Alemannic languages

Alemannic
Alemannisch
Pronunciation	[alɛˈman(ː)ɪʃ]
Native to	Switzerland: entire German-speaking part. Germany: most of Baden-Württemberg and Bavarian Swabia. Austria: Vorarlberg and some parts of Tyrol. Liechtenstein: entire country. France: most of Alsace. Italy: some parts of Aosta Valley and northern Piedmont Venezuela: Alemán Coloniero
Native speakers	7,162,000 (2004–2012)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic High German Upper German Alemannic
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3	Variously: `gct` – Colonia Tovar `gsw` – Swiss German and Alsatian `swg` – Swabian `wae` – Walser
Glottolog	`alem1243`
The traditional distribution area of Western Upper German (=Alemannic) dialect features in the nineteenth and twentieth century
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Alemannic (German: Alemannisch ) is a group of dialects of the Upper German branch of the Germanic language family. The name derives from the ancient Germanic alliance of tribes known as the Alemanni ("all men").

Alemannic dialects are spoken by approximately ten million people in eight countries:

Alemannic comprises a dialect continuum, from the Highest Alemannic spoken in the mountainous south to Swabian in the relatively flat north, with more of the characteristics of standard German the farther north one goes.

Some linguists and organisations that differentiate between languages and dialects primarily on the grounds of mutual intelligibility, such as SIL International and UNESCO, describe Alemannic as one of several independent languages. ISO 639-3 distinguishes four languages: gsw (Swiss German), swg (Swabian German), wae (Walser German) and gct (Alemán Coloniero, spoken since 1843 in Venezuela).