We have a word for that

Switzerland celebrates its "Word(s) of the Year"

It’s nearing the end of the calendar year and with that come various retrospectives and “best of” lists. The Department of Applied Linguistics at the Zurich School of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) has announced with its usual fanfare the “Swiss German¹ Word of the Year” 2024. The winner is

Unterschriften-Beschiss

Now, before we get into what that means and why the term is worthy of the honor, let it be known that this award is the result of serious research. Since 2017, a dedicated team at the Department of Applied Linguistics has determined the Swiss word of the year in Swiss German and in French. Italian was added in 2018, and Romansh in 2019².

Not just one, but four

For each language, the process is the same. Using a multilingual text database maintained by the university, researchers determine 20 words that have been used more frequently in the current year than in the previous year. A jury of language professionals selects the three most striking words, based on their own experience and suggestions sent in by the public.

In the final stage, researchers use word histories to show how these words have developed in usage over the past year, and what social changes they represent. It's a little time capsule of what Swiss people have been talking about over the past year.

That brings us back to Unterschriften-Bschiss, which translates roughly to “signature swindle.” It’s a lovely invented Germanic compound, in fact: Unterschriften being a very legalistic and correct German word, and Bschiss being utterly Swiss.

To understand why this term captured public fancy in 2024, one must remember that Switzerland is a direct democracy. Four times a year we vote on various initiatives at the local, cantonal, and / or federal level. In order to be put to a vote, bills approved by local, cantonal, or federal legislatures as well as grass-roots popular initiatives are required to gather a certain amount of signatures. This still happens the old-fashioned way, door-to-door or with petition tables set up near the grocery store, but there are also companies that sell vetted lists of signatures to organizations seeking the needed 50,000 or 100,000. Over the summer, federal prosecutors confirmed that at least two such companies were under investigation for falsifying signatures.

Thinking globally

Although the falsified signature lists were found more often in francophone western Switzerland, the French word of the year had nothing to do with the scandal. Our countryfolk in the Romandie were more concerned with global events in 2024 and chose

cessez-le-feu

(ceasefire) as their word of the year. Referring to the conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, and elsewhere, the jury in Lausanne evoked Switzerland’s diplomatic tradition of “good offices.”

Italian-speaking Switzerland also took a broader societal view and chose

non binario

(non binary) as their word of the year. The Swiss singer Nemo’s win³ at the Eurovision 2024 Song Contest and the Olympic victory of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif opened a major discussion on the meaning of “non binary,” according to the Italian-language jury.

The Alpine valleys where Romansh⁴ is at home chose

segundimorant

or second-home owner as their word of the year. Segundimorants are the fortune and the scourge of the picturesque mountain areas in southeastern Switzerland. While the building of second homes has fed the construction industry in the region for years, it also results in shuttered houses whose owners don’t contribute to the maintenance of local life. In pricey areas of the Engadin, like St Moritz and Pontresina, the preponderance of fancy second homes has made it nearly impossible for year-round residents and working families to find affordable housing.

My pet theories of language and culture

I find it interesting that two of the words of the year are related to global topics and two are extremely local issues. Interesting, but not surprising. The French and Italian used in Switzerland are, for the most part, the languages used in France and Italy⁵. Of course there is the matter of accent, and there are local words or phrases used in Switzerland⁶ that you won’t find across the border. But mutually intelligible: oui, certo.

Swiss German is its own animal. Or animals: the Swiss Germans are also insanely proud of their very local dialects. And sub-dialects. Increased mobility within Switzerland plus the growing internationalization of Swiss cities like Zurich, Basel, Lucerne, or Zug have had some flattening effect, but one is still judged by one’s dialect here. German Switzerland is very obsessed with itself and tends to be suspicious of anything coming from abroad. Which might mean “der grosse Kanton” (Germany), or from Bern if you live in Frauenfeld, or from Zurich if you live in Trubschachen.

As for the roughly 40,000 speakers of Rhaetian dialects in those lovely valleys of Grisons, it’s logical that their topics of public discussion are also determined by their geographic and linguistic isolation. Those segundimorants are coming from German Switzerland and, increasingly, northern Italy. Who wouldn’t be concerned about preserving local identity?

1. Keep in mind that Swiss German is not the German language you may have studied in school. Nor is it a language that is spoken, or indeed understood, north of the border.

2. These are the four official national languages in Switzerland.

3. As a classically-trained musician, I tend to be a harsh judge of these shenanigans. But Nemo delivered a brilliant performance of an emotionally and musically demanding tune. A must-watch.

4. One can’t really say “where Romansh is spoken” because Romansh is the official Swiss idiom that encompasses several Rhaetian dialects. As the Roman Empire extended north 2,000 years ago, so did the Latin language. In the isolated mountain valleys of southeastern Switzerland (and northern Italy), the soldiers’ Latin took on local color and evolved into separate dialects. Over the past 100 years, Switzerland has spent a lot of money and time to preserve and encourage these languages, which is commendable.

5. In Ticino (the Italian-speaking canton), locals still speak a Lombardian dialect at home. But in public life, it is the Italian that outsiders understand.

6. Most famously, the Swiss French numbering, which has dismissed with the mathematics required above 60. Ninety-two is merely “nonante-deux” and not “quatre-vingt-douze.” I must admit that I have grown used to this simplification and my subsequent fumbling when in France has outed me as “une Suisse,” quel embarras !