Language Diversity in Switzerland

By: Hariyama Yutaro

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a state situated in central

Europe. The confederation is home to their four national languages: German,

French, Italian and Romansh. These languages are crucial to reveal the

national nature of Switzerland. This essay therefore reveals the fact that

Switzerland has distinctive linguistic features from three perspectives: linguistic

population, language proficiency and communication on a national level.

It is discussed that the country’s linguistic features are well signified by the

population of each national language. As reported by Discover Switzerland

(2017), 63 percent of the Swiss population speak Swiss German as their mother

tongue, 22.7 percent for the French language, 8.1 percent for Italian as well as

0.5 percent for Romansh. Swiss German is mainly spoken in so-called German

Switzerland, which includes some of the largest cities in Switzerland, including

Zurich, Basel and Bern. What is called French Switzerland, which is represented

by large-scale cities like Geneva and Lausanne, is home to French speakers.

Italian is chiefly spoken in Italian Switzerland, one of the major cities of which is

Lugano. Even though there have been German superiority with regard to the

population, the equality among these three languages is assured. The Swiss

laws and packages of products in supermarkets are, as reported by Bovey

(2017), consequently written in these three tongues. As a result, these

descriptions demonstrate that linguistic situation in Switzerland is unlike any

other country.

It is also pointed out that the language diversity in Switzerland is represented

by the prominent language proficiency of Swiss inhabitants. Relatively well-

educated citizens in the confederation are capable of speaking two or more

of its national languages as well as English. An Illustlation Heilprin (2015)

revealed that pupils in French and Italian Switzerland learn German no later

than two years before the end of primary school, which means they start

getting to learn German earlier than English, while German Swiss students learn

English earlier than French or Italian. If you take my friend from a village in

German Switzerland as an example, it is evident that he speak Swiss German,

an independent variant of German, and High German, which is the German

language spoken in Germany basically. He also stated that he learned both

French and English in the course of his elementary school life, and Latin in

Gymnasium, which is equivalent to high school. It is consequently

demonstrated that the language proficiency of the Swiss is prominent by virtue

of their education.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that the linguistic characteristics in Switzerland

come to the surface in communication on a national level. It is especially

observable in the Swiss national football team in the World Cup. The languages

used in matches are, in fact, Swiss German or High German, French, Italian and

English. Football players are not inclined to get higher education, which results
in being unlikely to switch the languages. Therefore, the coaches utilize a

language which are suitable for each team member. There have nevertheless

been some drawbacks in relation to making use of multiple languages during

games. Firstly, the fact is that utilizing multiple languages during games can

cause misunderstanding in delivering tactics and communicating. To deal with

it, English can also be spoken, the downside of which is that the

communication in English is understandable by rival teams from another

country. Secondly, the division of team members within a team is the negative

side to the situation. Teammates with the same mother tongue are apt to get

together during their free time and meals, which can end up deterring

teammates to communicate each other more.

From the information provided in this paper, it is demonstrated that

Switzerland has its distinctive situations in relation to the language population,

proficiency and education of languages and communication on a national

level. To sum up, it is concluded that Switzerland has its distinctive features with

regard to the language diversity as a multilingual nation and the Swiss deal

with language barriers.