WALSERSPRACHE - The four main objectives of the Alpine Space ...
WALSERSPRACHE - The four main objectives of the Alpine Space ...
WALSERSPRACHE - The four main objectives of the Alpine Space ...
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die folgenden Aktionen geplant:<br />
• Digitalisierung und Vertrieb des Walser Sprachkurses.<br />
• Erstellen einer kommentierten Walserbibliographie zum <strong>The</strong>ma<br />
Toponomastik, mit eventuell einem Grundstock an gemeinsamen,<br />
„walserischen“ Flurnamen.<br />
• Erstellen einer Vergleichsliste eines „Basiswortstamms“ von 1000 bis<br />
2000 Wörtern aus der ländlich bäuerlichen Kultur für ausgewählt<br />
Walliserdialekte unter dem Arbeitstitel: „schaffu, spilu, sii“ (Arbeit,<br />
Spiel, Alltag und Freizeit). Dieses Projekt erscheint als erstes als<br />
Datenbank, kann aber zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt zu einer Art<br />
„Kulturlexikon“ (vgl. „Gebäude“) ausgebaut werden und so die eben<br />
versinkende traditionelle „Walserkultur“ für die Archive retten.<br />
Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, sie sehen, die IVfW und das<br />
Walliserdeutsche helfen Ihnen beim Lösen ihrer Probleme – nutzen sie es!<br />
In this report we learn to distinguish between “Walliserdeutsch”, that is to say <strong>the</strong> peculiar<br />
German dialect (or, better, dialects) spoken by Walsers in Switzerland (in <strong>the</strong> Higher Wallis<br />
region) and “Walserdeutsch”, that is <strong>the</strong> German dialects spoken by Walsers south <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Alps,<br />
in Italy (in <strong>the</strong> Aosta Valley and in Piedmont). <strong>The</strong> long subtitle summarises fairly well <strong>the</strong><br />
contents: a) Which role can Walliserdeutsch play in revitalising <strong>the</strong> language <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Walsers<br />
south <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Alps (“Walsersprache”)?, b) What can Walliserdeutsch contribute to in <strong>the</strong> various<br />
exchanges with <strong>the</strong> language <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Walsers south <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Alps? What role could <strong>the</strong><br />
International Walser Union play as a mediator? A lot is being said about <strong>the</strong> language <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Walsers: it is threatened and, in some instances (like in Vallorcine) it became extinguished.<br />
As a native-speaker <strong>of</strong> Walser from <strong>the</strong> Walsers’ homeland, I grasp this problem very well and<br />
understand that <strong>the</strong> time for action is now. First, however, I would like to clarify something<br />
about our peculiar situation in Wallis. <strong>The</strong> problem here at home is totally reversed, since here<br />
Walliserdeutsch is <strong>the</strong> everyday language, an everyday language that is at least as removed<br />
from standard German as much as Dutch would be. That is why we have to teach standard<br />
(written) German to our highlanders (as everywhere else in Switzerland) and force <strong>the</strong>m not<br />
to speak dialect just about on every occasion. Yet Walliserdeutsch in Wallis, a region where<br />
***<br />
161<br />
DAS „WALSERDEUTSCHE“ IM OBERWALLIS