As a Swiss I'm quite puzzled why the author thinks it is another language. The audio sample disproves the claim in the article that even with full command of French and Swiss-German, you can't understand it. Sure, it can be hard to follow, but the same is true for other dialects in the country.
I think given the title, "the Swiss language that few know", they should have picked Romansh. The fourth official language of Switzerland that got completely overlooked by the article. A descendant language of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire. Haven't met many people around the world who have heard of it.
To be fair, the article mentions Romansh and links to another article only about our fourth language[0]
I agree the sample is not difficult to understand as a nativ Swiss-German speaker. Only thing that comes to mind is that it's a Bernese (?) Swiss-German dialect which is not always easy to understand for 'proper' German speakers.
But in my opinion almost every single dialect in Switzerland has it's own specific words and almost every canton has it's own dialect so I wouldn't call them a language.
That example raised my eyebrow as well while reading.
My guess is, that it's be most famous example city for the eastern parts, although for British people Klosters would be a known alternative as well, their cable car booth is name "Prince of Wales" and in the Prättigau they rarely speak Romansh
I think given the title, "the Swiss language that few know", they should have picked Romansh. The fourth official language of Switzerland that got completely overlooked by the article. A descendant language of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire. Haven't met many people around the world who have heard of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElfJX-4yET0