Cheipzegar Cheese

[Chris Waigl]

Douglas G. Wilson wrote:

>The "-zegar" looks like the "zieger" (also spelled "ziger") (meaning "whey
>[cheese]" or so) in "Schabzieger", the modern standard German name of a
>Swiss cheese (usually called "sapsago" or so in English, I think).
>
>"Cheip-" could in fact be "Schab-", I think, given that Swiss German
>orthography is not fully standardized even now (AFAIK): in particular the
>"chei-" might be a Frenchy spelling, and the "b" here should sound about
>like a "p" in German according to my primitive understanding.
>
>Alternatively it could be some other sort of "zieger".
>
>
I agree. (For some value of "standard German" -- this cheese seems to be
very much a regional specialty.) Wikipedia has an entry for "Ziger" with
pictures <http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziger>. The verb "schaben" means
scrape, more or less: Schabziger appears to be mostly used grated on
buttered bread or mixed with butter as a spread.

In my version of standard German (non-Swiss), I'd pronounce it
['Sa:b,zi:@] (the "b" might be better rendered as "p" as it's de-voiced,
though it's unlike the German aspirated p).

Chris Waigl