sociale? Do you eat your lunch dans votre office or au bureau? Does your child go to the école enfantine or maternelle? And in Ticino, does your child go to asilo or scuola dell'infanzia? Without extra-textual knowledge about Switzerland (i.e. culture, organizational system, etc.), the translator can quickly get lost in this jungle.Even in the euro crisis, only quality pays offDue to the strength of the Swiss franc, Swiss or foreign companies are turning to German or French translation agencies for their German-language or French translations for Switzerland, which results in lower costs because of the current exchange rate. However, the consequences of this for your company can mean greater losses in sales - because if a German-speaking Swiss person reads "Geldbeutel" or "Portmonee" (the Duden recommends this spelling for Germany) in a marketing text, he may not feel addressed by this text, or he may even be annoyed by the "foreign" expression.Feelings play a decisive role in marketing, and they are conveyed through language. Swiss customers or applicants will feel offended (in the job ad) if the feminine form does not automatically appear, which is even considered a mistake in some cases in France (Cheffe in Fr-CH vs. Chef in Fr-FR). In the respective language variant, companies use phrases in a more relaxed way, expressing, for example, a closeness to customers. Although this goes beyond the actual topic of Swiss High German or French, it must be taken into account when translating or writing marketing texts if your company wants to be successful with them. Translating does not only mean "conveying" a text from the source language into the target language, but it also means adapting the text to the target group in the target language. A good language service provider in Switzerland takes this into account.