Nägeli

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

  • Näägeli, Negeli

Etymology

From Middle High German negelīn. By surface analysis, Nagel +‎ li. Compare German Nägelein (archaic), German Nägelchen, German Nelke.

Pronunciation

  • (Zürich) IPA(key): /ˈnæɡəli/, /ˈnæːɡəli/

Noun

Nägeli n (plural Nägeli)

  1. diminutive of Nagel
  2. carnation
    • 1978, Rolf Lyssy and Christa Maerker, Die Schweizermacher (transcript):
      Gänds mer ä par vo dene Nägeli da, ja.
      Give me a couple of these carnations here, okay.
  3. clove

Usage notes

According to Niklaus Bigler, former editor of Schweizerisches Idiotikon, most dialects distinguish between Näägeli (“clove, carnation”) and Negeli (“nail”, dim).[1]

Derived terms

  • gueti Nägeli
  • langi Nägeli

References

  1. ^ Bigler, Niklaus (24 September 2022) “Was ist ein Obergadeladenagel?”, in St. Galler Tagblatt‎[1] (in Alemannic German): “Das Schweizerdeutsche hat unter Nagel noch ein Drittes, das Näägeli (Nelke; mittelhochdeutsch negelīn); in der Aussprache hat es sich in den meisten Dialekten längst vom Negeli (kleiner Nagel) distanziert.”

Further reading

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