''Schweizerisches Idiotikon'' ("the Swiss idioticon", also known as ''Wörterbuch der schweizerdeutschen Sprache'' "Dictionary of the Swiss German language") is an ongoing, major project of

lexicography Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

of the

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

dialects. Publication began in 1881 and is projected to be complete by 2022. Its scope includes the language since the end of the classical

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...

period (13th century) and as such also represents the historical dictionary of the dialects of

German-speaking Switzerland The German-speaking part of Switzerland (german: Deutschschweiz, french: Suisse alémanique, it, Svizzera tedesca, rm, Svizra tudestga) comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switz ...

, and is one of the most detailed treatments of the

Early Modern High German Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Ear ...

language in general. As of 2010, it contains 150,000 words. The history of the project began in 1862 with the foundation of a ''Verein für das Schweizerdeutsche Wörterbuch'', led by

Friedrich Staub Friedrich Staub (30 March 1826, in Männedorf – 3 August 1896, in Fluntern) was a Swiss lexicographer, dialectologist and librarian. He studied theology and philosophy at the University of Zürich (1845–47) and philology at the Universit ...

(1826–1896). Originally envisaged as a dictionary in four volumes, the first fascicle was published in 1881. From 1896, the project was led by Albert Bachmann (1863–1934), under whose editorship, the scope and depth of the project was greatly expanded; Bachmann endeavored to put the ''Idiotikon'' on the level with the other "national dictionary" projects edited in Germanic Europe at the time, the ''

Deutsches Wörterbuch The ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' (; "The German Dictionary"), abbreviated ''DWB'', is the largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the German language in existence.Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal The ''Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal'' (''WNT''; ) is a dictionary of the Dutch language. It contains between 350,000 and 400,000 entries describing Dutch words from 1500 to 1976. The paper edition consists of 43 volumes (including three sup ...

'', ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...

'' and '' Svenska Akademiens ordbok''. In this sense, the ''Idiotikon'' is the "national dictionary" of Alemannic Switzerland. After Bachmann's death in 1934, the project was led by five editors-in-chief: Otto Gröger (1934–1951), Hans Wanner (1951–1974), Peter Dalcher (1974–1991), Peter Ott (1991–2005), Hans-Peter Schifferle (2005–2019), Hans Bickel (2019–2022) and Christoph Landolt (2022 to present). By 2012, 16 volumes had been published, covering the alphabet up to ''X''. Volume 17, projected as the final volume, appears continuously. All published portions have been publicly accessible online since 2010 at idiotikon.ch.

References

Jahresberichte des Vereins für das Schweizerdeutsche Wörterbuch (different titles)
1868 sqq. * H. Wanner: ''Das Schweizerdeutsche Wörterbuch. Schweizerisches Idiotikon. Wörterbuch der schweizerdeutschen Sprache.'' In: Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik. Beihefte N. F. 17 (1976), pp. 11–24. * W. Haas
''Das Wörterbuch der schweizerdeutschen Sprache. Versuch über eine nationale Institution.''
Frauenfeld 1981. * R. Trüb
''Das Schweizerdeutsche Wörterbuch und die schweizerdeutschen Wörterbücher. Lexikographie als Daueraufgabe.''
In: Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch. Bericht über das Jahr 1987, pp. 12–25. * H.-P. Schifferle: ''Wörterbuch der schweizerdeutschen Sprache.'' In: Wissenschaftliche Lexikographie im deutschsprachigen Raum, im Auftrag der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften hg. von Thomas Städtler, Heidelberg 2003, pp. 341–354. * Ch. Landolt
''Das Schweizerische Idiotikon – ein diachrones Wörterbuch der schweizerdeutschen Sprache.''
In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Germanistenverbandes 57/4 (2010): Historische Lexikographie des Deutschen, ed. by Holger Runow, p. 410–418. * Christoph Landolt, Tobias Roth
''Schweizerisches Idiotikon – Wörterbuch der schweizerdeutschen Sprache.''
In: Germanistische Dialektlexikographie zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts (= ZDL-Beihefte. Vol. 181). Ed. by Alexandra N. Lenz and Philipp Stöckle. Steiner, Stuttgart 2021, ISBN 978-3-515-12911-4, pp. 143–173.

External links

idiotikon.ch

Wörterbuch-Portal: Schweizerisches Idiotikon
{{Authority control Swiss German language German dictionaries Dialectology