Jauer ( rm, jauer, ) is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

of Romansh that is spoken in the

Val Müstair Val Müstair (german: Münstertal) is a municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It was formed on 1 January 2009 through the merger of Tschierv, Fuldera, Lü, Valchava, Santa Maria Val Mü ...

. It is closely related to the neighboring dialect of the

Lower Engadine The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ''G ...

Vallader Vallader (Vallader, Sursilvan, Puter, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ''vallader'' ; Sutsilvan: ') is a variety of the Romansh language spoken in the Lower Engadine valley (''Engiadina Bassa'') of southeast Switzerland, between Martina an ...

as well as

Putèr Puter (also spelled Putèr; rm, puter ) is a variety of Romansh spoken in the Engadin valley in Graubünden, which is in the southeastern part of Switzerland. It is spoken in the central northwestern end of the valley between S-chanf and St. ...

spoken the

Upper Engadine The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ...

. The name of the dialect is derived from a nickname based on the personal pronoun ''jau'' [] 'I', and can be translated as 'the ''jau''-sayers', as this contrasts with Vallader ''eu'', pronounced [], [], [], [], or [] in the Lower Engadine. Other features distinguishing Jauer from Vallader include the placement of stress on the penultimate syllable of certain verbs, as well as the infinitive verb ending -er as opposed to Vallader -ar. In addition, stressed /a/ is diphthongized in Jauer. All three traits can be seen in the verb 'to sing', which is ''chantàr'' in Vallader but ''chàunter'' in Jauer.

Sociolinguistics

According to the Swiss census of 2000, 86.4% in the Val Müstair report to speak Romansh habitually, and 74.1% declare it as their language of best command. This amounts to around 1,400 speakers in absolute numbers in the year 2000. Jauer is usually not written; the written standard in Val Müstair is traditionally

. Jauer is occasionally written regardless, and in 2007, a collection of short stories written in Jauer (''Dschon Uein id atras istorias grischunas'') was published. In official use and as the language of school, Vallader has traditionally been used in the Val Müstair. In 2007, the valley was one of the first municipalities of the canton to introduce the pan-regional Romansh variety

Rumantsch Grischun Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ; Putèr: ; Sutsilvan: , , ; Jauer: ) is a Gallo-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Gris ...

as the language of schooling and official use. In 2012 however, a municipal assembly voted to return to the use of Vallader in schools. As with other Romansh speakers, virtually all speakers of Jauer with the exception of children below school-age are also proficient in both

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , gsw, Schwiizerdütsch, Schwyzerdütsch, Schwiizertüütsch, Schwizertitsch Mundart,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no defined orthography for any of them, many different spelling ...

and

Swiss Standard German Swiss Standard German (german: Schweizer Standarddeutsch), or Swiss High German (german: Schweizer Hochdeutsch or ''Schweizerhochdeutsch''), referred to by the Swiss as ''Schriftdeutsch'', or ''Hochdeutsch'', is the written form of one of four o ...

. Additionally, many people in

also speak

Bavarian German Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian. Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million peo ...

as a second language due to contacts with neighboring

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

Sample text

The fable The Fox and the Crow by

Aesop Aesop ( or ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE) was a Greek fabulist and storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence remains unclear and no writings by him survive, numerous tales cre ...

, translated into Jauer, the neighboring Romansh dialects Vallader and Putèr, as well as Rumantsch Grischun. Jauer
La uolp d’era darchiau üna jada fomantada. Qua ha’la vis sün ün pin ün corv chi tegnea ün toc chaschöl in ses pical. Quai ma gustess, ha’la s’impissà, ed ha clomà al corv: «Cha bel cha tü esch! Scha tes chaunt es ischè bel sco tia apparentscha, lura esch tü il pü bel utschè da tots».

La vuolp d'eira darcheu üna jada fomantada. Qua ha'la vis sün ün pin ün corv chi tgnaiva ün toc chaschöl in seis pical. Quai am gustess, ha'la pensà, ed ha clomà al corv: «Che bel cha tü est! Scha teis chant es uschè bel sco tia apparentscha, lura est tü il plü bel utschè da tuots».

La vuolp d’eira darcho üna vouta famanteda. Co ho'la vis sün ün pin ün corv chi tgnaiva ün töch chaschöl in sieu pical. Que am gustess, ho'la penso, ed ho clamo al corv: «Che bel cha tü est! Scha tieu chaunt es uschè bel scu tia apparentscha, alura est tü il pü bel utschè da tuots».

La vulp era puspè ina giada fomentada. Qua ha ella vis sin in pign in corv che tegneva in toc chaschiel en ses pichel. Quai ma gustass, ha ella pensà, ed ha clamà al corv: «Tge bel che ti es! Sche tes chant è uschè bel sco tia parita, lur es ti il pli bel utschè da tuts». Translation
The fox was hungry yet again. Then he saw a crow sitting on top of a tree, who was a holding a piece of cheese in his beak. This I would like, he thought, and said to the crow: "how pretty you are! If your song is as beautiful as your plumage, then you are the most beautiful of all the birds".

Notes

References

* {{Rhaeto-Romance languages Romansh dialects Languages of Switzerland