My bus is in the garage at the moment, being prepared to become Swiss. The mechanic has written an email where he talks about the 'Lichtmaschine', which I translate as alternator, but I think it can also mean dynamo. German language parts shops seem to call alternators, alternators, and dynamos, Lichtmaschine. I'm pretty sure I've got an alternator, but just to make sure I don't end up talking at cross purposes with the guy, in my best Swiss German, can someone tell whether there is an alternator in the image below? Or is it a dynamo? Swiss German isn't the same as high German, so it's possible that any type of generator is called a Lichtmaschine here. Thanks, or should I say, 'merci vielmal'
A Lichtmaschine is generally an alternator. If you had a dynamo, he would likely have said “Generator”, I recon. If you want to speak proper Swiss German, it’s best to develop a terrible throat infection to get the correct sound...
Languages can be grouped into families, English and Dutch are Germanic languages, for example. Swiss German however falls into the family of bronchitis. Thanks, I was confused by seeing both alternators and Lichtmaschine in the same list of parts. Also my German dictionary lists synonyms for Lichtmashine as alternator, generator or dynamo (Dynamomaschine) I'm happy Alex, the mechanic, and I are talking about the same thing now anyway.
