Why is Dutch considered a distinct language while Swiss is considered a German dialect?
>>58393676
Because Dutch is a distinct language and Schweizerdeutsch is a German dialect (which is why it's called Schweizerdeutch)
Bruh
>>58393826
This
It is also worth noting that Dutch only split from German in the late medieval times.
>>58393676
Well as a matter of fact even Plattdeutsch is considered a separate language.
>>58393676
Because Dutch is older
>>58393676
You're misunderstanding german dialects potentially.
Modern German is an artificial language, but dialects like Swiss german or Bavarian German are not dialects of that langauge. Just as Cantonese is a "Chinese dialect", but not a dialect of Mandarin.
Dutch is in the same sense a "dialect of German", however because of political reasons and the fact that modern standard german was never the standardised language of the dutch speaking areas (besides places like Kleve and Dusseldorf), Dutch is seen as a completely separate language.
Actually the Low Frankish dialect (ie Dutch's own part of the West Germanic continuum/family) of the areas that are within German (mentioned as Kleve, Dusseldorf etc) are considered German dialects.
>>58393676
I as a German have no problem with understanding swiss whatsoever.
Dutch on the other hand sounds like a complete different thing.
I recognize many words here and there, more than in Danish for example, but stil, the content mostly remains a mystery to me.
>>58393676
Because the Dutch codified their dialect and the Swiss didn't. So the Swiss chose to teach standard German at their schools while the Dutch taught the standardized version of their dialect(s). It was a matter of political decisions really
>>58393676
cuz we da best
>>58393676
1. We were independent before Standard German existed and therefore never adopted it.
2. Standard German is a mix of German Low German and German High German. Not Dutch.
>>58393676
Swiss people consider their dialect a distinct language too. We can understand them without much effort though.
>>58397611
It depends where you are from. If you are familiar with the dialects in the north, you can fully understand them, the same with Danish.
