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71-488: Basel German is characterised by aspirates /kʰ, tʰ, pʰ/ which are absent or at least less common in other dialects. Compare Basel German Khind (usually spelled Kind ), pronounced more or less as Standard German Kind , with Chind with initial /x-/ , used in all other Swiss German dialects, with the exception of the dialect of Chur. Thus, Basel German did not complete the second Germanic sound shift ( High German consonant shift ). Nowadays, many speakers pronounce

142-800: A circle with their lanterns and chanting a particular musical composition. Popular compositions are the Wettsteinmarsch , the Tagwacht , the Retraite , the Basler Marsch and "le Lancier". During this chanting, the lanterns are gradually extinguished. On the Saturday after Fasnacht, there are many masked balls, which are together known as the Kehrausball (or Kehruss in the local dialect). Many Cliques have their own masked balls in their clique-cellars. On any one of

213-500: A confetti-throwing Waggis, especially if not wearing a Carnival badge ( see below ) known as a Blaggedde (which sounds similar to plaquette to French and English listeners). It is an unwritten law that masked and/or costumed participants are not subject to confetti attacks. By the evening, the routes of the Cortège are ankle-deep in confetti. Even so, Basel's sanitation department succeeds in clearing away this mess within two hours during

284-479: A different manner than simple consonants, indicating that West Germanic gemination predated it; the gemination is usually dated to the 5th century CE. Additionally, Latin loanwords adopted into the language prior to the 6th century display the shift, whereas those adopted from the 8th century onward do not. The relative chronology of the different changes remains poorly understood. It is usually argued to have begun with /t/, then moved to /p/, then to /k/. Although

355-524: A doublet of German Pferch , both from Latin parricus ), Modern Standard German has retained unshifted /p t k/ only after a fricative (e.g. Stein , English stone ) or in the combination /tr/ (e.g. treu , English true ). Another change, the shift of /þ/ ( /θ/ ) to /d/, is sometimes seen as related to the High German consonant shift. However, it also comes to encompass the other continental West Germanic languages. The relation of this change to

426-532: A rather strong dichotomy between the traditional form—Baseldytsch, used especially for the Carnival of Basel (Basler Fasnacht)—and normal spoken language. Some speakers prefer to use the more traditional variety in written form. The traditional variety is normally associated with the upper classes and with Fasnacht. Like other Swiss German dialects, Basel German has (at least in Basel) more prestige than Standard German, and it

497-523: A tapped [r] which is more common in other Swiss German dialects. Traditionally, /r/ is voiceless [χ] , and it may sometimes be described as a lenis /x/ . The pronunciation per se seems to derive from French (originally Parisian), and was probably re-interpreted as a lenis /x/ according to Basel German phonology. Not surprisingly, French influence was for a long time dominant in Basel, with well-to-do families speaking French even at home. At least in clusters,

568-592: Is always schwimme , whereas it is pronounced with only a short /m/ in other dialects. This is probably because in stressed words, short vowels only appear before double or geminated/long consonants. Hence, a word like /ˈʃvʏmə/ is not possible in Basel German. As in other dialects, the difference between fortis and lenis is in length. Pilch (180) however interprets /tt/ as alveolar, not long. Fortis consonants may also be transcribed /bb dd ɡɡ/ , since lenis /p t k/ are often transcribed as /b d ɡ/ . However, voicing

639-747: Is always absent. Examples: schwimme ('to swim'), phagge ('to pack'), drugge ('to squeeze'), roott ('to guess' — note the long /oː/ followed by fortis /tt/ ) Unrounding was also typical, but now it has been abandoned by many speakers. Lengthening of vowels is also found, linking it more closely to Standard German than all other Swiss German dialects. Examples: griezi ('good day'; grüezi in other dialects, still more common), Hell ('hell', now rounded form more common), greescht ('biggest, greatest'; now grööscht more common). Lengthening always occurs before lenis (short) consonants, for example in words like Daag ('day'), loose ('listen'), miir ('we'). Shortening, on

710-404: Is available in all possible colours, but never mixed. This was decided by the regional confetti manufacturers to prevent the once-common practice of reselling "used" confetti. Throwing mixed confetti is seen as very bad form, since one would have picked it up from the street, which is obviously an unhygienic practice. For spectators, there is the ever-present danger of being attacked from behind by

781-527: Is based mostly on East Central German dialects and thus features many but not all of the shifted forms. In particular, of the Medienverschiebung consonants, only the shift of /d/ to /t/ is found in almost all instances in the modern standard. The shift results in characteristic differences between modern standard German and other Germanic languages, such as: Excluding loanwords from Low German and foreign borrowings (e.g. Park from French parc ,

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852-515: Is known as the Rhenish fan , a gradual reduction of which consonants are shifted, as one moves north. In most accounts, the High German consonant shift consists of two related changes: All High German dialects have experienced at least part of the shift of voiceless stops to fricatives/affricates. The shift of voiceless stops to fricatives/affricates has traditionally been used to distinguish different German dialects: Upper German dialects experienced

923-478: Is not always predictable: /roːttə/ 'to guess' has both a long vowel and a long/geminated consonant. Examples: Dag /tɑːk/ ('day'), umme /ʊmə/ ('around'), ane /ɑːnə/ ('there'), loose or lohse /loːsə/ ('listen'), Gaas /kɑːs/ ('gas'). Phonemically speaking, /p t k/ may also be (more traditionally) transcribed /b d ɡ/ , or as unvoiced /b d ɡ/ . Fortis or long consonants in general are more stable than in other dialects—'to swim'

994-472: Is not general. Note however that /a:/ exists mainly in words of foreign origin such as /sa'la:tt/ . Middle High German /aː/ was velarised and appears as /oː/ . For example, Strooss /ʃtroːss/ 'street'. Typically (but not exclusively) open vowels occur before /r/ ; for example, Oor ('ear') has the allophone [ɔː] , not [oː] . Both [ɔː] and [ɛː] only occur before /r/ in native words. Additionally, vowels before /r/ are always long, with

1065-730: Is now even used in churches. There is a lot of confusion especially when it comes to the use of the grapheme ⟨y⟩ , which is often used for rounded sounds, i.e. /ʏ/ or /y/ , whereas it is exclusively used for /i/ traditionally. Typically, lenis stops are spelled ⟨b⟩ , ⟨d⟩ , ⟨g⟩ , fortis stops are spelled ⟨p⟩ , ⟨pp⟩ , sometimes ⟨bb⟩ ( öpper , öbber , ebber 'someone'); ⟨t⟩ , ⟨tt⟩ , sometimes ⟨dd⟩ ( Middi 'middle'); ⟨gg⟩ , rarely and mainly in loan-words ⟨k⟩ , ⟨ck⟩ , etc. This use of ⟨gg⟩ for

1136-578: Is partly /aj/ , partly /ej/ . In modern pronunciation /aj/ , /aːj/ , /aw/ , /aːw/ are [æj] , [æːj] [æw] , [æːw] , whereas traditional pronunciation has [aj] , [aw] etc. Suter (1992: 11) posits only one diphthong /au/ , pronounced [æːw] . In exclamations and few other words, [uj ɔw] also exist. Examples: eläi ('alone'), draaie ('to turn'), drei ('three'), baue ('to build'), blaau ('blue'), vier ('four'), zue ('shut'), nöi ('new'); nei ('traditional'). Unlike other Alemannic dialects, Basel German features

1207-529: Is that after the Reformation in 1520, Basel continued celebrating its Fasnacht, while the other regions officially stopped. It is said, that in order to differ from the Catholic customs, Fasnacht was scheduled one week later starting in 1529. There are no documents from this era supporting this theory, and the resolutions from 1529 were not quoted until 200 years later. Historians note that the Catholic carnival date

1278-726: Is the Standard German form. Baslerdüütsch may be used in other dialects. High German consonant shift In historical linguistics , the High German consonant shift or second Germanic consonant shift is a phonological development ( sound change ) that took place in the southern parts of the West Germanic dialect continuum . The shift is used to distinguish High German from other continental West Germanic languages, namely Low Franconian (including standard Dutch ) and Low German , which experienced no shift. The shift resulted in

1349-414: Is the word Graft (Standard German Kraft ), which traditionally has a lenis sound, now also /kʰ/ and /x/ . Lenis plosives are however all voiceless; whereas fortis plosives are long or geminated. They are (like other lenis or short consonants) always preceded by long vowels, with the possible exception of unstressed vowels. According to Pilch, vowel length is not distinctive; however, vowel length

1420-659: Is true for /ʃʃ/ . Obviously, especially the typical use of ⟨y⟩ and ⟨gg⟩ leads to confusion, even among native speakers, since the dialect is not taught in schools. Aspirates are normally spelled as in Standard German, namely with ⟨p⟩ , ⟨t⟩ , ⟨k⟩ . However, words where the aspirates derive from a lenis consonant plus /h/ are usually written as lenis plus ⟨h⟩ , e.g., bhalte 'to keep', gheie 'to fall'. Baseldytsch reflects traditional pronunciation with /i/ , Baseldütsch reflects modern pronunciation with /y/ , whereas Baseldeutsch

1491-803: The /x-/ (or [χ], to be more exact), however. There are nevertheless still words that are never pronounced with /x-/ , for example kenne (Standard German kennen , 'to know') or Keenig / König (Standard German König ). Typically, words from Standard German or Latin are pronounced with aspirated /kʰ, pʰ, tʰ/ , too, which is not or only to a lesser extent done in other dialects. Examples: phee or pee (name of letter), bhalte or phalte ('to keep'), Phaargg or Pargg ('park'); Thee or Tee ('tea' and name of letter), tholl or toll ('great, swell'); ka(a) / khaa , gghaa (name of letter; 'had'), Kaschte / Khaschte ('cupboard'), gheie or kheje ('to fall, throw'). Like other dialects and forms of

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1562-623: The Alsatian farmers who, in the distant past, regularly rolled up to Basel markets to sell produce. Some trucks are on display on the Kasernenareal from Monday night to Wednesday morning. Similar to the Waage are the smaller carriages ( Chaise / Schäse ) with only 2–4 people giving away treats. Most of the people in the carriages, generally less rude than the Waggis, are dressed as old ladies and referred to as

1633-619: The Alti Tante (meaning "old aunt"), giving them a near-royal feeling. Many non-Clique individuals and small groups known as Schyssdräggziigli also wander through the streets. Like the Cliques, they play music with piccolos and drums. The Morgestraich (in Basel dialect, Morgenstreich in High German) on Monday morning marks the beginning of the Carnival in Basel. At exactly 4 am, all the lights in

1704-489: The Basel German dialect, confetti are called Räppli. According to some local historians, the throwing of confetti is a typical tradition from Basel that later spread to the rest of the world. While there is no proof for this theory, the amount of confetti used during Basler Fasnacht is huge in comparison to other carnivals. Originally, sweets in the form of small sugar balls known as confetti (an Italian name, similar to

1775-625: The Guggemusik groups, who take turns to play on purpose-built stages to large crowds. The main Guggekonzert at Marktplatz draws thousands of spectators and is broadcast live by Telebasel, the local TV channel. The traditional Cliques, which march while playing piccolos and Basler snare drums, retreat to the side streets. The Guggemusik groups march through the city centre, then stop to play four to five songs and then move on. Some Guggemusik groups are also invited to play in cafés and restaurants to serenade

1846-624: The South Low Franconian dialect area, with the Uerdingen line as its northern border. The shift of /p/ to /f/ after consonants (e.g. helpan > helfen 'help') sets off Moselle Franconian dialects from Ripuarian dialects with the latter having retained unshifted /p/. The shift of /t/ to /s/ in wat , dat > was , das etc. characterizes Rhine Franconian. The shift of root-initial and historically geminated /p/ to /pf/ ( Pund > Pfund 'pound', Appel > Apfel 'apple') marks

1917-459: The affrication or spirantization of the West Germanic voiceless stop consonants /t/, /p/, and /k/, depending on position in a word. A related change, the devoicing of the voiced stopped consonants /d/, /b/ and /g/, was less widespread, with only the devoicing of /d/ being found in most dialects. There is no consensus on when the High German consonant shift occurred; it probably began between

1988-491: The "Morgestraich", with their instruments. No Guggenmusik is played during Morgestraich. From 4 am on Monday, many restaurants and bars in the old town open their doors and remain open for the following 72 hours. There, it is possible to sample traditional Basler carnival specialties, such as flour soup, Zwiebelkuchen and Käsewähe (a quiche -like baked dish). On Tuesday evening, the areas around Marktplatz, Barfüsserplatz and Claraplatz are devoted to Guggekonzerts by

2059-470: The 19th century, the Basler Fasnacht event has provided satirical commentary on current local and global events. The approximately 18,000 active Fasnächtler dress up in a wide variety of costumes , including a mask known as a Larve . Participants are fully concealed and must remain incognito while parading; it is considered inappropriate and a breach of protocol to identify oneself by removing

2130-683: The 3rd and 5th centuries and was complete before the first written examples in Old High German , the earliest recorded stage of High German, were produced in the 8th century. There is also no consensus on where or how the shift proceeded. The degree of shift varies within High German. Dialects that experienced the most shift are referred to as Upper German , whereas those that only experienced some are referred to as Central German . Different dialects within Upper and Central German also received different levels of shift, with West Central German exhibiting what

2201-519: The Basel carnival has its roots in Celtic and Germanic customs, specifically in practices related to ancestor veneration, the expulsion of winter, and fertility rituals. The specific history of the Basler Fasnacht remains unknown as all the documents related to the carnival were destroyed in the catastrophic earthquake of 1356. The earliest surviving document relating to the Basel Carnival traces back to

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2272-587: The Carnival of Basel has been included in UNESCO 's intangible cultural heritage . The Basler Fasnacht starts on the Monday after Ash Wednesday at precisely 4:00 am with the so-called Morgestraich ( see below ). The carnival lasts for exactly 72 hours and, therefore, ends on Thursday morning at 4:00 am. During this time the Fasnächtler (the participants) dominate the old town of central Basel, running free in

2343-577: The Cortège on Monday, and are showcased on Tuesday night when they perform in Guggekoncerts in various locations. The Schnitzelbank singer is a bard that sings satirical verses about current events in Basel or from around the world. The verses are sung in Swiss German and the singer will show Helge (illustrations) to the current verse. Similar verses are also distributed by the various Cliques in flyers known as Zeedel . The singers appear regularly in

2414-535: The Cortège, the Cliques do not follow fixed routes, and it is thus very common for different Cliques to cross paths. In that case, one Clique will stop and let the other Clique pass. Spectators, on the other hand, will be politely guided off the route by the Vortrab . Marching brass bands playing Guggenmusik are another formation present during Carnival. Although the Guggemusik groups do not participate on Morgestreich, they march and play throughout Fasnacht, starting with

2485-525: The English confectionery ) were given away or thrown at the crowd during the parade. After this practice was prohibited in the 19th century, small shards of paper were used as a replacement. Until it was banned in the second half of the 20th century, it was also common to use straw instead of confetti, although wheat chaff is still sometimes thrown in some of the outlying towns and regions. Only single-coloured Räppli ( confetti) can be purchased in Basel. Räppli

2556-840: The Fasnacht groups. It is requested, though not required, that visitors purchase a badge, so that the groups can continue to finance themselves. The saying goes: "He who doesn't have a badge harms the Fasnacht." In 2004, over 480 units were registered with the Fasnachts-Comité: 141 Cliques, organisations and groups, 141 floats and coaches, 61 Gugge music groups, 86 pipe and drums groups, and 55 individual masks and small groups. In total, there were more than 12,000 Fasnächtler who took part in organised groups. In addition, there were approximately 6,000 "wild" Fasnächtler ( Schyssdräggzygli ). A total of 185 parade lanterns were carried or pushed on mobile frames. Similar to many other carnival traditions,

2627-530: The Fasnacht topic, such as Fasnachts-Musicals or concerts with traditional Fasnacht instruments and crossovers with "classic" instruments. Most of these events also feature Schnitzelbanks or other satiric elements. Some of the so-called Vorfasnachtsveranstaltungen are: The lantern piping ( Ladärne yynepfyffe ) takes place on the Sunday evening before Fasnacht. The lanterns, most of them still wrapped up from delivery from their respective workshops, are brought to where

2698-487: The Middle High German period, Bavarian only consistently writes /p/ for single /b/ in word-initial position - the state preserved in modern southern Bavarian dialects. There is no agreement about the time period in which the High German consonantal shift took place. Its completion is usually dated to just before the earliest attestations of Old High German (8th century CE). The change affects geminate consonants in

2769-578: The Münsterplatz (the square in front of the Basel Münster ) and are lit in the evenings. The lantern exhibition is referred to as the largest open-air art exhibition of the world. There are a number of events that occur before and after Fasnacht. This is not a complete list, rather an overview of the larger or more significant events. Before Fasnacht starts, various events ( Vorfasnachtsveranstaltungen ) take place. Some of them are used for experiments with

2840-490: The boundaries of the dialects have shifted since the Old High German period, the degree to which dialects underwent the High German consonant shift continues to form the basis for differentiating the different modern German dialects , and, in particular, for the division between Central German dialects, which have fewer shifted consonants, and Upper German dialects, which have more. The gradually increasing application of

2911-400: The distinction between /x/ and /r/ is neutralised, as is the distinction between lenis and fortis consonants in clusters. Basel German also has more lenis sounds in word-initial position—for example, Dag ('day'). This lenition is now often absent due to influence from other dialects, for example, the name of Santa Claus, Santiglaus , is now often pronounced with /kʰ/ or /x/ , as

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2982-519: The exception of loan words such as [ˈsɔri] 'sorry', [ˈkʰœri] 'curry' as well as unstressed vowels. Examples: Oor [ɔːr] 'ear', Eer [ɛːr] 'honour'. The vowels /a/ and /aː/ traditionally are front, yet distinct from /æ/ and /æː/ . Nowadays, a back pronunciation /ɑ/ and /ɑː/ is more common. Examples: Sagg ('bag'), Baasel ('Basel'). Modern pronunciation has /aj/ , /aːj/ , /ej/ [ɛj], /aw/ , /aːw/ , /iə/ , /uə/ and /œj/ ; traditional pronunciation lacks /œj/ which

3053-509: The fact that those are the only vowels that exist as such only as long vowels, i.e. whereas [i:] can be shortened to [i] , it is never possible to shorten [e:] to [e] because * [e] as such does not exist in Basel German. Some speakers, however, use short open vowels in a number of words, e.g. /hɔkkə/ instead of /ho:kkə/ ('hook'). Those speakers who use this pronunciation lack one minimal pair, since /hɔkkə/ also translates as 'crouch'. However, this shortening of /o:/ /ø:/ /a:/ /æ:/

3124-479: The figure of the Alti Dante (old dame), an upper-class elderly woman. The parades taking place on Monday and Wednesday afternoon are called Cortège and follow two defined ring routes: the inner ring runs clockwise, and the outer ring runs counterclockwise. The two routes are sometimes referred to as the blue and the red route because of their colour representation on the route map. The Fasnächtler who participate in

3195-456: The fortis, unaspirated consonant is used also in other varieties of Swiss German, but sometimes abandoned in favour of spellings more closely resembling Standard German spellings. Examples: drugge ('to push'), Läggerli (typical sweet cookie; but also Läckerli ), Sagg ('bag'; but sometimes also Sack ), Gugge ('bag', traditional word). The fortis /xx/ is always spelled like lenis /x/ , namely ⟨ch⟩ . The same

3266-487: The greatest degree of shift, whereas Central German dialects only experienced a partial shift (other West Germanic languages experienced no shift). Only southern dialects experience the shift of voiced to voiceless stops, with the shift of /d/ to /t/ found in Upper German and in some Central German dialects, while the shift of /b/ to /p/ and /g/ to /k/ is only found consistently in (Old) Bavarian. Modern standard German

3337-489: The guests. The Children and Family Fasnacht is on Tuesday. On this day, there are many parades through the city, but, this time, it is not the Cliques that take part, rather families with their children. If the people come from different Cliques, it is common to see groups with mixed costumes and masks. It is not expected that the children, especially the youngest, will wear the heavy traditional masks. All lanterns are on display from Monday evening until Wednesday morning on

3408-464: The head-mounted Kopflaterne (head lanterns) that every participant wears. Some Cliques have uniform Kopflaternen but traditionally during the Morgestraich, Clique members do not wear uniform costumes. This varied dressing is called "Charivari". On the command "Morgestraich, vorwärts marsch!" ("Morgestraich, forward march!") from the drum majors, all Cliques begin to march and play the same march,

3479-606: The higher echelons of society. The second, one week later at the old time, was known as the Bauernfasnacht (farmers' carnival). Afterwards, only this second carnival was celebrated in Basel. Today, the Carnival of Basel is said to be "the only Protestant carnival in the world". In 2017 the UNESCO added the Carnival of Basel to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. In 2002, the Industrielle Werke Basel ( IWB ) turned

3550-467: The inner city, particularly along the major street in the city, Freie Strasse . Since 1901, the organisation of Fasnacht has been arranged by the Fasnachts-Comité , which acts as the official contact for all questions and concerns about Fasnacht. The Comité also distributes Fasnacht badges ( Blaggedde ). These are sold in four versions and cost between 9 and 100 Swiss francs , and the proceeds go to

3621-472: The mask, other than during official breaks from the parade. Members of the various Cliques wear costumes that fit a specific theme, except during Morgestreich and on Fasnacht Tuesday. Costumes and masks commonly represent famous people including politicians, or even comic characters or animals. More traditional masks recall Napoleonic soldiers, harlequins ( Harlekin ), the famous Waggis (buffoons portraying an exaggerated caricature of Alsatian peasants), and

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3692-589: The night, so, by the following morning, there is little evidence of the previous day's events. At the Basel Carnival there are five major groups of participants. One of the oldest formations are the Cliques, who march through the old town playing the piccolo and basler drum . A Clique usually consists of a Vortrab (vanguard), the Pfeifer (pipers), the Tambourmajor (drum major) and the Tambouren (drummers). Except on

3763-466: The old town of Basel are turned off, and the Industrielle Werke Basel (the Industrial Works of Basel are the public utility organisation of the city) shuts down the streetlights. The only light remaining comes from the lanterns of the Cliques. There are two major types of lanterns, the large Zugslaterne (parade lanterns) that are wheel-mounted or carried by 2 to 4 people in front of the Cliques; and

3834-541: The other hand, always occurs before long or fortis consonants, for example in Baseldytsch , the name of the dialect: whereas other dialects have long /yː/ in Baseldütsch or any other word with -dütsch ('German') in it, Basel German always has short /i/ or /y/ . /a:/ and /o:/ (as well as /ø:/ ), however, are usually not shortened, probably because of the shift from earlier /a:/ to /o:/ . Another reason may be

3905-427: The parade begins in the city centre. Their arrival is accompanied by the pipers (still without costumes or masks), while the drummers leave their drums at home. The lantern farewell ( Ladärne Verabschiide ) is performed by the Cliques on the final evening of the Fasnacht, normally starting at 4:00 am on Thursday but sometimes earlier. Each Clique has a specific ritual for the farewell, most of which involve forming

3976-464: The parade generally toss confetti into the crowds, and hand out candy and other treats to the spectators. Most of the groups choose a Sujet ( French : theme ) for the Fasnacht. These Sujets are usually related to recent events and are highly satirical. These Sujets can be seen on lanterns during Morgenstreich and in the costumes worn by Clique members during the Cortège. Most Cliques also distribute Zeedel (flyers containing ironic verse). In

4047-435: The restaurants and bars on Monday and Wednesday night and in the clique-cellars (local Clique meeting halls) on Tuesday. During the Cortège, there are many trucks or tractors with decorated trailers. In these large trailers ( Waage ) are usually Waggis throwing oranges, sweets, flowers or other treats to (or at) the crowd. The Waggis also shower bystanders with copious amounts of confetti. The Waggis are an affectionate spoof on

4118-404: The second consonant shift, as well as that of another change, that of initial /x/ to /h/, is disputed. Braune and Reiffenstein discount a connection entirely. The result of the shift of the voiceless stops /p t k/ depends on their position in the word. The degree to which the stops are shifted also shows considerable variation between Upper German and Central German dialects. In particular,

4189-464: The shift from north to south is most extensive in the west. Here, the isoglosses defined by the occurrence of individual shifts are spread out in a fan-like manner, forming the Rheinischer Fächer (' Rhenish fan '). The northern border for the occurrence of the shift of /t/ to /(t)s/ in all positions (except in absolute final position in pronouns like dat , wat and the neuter ending -t ) and

4260-510: The shift of /d/ to /t/; this is the change with the widest spread and the only one that was not partially reversed in the Old High German period. On the other hand, while early Bavarian and Alemannic both show a shift of /g b/ to /k p/, by the 9th century in Alemannic reverts to writing /g/ and /b/ except for the geminated stops (/kk/ and /pp/ rather than /gg/ and /bb/), and in the 10th century, Bavarian also begins to write /g/ and /b/ more often. By

4331-497: The shift of /p/ and /k/ in initial position is subject to dialectal variation. /p t k/ remained unshifted in all dialects when following the fricative consonants /s/, /f/, and /x/ (examples: OHG spinnan Engl. 'spin', OHG stein Engl. 'stone, OHG naht Engl. 'night'). /t/ likewise remained unshifted in the combination /tr/ (examples: OHG tretan Engl. 'tread', OHG bittar Engl. 'bitter' [from West Germanic *bitra ]). In

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4402-501: The shift of /p/ and /k/ to /f/ and /x/ in intervocalic and root-final position is the Benrath line that separates the High German dialects to the south from the Low Saxon and Low Franconian dialects to the north. Further north, the consonant shift is only found with the adverb auch 'also' and a handful of pronouns that have final /k/ shifted to /x/ ( ich 'I', dich 'thee', mich 'me') in

4473-435: The so-called Medienverschiebung , the voiced consonsants /d b g/ devoice to /t p k/. Like the shift to the voiceless stops, the shift to the voiced stops varies by dialect and to some degree by position in the word. In those Upper German dialects that shifted all three stops, there was likely no longer any distinction between voiced and voiceless consonants. The effects of the Medienverschiebung are most visible in

4544-603: The southern part of the Upper German dialect area. Carnival of Basel The Carnival of Basel ( German : Basler Fasnacht ) is the biggest carnival in Switzerland and it is the main Protestant carnival in the world. Basler Fasnacht takes place annually between February and March in Basel . It has been listed as one of the top fifty local festivities in Europe . Since 2017,

4615-451: The standard, Basel German has /pf, ts/ as well as /tʃ/ . Examples: Pfanne ('pan'), Zaan ('tooth'), dütsch ('German'), Tschooli ('stupid person', traditional word), Tschoope "jacket" (a traditional word), tschegge ('to understand', from English to check ). A French-style pronunciation of /r/ as [ʁ] is also used in Basel German, although many younger speakers—especially those with foreign parents—also use

4686-426: The streetlights off too early, at 3:59 am. Nonetheless, Fasnacht went on until Thursday at 4:00 am. Therefore, the 2002 Fasnacht lasted one minute longer than usual. During the night before Morgestraich 2006, about 50 cm of snow fell within only a couple of hours and blocked the inner city of Basel. It took great effort to free the city from the snow and enable the Fasnacht to take place. Never before has

4757-504: The streets and restaurants. Basler Fasnacht is often referred to as die drey scheenschte Dääg ("the three most beautiful days"). Unlike the Carnival celebrations held in other cities on the Rhine (such as those in Cologne , Mainz and Düsseldorf ), the Basel Carnival features a clear and well-maintained separation between participants and the spectators who line the streets. In addition, since

4828-555: The three Sundays directly following the Fasnacht (known as the Bummelsonntage , or "stroll Sundays"), all Cliques and Guggenmusik groups participate in the final act of the Fasnacht. During their chosen day (1st, 2nd, or 3rd Bummelsonntag , depending on the group), the groups go on a small trip somewhere outside of Basel, usually including a visit to a restaurant. Later in the evening, the groups return to Basel in normal street clothes (no costumes or masks) and parade one last time through

4899-571: The transition from the West Central German to the Upper German dialects. East Central German is separated from West Central German through having shifted initial p (the "Pund-Fund" line); only far southern East Central German dialects retain initial /pf-/, whereas other East Central German dialects have simplified it to initial /f-/. The shift of root-initial and historically geminated /k/ to /kx/ (and further to /x/, as in Kind > Chind ) occurs in

4970-523: The year 1376. During the Reformation period, some celebrations were restricted, and at times even banned. In response, the Basel carnival gradually transformed into a form of resistance against authoritative repression. Additionally, the parade themes shifted towards political topics, adopting a distinctively satirical nature. It remains unclear why Carnival starts one week later in Basel than elsewhere in Switzerland or Germany. The common explanation

5041-565: Was rescheduled six days earlier in 1091 in the Council of Benevent, because the Sundays were excluded from the 40-day fasting period before Easter , making Ash Wednesday the first day of Lent . From then until the 16th century, the two carnival dates existed. The first one, ending on Ash Wednesday, was known as the Herren- or Pfaffenfasnacht (lords' or priests' carnival) and was observed by those members of

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