change request number 2009-012 Wallisertitsch (was Reminder: ISO 639-3 changes are coming)

[CE Whitehead]

Hi.

 

Just a quick question regarding Change Request Number 2009-012

Is Walser German a related dialect, or would these be classified as separate languages?

For information on Walliser German (Wallisertitsch), see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walliser_German

"The Walliser dialects are difficult to understand for other Swiss German people (called Üsserschwyzer 'outer Swiss' by the Walliser). This is because in the isolated valleys of the high mountains, Walliser German has preserved many archaisms. The dialect of the Lötschental, for instance, preserved three distinct classes of weak verbs until the beginning of the 20th century. Walliser German also shows linguistic innovations, such as the plural Tannu - Tannä (fir - firs), also found in the other Highest Alemannic dialects. In addition, the pronunciation of words with 'ch' is extremely rough and sounds as though the throat is constantly being cleared."

But there's also a Walser dialect in Switzerland!

The two are closely related; see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walser_German"It is possible to point out whether specific Walser dialects have originated in the Eastern dialects of the Wallis canton or in the Western dialects. Conservative Walser dialects are more similar to the respective groups of Walliser German dialects than to other Walser dialects."
[wae] is the code at ethnoloque for the second variant--Walser German, as noted below, not quite what the requester is looking for, but maybe close enough?; and there are no subtags to date using [wae]; but the requester wants [wts].

At Ethnologue (see:  http://www.ethnologue.com/show_lang_family.asp?code=wae), as noted, it is Walser German that gets the code [wae] and I see no mention of Walliser German!Should we instead tackle both Walser and Walliser German together at this time?  And should the code [wae] be used?  Or two separate codes?  (It depends for me on how close these two languages are to each other.)Best,C. E. Whiteheadcewcathar at hotmail.com 		 	   		  
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