Bersntolerisch (also called Mòcheno) is the language of German settlers in Trentino, rooted in medieval German. Nowadays, it is spoken by fewer than 1,000 people in Fersental, also known as Valle dei Mòcheni, in Trentino. Research on this language is mainly conducted by the Bersntoler Kulturinstitut (Istituto Culturale Mocheno). Information about this language profile was provided by Claudia Marchesoni and Christian Mair. If you want to find out more information on Bersntolerisch, you can check the website of the Bersntoler Kulturinstitut (Istituto culturale mocheno), that is available in German, Italian and Bersntolerisch.

Language family

Bersntolerisch is a Indo-European language. In the following website you can find its detailed phylogenetic tree.

Some examples of the language

‘lai a toal sòchen sai’ kemmen innkaft’

It is evident from this example that Bersntolerisch uses the verb ‘kommen’ (‘to come’) for the passive voice. This is untypical in Standard German, where ‘werden’ (‘to become’) is mainly used.

This is a video of the spoken Bersntolerisch language with German subtitles from the website of the Bersntoler Kulturinstitut.