The distinctive feature of the Highest Alemannic dialects is the lack of hiatusdiphthongization, for instance [ˈʃniː.ə(n)] 'to snow', [ˈb̥uː.ə(n)] 'to build' vs. High Alemannic [ˈʃnei̯jə], [ˈb̥ou̯wə].[2]
Many High Alemannic dialects have different verbal plural endings for all three persons, for instance wir singe(n) 'we sing', ir singet 'you (plural) sing', si singent 'they sing'. Almost all other German dialects use the same ending for the first and third persons in the plural.[3]
There are High Alemannic dialects that have preserved the ending -n which has been dropped in most Upper German dialects.
The Highest Alemannic dialects are considered to be the most conservative dialects of German. The dialect of the Lötschental, for instance, preserved the three distinct classes of weak verbs (as in Old High German) until the beginning of the 20th century.
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