Highest Alemannic

Highest Alemannic German
Region	the Alps
Native speakers	about 500,000 (date missing)
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic High German Upper German Alemannic German Highest Alemannic German
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: gsw – Swiss German (partial) wae – Walser German
Glottolog	None
Areas where Highest Alemannic dialects are spoken are marked in red.
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Highest Alemannic (Hegschtalemannisch) is a branch of Alemannic German and is often considered to be part of the German language, even though mutual intelligibility with Standard German and other non-Alemannic German dialects is very limited.

Highest Alemannic dialects are spoken in alpine regions of Switzerland: In the Bernese Oberland, in the German-speaking parts of the Canton of Fribourg, in the Valais (see Walliser German) and in the Walser settlements (mostly in Switzerland, but also in Italy and in Austria; see Walser German). In the West, the South and the South-East, they are surrounded by Romance languages; in the North, by High Alemannic dialects. In the Swiss canton of Graubünden (Grisons) only the Walser exclaves in the Romansh part and the Prättigau, Schanfigg and Davos are Highest Alemannic; the Rhine Valley with Chur and Engadin are High Alemannic.

The distinctive feature of the Highest Alemannic dialects is the lack of hiatus diphthongization, for instance [ˈʃniː.ə(n)] 'to snow', [ˈb̥uː.ə(n)] 'to build' vs. High Alemannic [ˈʃnei̯jə], [ˈb̥ou̯wə].