Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch;

Sursilvan Sursilvan (; also ''romontsch sursilvan'' ; Sursilvan, Vallader, Surmiran, Sutsilvan, and Rumantsch Grischun: ''sursilvan''; Puter: ''sursilvaun'') is a group of dialects of the Romansh language spoken in the Swiss district of Surselva. It is t ...

: ; Vallader,

Surmiran Surmiran (Surmiran, Vallader, Sutsilvan, Rumantsch Grischun: ''surmiran''; Puter: ''surmiraun'') is a dialect of the Romansh language. It is spoken in Surmeir and in the Albula Valley in the Grisons Canton, in Switzerland ). Swiss law ...

, and Rumantsch Grischun: ; Putèr: ;

Sutsilvan 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 Grison ...

: , , ; Jauer: ) is a

Gallo-Romance language The Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages includes in the narrowest sense the Langues d'oïl and Franco-Provençal. However, other definitions are far broader, variously encompassing the Occitano-Romance, Gallo-Italic, and Rhaeto-Roman ...

spoken predominantly in the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of the

Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...

(Graubünden). Romansh has been recognized as a national language of Switzerland since 1938, and as an official language in correspondence with Romansh-speaking citizens since 1996, along with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, and Italian. It also has official status in the canton of the Grisons alongside German and Italian and is used as the medium of instruction in schools in Romansh-speaking areas. It is sometimes grouped by linguists with

Ladin Ladin may refer to: * Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language *Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy See also *Laden (disambiguation) * Ladino (disambigua ...

and Friulian as the Rhaeto-Romance languages, though this is disputed. Romansh is one of the descendant languages of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire, which by the 5th century AD replaced the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and Raetic languages previously spoken in the area. Romansh retains a small number of words from these languages. Romansh has also been strongly influenced by German in vocabulary and morphosyntax. The language gradually retreated to its current area over the centuries, being replaced in other areas by

Alemannic Alemannic (''Alamannic'') or Alamanni may refer to: * Alemannic German, a dialect family in the Upper German branch of the German languages and its speakers * Alemanni, a confederation of Suebian Germanic tribes in the Roman period * Alamanni (surna ...

and Bavarian dialects. The earliest writing identified as Romansh dates from the 10th or 11th century, although major works did not appear until the 16th century, when several regional written varieties began to develop. During the 19th century the area where the language was spoken declined due to the

industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

of Switzerland, but the Romansh speakers had a literary revival and started a language movement dedicated to halting the decline of their language.
In the 2000 Swiss census, 35,095 people (of whom 27,038 live in the canton of the

) indicated Romansh as the language of "best command", and 61,815 as a "regularly spoken" language. In 2010, Switzerland switched to a yearly system of assessment that uses a combination of municipal citizen records and a limited number of surveys. In 2019, there were 40,074 Swiss residents who primarily spoke Romansh; in 2017, 28,698 inhabitants of the canton of the Grisons (14.7% of the population) used it as their main language. Romansh is divided into five different regional dialect groups (

, Vallader, Putèr,

, and

), each with its own standardized written language. In addition, a pan-regional variety called Rumantsch Grischun was introduced in 1982, which is controversial among Romansh speakers.

Linguistic classification

Romansh is a

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European languages, I ...

descending from

Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...

, the spoken language of the Roman Empire. Among the Romance languages, Romansh stands out because of its peripheral location. This has resulted in several archaic features. Another distinguishing feature is the centuries-long

language contact Language contact occurs when speakers of two or more languages or varieties interact and influence each other. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics. When speakers of different languages interact closely, it is typical for th ...

with

, which is most noticeable in the vocabulary and to a lesser extent the syntax of Romansh. Romansh belongs to the

Gallo-Romance The Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages includes in the narrowest sense the Langues d'oïl and Franco-Provençal. However, other definitions are far broader, variously encompassing the Occitano-Romance, Gallo-Italic, and Rhaeto-Romanc ...

branch of the Romance languages, which includes languages such as

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

, and Lombard. The main feature placing Romansh within the Gallo-Romance languages is the fronting of Latin to or , as seen in Latin 'wall', which is or in Romansh. The main features distinguishing Romansh from the Gallo-Italic languages to the south, and placing it closer to French, are: *

Palatalization Palatalization may refer to: *Palatalization (phonetics), the phonetic feature of palatal secondary articulation *Palatalization (sound change) Palatalization is a historical-linguistic sound change that results in a palatalized articulation ...

of Latin K and G in front of A, as in Latin 'dog', which is in

, ''tgang'' in

, and in Putèr and Vallader (the difference between and being purely orthographic, as both represent /tɕ/); Lombard , French . This sound change is partially absent in some varieties of Romansh, however, especially in Sursilvan, where it may have been reversed at some point: Sursilvan and Vallader 'house'. * Pluralisation with ''-s'' suffix, derived from the Latin

accusative case The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...

(though see ), as in "" 'good horses' as opposed to Lombard ; French . * Retention of L following : 'key' from Latin , as opposed to Lombard ; French . Another defining feature of the Romansh language is the use of unstressed vowels. All unstressed vowels except /a/ disappeared. Rhaeto-Romance languages

Whether or not Romansh, Friulan, and

should compose a separate " Rhaeto-Romance" subgroup within Gallo-Romance is an unresolved issue, known as the . Some linguists posit that these languages are descended from a common language, which was fractured geographically through the spread of German and Italian. The Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli first made the claim in 1873. The other position holds that any similarities between these three languages can be explained through their relative geographic isolation, which shielded them from certain linguistic changes. By contrast, the Gallo-Italic varieties of

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

were more open to linguistic influences from the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

. Linguists who take this position often point out that the similarities between the languages are comparatively few. This position was first introduced by the Italian dialectologist

Carlo Battisti Carlo Battisti (10 October 1882 – 6 March 1977) was an Italian linguist and actor, famed for his starring role in Vittorio De Sica's ''Umberto D.''. Biography Battisti was born in Trento, Austria-Hungary in 1882 (nowadays Trento, Trentino-Al ...

. This linguistic dispute became politically relevant for the Italian irredentist movement. Italian nationalists interpreted Battisti's hypothesis as implying that Romansh, Friulan, and Ladin were not separate Romance languages but rather

Italian dialects Italian dialects may refer to any of the following linguistic notions: *the various dialects pertaining to different languages which are spoken in Italy, regardless of the origins thereof; * the , which are related to Italian, but do not stem fro ...

. They used this hypothesis as an argument to claim the territories for Italy where these languages were spoken. From a sociolinguistic perspective, however, this question is largely irrelevant. The speakers of Romansh have always identified as speaking a language distinct from both Italian and other Romance varieties. Furthermore, unlike Friulian, Ladin, or Lombard, Romansh is located north of the German-Italian linguistic border, and German has influenced the language much more than Italian has.

Dialects

Romansh comprises a group of closely related dialects, which are most commonly divided into five different varieties, each of which has developed a standardized form. These regional standards are referred to as ''idioms'' in Romansh to distinguish them from the local vernaculars, which are referred to as ''dialects''. These dialects form a dialect continuum without clear-cut divisions. Historically a continuous speech area, this continuum has now been ruptured by the spread of German, so that Romansh is now geographically divided into at least two non-adjacent parts. #''

'' (Sursilvan: ; derived from the name of the

Surselva Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.Vorderrhein (Sursilvan: ''Rein Anteriur'') valley, including the Lumnezia, Foppa, and Cadi. It is the most widely spoken variety, with 17,897 people or 54.8% within its historical region (including Imboden/Plaun, where Sursilvan is written but Sutsilvan spoken, with the exception of Sursilvan-speaking Flims/Flem) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language in the Swiss census of 2000. #''

'' (Sutsilvan, Rumantsch Grischun: ''sutsilvan''; Vallader: ''suotsilvan''; Putèr: ''suotsilvaun''; derived from ''sut'' 'below' and ''selva'' 'forest') – spoken in the

Hinterrhein Hinterrhein can refer to: * Hinterrhein (river), a tributary of the Rhine * Hinterrhein, Switzerland, a municipality * Hinterrhein (district), the district including that Swiss municipality {{Disambig ...

(Sutsilvan: ''Ragn Posteriur'') valley, including Schams/Schons, Domleschg/Tumleastga, and Heinzenberg/Mantogna. In Imboden/Plaun, with the exception of Sursilvan-speaking Flims/Flem, they speak Sutsilvan but write Sursilvan. Sutsilvan is the least widely spoken Romansh variety, with 1,111 people or 15.4% within its historical area (excluding Imboden/Plaun) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language. It has become extinct across much of its historical area since the turn of the 20th century. #''

'' (Surmiran: ''surmiran''; derived from ''sur'' 'above' and ''meir'' 'wall') – spoken in the Gelgia and Albula/Alvra valleys, including Surses and Sutses. Romansh was named by 3,038 people within the historically Surmiran-writing area (44%) as a habitually spoken language in the census of 2000. #'' Putèr'' (Romansh: ; probably originally a nickname derived from ''put'' 'porridge', meaning 'porridge-eaters') – spoken in the Upper Engadine (Putèr and Vallader: ''Engiadin'Ota''), as well as in the village of Brail in Zernez, where they, however, ''write'' Vallader. Romansh was named by 5,497 people or 30% within the Upper Engadine and Bergün Filisur (where Putèr is written but a non-Putèr dialect is spoken) as a habitually spoken language in the census of 2000. #'' Vallader'' (Vallader: ; derived from ''val'' 'valley') – spoken in the Lower Engadine (Vallader and Putèr: ''Engiadina Bassa''), with the exception of Putèr-speaking Brail – where they nevertheless ''write'' Vallader – and 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 the second most commonly spoken variety of Romansh, with 6,448 people in the Lower Engadine and Val Müstair (79.2%) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language in the census of 2000. Aside from these five major dialects, two additional varieties are often distinguished. One is the dialect of the

, which is closely related to Vallader but often separately referred to as '' Jauer'' (Romansh: ''jauer''; derived from the personal pronoun ''jau'' 'I', i.e. 'the ''jau''-sayers').Curdin & Schläpfer (1984). pp. 261, 265 Less commonly distinguished is the dialect of

Tujetsch Tujetsch (; german: Tavetsch) is a municipality in the Surselva Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It is the westernmost municipality of the canton, connected to Urseren ( canton of Uri) by the Oberalp Pass. History The uppe ...

and the

Val Medel The Val Medel () is a righthand side valley of the Surselva valley in Graubünden, Switzerland. It is approximately long and stretches from Disentis ( above sea level) to the south, where it ends at Lai da Sontga Maria reservoir on Lukmanier Pa ...

, which is markedly different from Sursilvan and is referred to as ''

Tuatschin 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 Grisons ...

''. Additionally, the standardized variety Rumantsch Grischun, intended for pan-regional use, was introduced in 1982. The dialect of the

Val Bregaglia The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland). Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja i ...

is usually considered a variety of Lombard, and speakers use Italian as their written language, even though the dialect shares many features with the neighboring Putèr dialect of Romansh. As these varieties form a continuum with small transitions from each village to the next, there is no straightforward internal grouping of the Romansh dialects. The Romansh language area can be described best as consisting of two widely divergent varieties, Sursilvan in the west and the dialects of the Engadine in the east, with Sutsilvan and Surmiran forming a transition zone between them. The Engadinese varieties ''Putèr'' and ''Vallader'' are often referred to as one specific variety known as ''Ladin'' (Ladin, Sursilvan, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ; Sutsilvan: ''ladegn''), which is not to be confused with the closely related language in Italy's

Dolomite mountains The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

also known as

. Sutsilvan and Surmiran are sometimes grouped together as Central Romansh (rm. ''Grischun central''), and then grouped together with Sursilvan as "Rhenish Romansh" (in German, "Rheinischromanisch"). One feature that separates the Rhenish varieties from Ladin is the retention of the rounded front vowels and (written ''ü'' and ''ö'') in Ladin, which have been unrounded in the other dialects,Curdin & Schläpfer (1984). p. 264 as in Ladin , Sursilvan , Surmiran ''meir'' ‘wall’ or Ladin to Rhenish ‘cheese’. Another is the development of Latin -CT-, which has developed into /tɕ/ in the Rhenish varieties as in ''détg'' ‘said’ or ''fatg'' ‘did’, while developing into /t/ in Ladin (''dit'' and ''fat''). A feature separating Sursilvan from Central Romansh, however, involves the extent of palatalization of Latin /k/ in front of /a/, which is rare in Sursilvan but common in the other varieties: Sursilvan , Sutsilvan ''tgea'', Surmiran ''tgesa'', Putèr , and Vallader 'house'. Overall however, the Central Romansh varieties do not share many unique features, but rather connect Sursilvan and Ladin through a succession of numerous small differences from one village to the next. The dialects of Romansh are not always mutually comprehensible. Speakers of Sursilvan and Ladin, in particular, are usually unable to understand each other initially. Because speakers usually identify themselves primarily with their regional dialect, many do not take the effort to attempt to understand unfamiliar dialects, and prefer to speak

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 ...

with speakers of other varieties. A common Romansh identity is not widespread outside intellectual circles, even though this has been changing among the younger generation.

History

Origins and development until modern times

Romansh originates from the spoken Latin brought to the region by Roman soldiers, merchants, and officials following the conquest of the modern-day Grisons area by the Romans in 15 BC. Before that, the inhabitants spoke

and Raetic languages, with Raetic apparently being spoken mainly in the Lower Engadine valley. Traces of these languages survive mainly in

toponyms Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

, including village names such as Tschlin, Scuol, Savognin,

Glion Glion () is a village in the municipality of Montreux in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The village is located 700 m.a.s.l., overlooking Lake Geneva. The position of this village in Montreux and the Chauderon Gorge made it a touristic destin ...

, Breil/Brigels, Brienz/Brinzauls, Purtenza, and Trun. Additionally, a small number of pre-Latin words have survived in Romansh, mainly concerning animals, plants, and geological features unique to the Alps, such as ''camutsch'' '

chamois The chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of goat-antelope native to mountains in Europe, from west to east, including the Alps, the Dinarides, the Tatra and the Carpathian Mountains, the Balkan Mountains, the Ril ...

' and ''grava'' ' scree'. Rätoromanisches Sprachgebiet im Frühmittelalter

It is unknown how rapidly the Celtic and Raetic inhabitants were

Romanized Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

following the conquest of Raetia. Some linguists assume that the area was rapidly Romanized following the Roman conquest, whereas others think that this process did not end until the 4th or 5th century, when more thoroughly Romanized Celts from farther north fled south to avoid invasions by Germanic tribes. The process was certainly complete and the pre-Roman languages extinct by the 5th–6th century, when Raetia became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Around 537 AD, the Ostrogoths handed over the province of Raetia Prima to the Frankish Empire, which continued to have local rulers administering the so-called Duchy of Chur. However, after the death of the last Victorid ruler, Bishop Tello, around 765 AD, Charlemagne assigned a Germanic duke to administer the region. Additionally, the Diocese of Chur was transferred by the (pre-

Schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

) Roman Catholic Church from the Archdiocese of Milan to the Diocese of Mainz in 843 AD. The combined effect was a cultural reorientation towards the German-speaking north, especially as the ruling élite now comprised almost entirely speakers of German. At the time, Romansh was spoken over a much wider area, stretching north into the present-day cantons of Glarus and St. Gallen, to the Walensee in the northwest, and Rüthi and the

Alpine Rhine Valley The Alpine Rhine Valley (german: Alpenrheintal) is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the part of the Alpine Rhine (german: Alpenrhein ) between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and the Alpine Rhine's mouth at ...

in the northeast. In the east, parts of modern-day Vorarlberg were Romansh-speaking, as were parts of Tyrol. The northern areas, called Lower Raetia, became German-speaking by the 12th century; and by the 15th century, the Rhine Valley of St. Gallen and the areas around the Wallensee were entirely German-speaking. This language shift was a long, drawn-out process, with larger, central towns adopting German first, while the more peripheral areas around them remained Romansh-speaking longer. The shift to German was caused in particular by the influence of the local German-speaking élites and by German-speaking immigrants from the north, with the lower and rural classes retaining Romansh longer. In addition, beginning around 1270, the German-speaking Walser began settling in sparsely populated or uninhabited areas within the Romansh-speaking heartland. The Walser sometimes expanded into Romansh-speaking areas from their original settlements, which then often became German-speaking, such as

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

, Schanfigg, the

Prättigau The Prättigau, in the canton of Graubünden (Grisons), Switzerland, is the geographical region consisting of the main valley of the river Landquart (river), Landquart and the valleys of its side-rivers and creeks. Landquart River, which drains in ...

, Schams, and Valendas, which became German-speaking by the 14th century. In rare cases, these Walser settlements were eventually assimilated by their Romansh-speaking neighbors; for instance, Oberhalbstein, Medel, and

in the Surselva region. La mort da Benedetg Fontana

The Germanization of Chur had particular long-term consequences. Even though the city had long before ceased to be a cultural center of Romansh, the spoken language of the capital of the Diocese of Chur continued to be Romansh until the 15th century. After a fire in 1465 which virtually destroyed the city, many German-speaking artisans who had been called in to help repair the damage settled there, causing German to become the majority language. In a chronicle written in 1571–72, Durich Chiampell mentions that Romansh was still spoken in Chur roughly a hundred years before, but had since then rapidly given way to German and was now not much appreciated by the inhabitants of the city. Many linguists regard the loss of Chur to German as a crucial event. According to Sylvia Osswald, for example, it occurred precisely at a time when the introduction of the printing press could have led to the adoption of the Romansh dialect of the capital as a common written language for all Romansh speakers. Other linguists such as Jachen Curdin Arquint remain skeptical of this view, however, and assume that the various Romansh-speaking regions would still have developed their own separate written standards. Instead, several regional written varieties of Romansh began appearing during the 16th century.

Gian Travers Gian is a masculine Italian given name. It is a variant of Gianni and is likewise used as a diminutive of Giovanni, the Italian form of John. In Italian, any name including Giovanni can be contracted to Gian, particularly in combination with other ...

wrote the first surviving work in Romansh, the ''Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs'', in the Putèr dialect. This epic poem, written in 1527, describes the first Musso war, in which Travers himself had taken part. Travers also translated numerous biblical plays into Romansh, though only the titles survive for many of them. Another early writer, Giachem Bifrun, who also wrote in Putèr, penned the first printed book in Romansh, a catechism published in 1552. In 1560 he published a translation of the New Testament: ''L'g Nuof Sainc Testamaint da nos Signer Jesu Christ''. Two years later, in 1562, another writer from the Engadine, Durich Chiampel, published the ''Cudesch da Psalms'', a collection of church songs in the Vallader dialect. These early works are generally well written and show that the authors had a large amount of Romansh vocabulary at their disposal, contrary to what one might expect of the first pieces of writing in a language. Because of this, the linguist Ricarda Liver assumes that these written works built on an earlier, pre-literature tradition of using Romansh in administrative and legal situations, of which no evidence survives. In their prefaces, the authors themselves often mention the novelty of writing Romansh, and discuss an apparently common prejudice that Romansh was a language that could not be written. Igl ver sulaz

The first writing in the Sursilvan and Sutsilvan dialects appears in the 17th century. As in the Engadine, these early works usually focused on religious themes, in particular the struggles between Protestants and Counter-Reformers.

Daniel Bonifaci Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

produced the first surviving work in this category, the catechism ''Curt mussameint dels principals punctgs della Christianevla Religiun'', published in 1601 in the Sutsilvan dialect. A second edition, published in 1615, is closer to Sursilvan, however, and writings in Sutsilvan do not appear again until the 20th century. In 1611, ("The true joys of young people"), a series of religious instructions for Protestant youths, was published by

Steffan Gabriel Steffan may refer to: Surname: *Dan Steffan, American cartoonist and writer *Johann Gottfried Steffan (1815–1905), Swiss landscapist *Joseph Anton Steffan (1726–1797), or Josef Antonín Štěpán, a composer originally from Bohemia *Joseph Stef ...

. Four years later, in 1615, a Catholic catechism, ''Curt Mussament'', was published in response, written by

Gion Antoni Calvenzano is a district of Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan, originating as an entertainment district in the Sengoku period, in front of Yasaka Shrine (Gion Shrine). The district was built to accommodate the needs of travellers and vi ...

. The first translation of the New Testament into Sursilvan was published in 1648 by the son of Steffan Gabriel,

Luci Gabriel Luci is an English feminine given name variant of Lucy and an Italian surname derived from the Latin personal name Lucius (from Latin ''Lux'', genitive ''Lucis'', meaning "light"). Luci is also an ancient Norman territorial surname derived from th ...

. The first complete translation of the Bible, the ''Bibla da Cuera'', was published between 1717 and 1719. The Sursilvan dialect thus had two separate written varieties, one used by the Protestants with its cultural center around Ilanz, and a Catholic variety with the Disentis Abbey as its center. The Engadine dialect was also written in two varieties: Putèr in the Upper Valley and Vallader in the Lower Valley. The Sutsilvan areas either used the Protestant variety of Sursilvan, or simply used German as their main written language. The Surmiran region began developing its own variety in the early 18th century, with a catechism being published in 1703, though either the Catholic variety of Sursilvan or Putèr was more commonly used there until the 20th century. In the 16th century, the language border between Romansh and German largely stabilized, and it remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century. During this period, only isolated areas became German-speaking, mainly a few villages around Thusis and the village of Samnaun. In the case of Samnaun, the inhabitants adopted the Bavarian dialect of neighboring Tyrol, making Samnaun the only municipality of Switzerland where a Bavarian dialect is spoken. The Vinschgau in South Tyrol was still Romansh-speaking in the 17th century, after which it became entirely German-speaking because of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

denunciation of Romansh as a "Protestant language".

Romansh during the 19th and 20th centuries

With the

Act of Mediation The Act of Mediation () was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion ...

, the Grisons became a canton of Switzerland in 1803. The constitution of the canton dates from 1892. When the Grisons became part of Switzerland in 1803, it had a population of roughly 73,000, of whom around 36,600 were Romansh speakers—many of them monolingual—living mostly within the Romansh-speaking valleys. The language border with German, which had mostly been stable since the 16th century, now began moving again as more and more villages shifted to German. One cause was the admission of Grisons as a Swiss canton, which brought Romansh-speakers into more frequent contact with German-speakers. Another factor was the increased power of the central government of the Grisons, which had always used German as its administrative language. In addition, many Romansh-speakers migrated to the larger cities, which were German-speaking, while speakers of German settled in Romansh villages. Moreover, economic changes meant that the Romansh-speaking villages, which had mostly been self-sufficient, engaged in more frequent commerce with German-speaking regions. Also, improvements in the infrastructure made travel and contact with other regions much easier than it had been. Finally, the rise of tourism made knowledge of German an economic necessity in many areas, while the agricultural sector, which had been a traditional domain of Romansh, became less important. All this meant that knowledge of German became more and more of a necessity for Romansh speakers and that German became more and more a part of daily life. For the most part, German was seen not as a threat but rather as an important asset for communicating outside one's home region. The common people frequently demanded better access to learning German. When public schools began to appear, many municipalities decided to adopt German as the medium of instruction, as in the case of Ilanz, where German became the language of schooling in 1833, when the town was still largely Romansh-speaking. Some people even welcomed the disappearance of Romansh, in particular among progressives. In their eyes, Romansh was an obstacle to the economic and intellectual development of the Romansh people. For instance, the priest Heinrich Bansi from Ardez wrote in 1797: "The biggest obstacle to the moral and economical improvement of these regions is the language of the people, Ladin ..The German language could certainly be introduced with ease into the Engadine, as soon as one could convince the people of the immense advantages of it". Others however, saw Romansh as an economic asset, since it gave the Romansh an advantage when learning other Romance languages. In 1807, for example, the priest Mattli Conrad wrote an article listing the advantages and disadvantages of Romansh: In response however, the editor of the newspaper added that:

According to the testimony of experienced and vigilant language teachers, while the one who is born Romansh can easily learn to understand these languages and make himself understood in them, he has great difficulties in learning them properly, since precisely because of the similarity, he mixes them so easily with his own bastardized language. ..in any case, the conveniences named should hold no weight against all the disadvantages that come from such an isolated and uneducated language.

According to Mathias Kundert, this quote is a good example of the attitude of many German-speakers towards Romansh at the time. According to Mathias Kundert, while there was never a plan to Germanize the Romansh areas of Grisons, many German-speaking groups wished that the entire canton would become German-speaking. They were careful however, to avoid any drastic measures to that extent, in order not to antagonize the influential Romansh minority. The decline of Romansh over the 20th century can be seen through the results of the Swiss censuses. The decline in percentages is only partially due to the Germanization of Romansh areas, since the Romansh-speaking valleys always had a lower overall population growth than other parts of the canton. Starting in the mid-19th century however, a revival movement began, often called the "Rhaeto-Romansh renaissance". This movement involved an increased cultural activity, as well as the foundation of several organizations dedicated to protecting the Romansh language. In 1863, the first of several attempts was made to found an association for all Romansh regions, which eventually led to the foundation of the in 1885. In 1919, the

Lia Rumantscha Lia Rumantscha is an organization that promotes Romansh language usage and study. Established in 1919, its seat is in Chur , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Churwalden, Tschiertschen-Praden, Domat/Ems, Felsberg, Malix, Trimmis, Unter ...

was founded to serve as an umbrella organization for the various regional language societies. Additionally, the role of Romansh in schooling was strengthened, with the first Romansh school books being published in the 1830s and 1840s. Initially, these were merely translations of the German editions, but by the end of the 19th century teaching materials were introduced which took the local Romansh culture into consideration. Additionally, Romansh was introduced as a subject in teacher's college in 1860 and was recognized as an official language by the canton in 1880. Pallioppi Ortografia et Ortoepia

Around the same time, grammar and spelling guidelines began to be developed for the regional written dialects. One of the earliest was the by

Zaccaria Pallioppi The Zaccaria family was an ancient and noble Genoese dynasty that had great importance in the development and consolidation of the Republic of Genoa in the thirteenth century and in the following period. The Zaccarias were characterized by, accor ...

, published in 1857. For Sursilvan, a first attempt to standardize the written language was the by Baseli Carigiet, published in 1858, followed by a Sursilvan-German dictionary in 1882, and the ''Normas ortografias'' by Giachen Caspar Muoth in 1888. Neither of these guidelines managed to gather much support however. At the same time, the Canton published school books in its own variety. Sursilvan was then definitely standardized through the works of

Gion Cahannes is a district of Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Japan, originating as an entertainment district in the Sengoku period, in front of Yasaka Shrine (Gion Shrine). The district was built to accommodate the needs of travellers and visitors to the shrine. I ...

, who published ''Grammatica Romontscha per Surselva e Sutselva'' in 1924, followed by ''Entruidament devart nossa ortografia'' in 1927. The Surmiran dialect had its own norms established in 1903, when the Canton agreed to finance the school book ''Codesch da lectura per las scolas primaras de Surmeir'', though a definite guideline, the ''Normas ortograficas per igl rumantsch da Surmeir'', was not published until 1939. In the meantime, the norms of Pallioppi had come under criticism in the Engadine due to the strong influence of Italian in them. This led to an orthographic reform which was concluded by 1928, when the by Cristoffel Bardola was published. A separate written variety for Sutsilvan was developed in 1944 by

Giuseppe Gangale Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Josephus, Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name ...

Around 1880, the entire Romansh-speaking area still formed a continuous geographical unit. But by the end of the century, the so-called "Central-Grisons language bridge" began to disappear. From Thusis, which had become German-speaking in the 16th/17th century, the

Heinzenberg Heinzenberg is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-P ...

and

Domleschg valley The Domleschg ( rm, Tumleastga) is a valley in Graubünden in Switzerland. Geographically, the name "Domleschg" covers both sides of the valley. Politically, the villages on the left bank of the Posterior Rhine form the ''Kreis'' (sub-distric ...

s were gradually Germanized over the next decades. Around the turn of the century, the inner Heinzenberg and Cazis became German-speaking, followed by

Rothenbrunnen Rothenbrunnen (''Giuvaulta'' in romansh) is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Rothenbrunnen is first mentioned in 1472 as ''Hof Juvalt''. In 1572 it was mentioned as ''zum Roten Brunnen''. Geogra ...

, Rodels, Almens, and Pratval, splitting the Romansh area into two geographically non-connected parts. In the 1920s and 1930s the rest of the villages in the valley became mainly German-speaking, sealing the split. In order to halt the decline of Romansh, the Lia Rumantscha began establishing Romansh day care schools, called , beginning in the 1940s with the aim of reintroducing Romansh to children. Although the had some success – of the ten villages where Scoletas were established, the children began speaking Romansh amongst themselves in four, with the children in four others acquiring at least some knowledge of Romansh – the program ultimately failed to preserve the language in the valley. A key factor was the disinterest of the parents, whose main motivation for sending their children to the Scoletas appears to have been that they were looked after for a few hours and given a meal every day, rather than an interest in preserving Romansh. The other factor was that after entering primary school, the children received a few hours a week of Romansh instruction at best. As a result, the last Scoletas were closed in the 1960s with the exception of Präz, where the Scoleta remained open until 1979. In other areas, such as the Engadine and the Surselva, where the pressure of German was equally strong, Romansh was maintained much better and remained a commonly spoken language. According to the linguist Mathias Kundert, one important factor was the different social prestige of Romansh. In the Heinzenberg and Domleschg valleys, the elite had been German-speaking for centuries, so that German was associated with power and education, even though most people did not speak it, whereas Romansh was associated with peasant life. In the Engadine and the Surselva by contrast, the elite was itself Romansh-speaking, so that Romansh there was "not only the language spoken to children and cows, but also that of the village notable, the priest, and the teacher." Additionally, Romansh schools had been common for several years before German had become a necessity, so that Romansh was firmly established as a medium of education. Likewise, in the Upper Engadine, where factors such as increased mobility and immigration by German speakers were even stronger, Romansh was more firmly established as a language of education and administration, so that the language was maintained to a much greater extent. In the Central Grisons, by contrast, German had been a central part of schooling since the beginning, and virtually all schools switched entirely to German as the language of instruction by 1900, with children in many schools being punished for speaking Romansh well into the 1930s.

Rumantsch Grischun

Early attempts to create a unified written language for Romansh include the ''Romonsch fusionau'' of Gion Antoni Bühler in 1867 and the ''Interrumantsch'' by Leza Uffer in 1958. Neither was able to gain much support, and their creators were largely the only ones actively using them. In the meantime, the Romansh movement sought to promote the different regional varieties while promoting a gradual convergence of the five varieties, called the "''avischinaziun''". In 1982, however, the then secretary of the Lia Rumantscha, a sociolinguist named , launched a project for designing a pan-regional variety. The linguist

Heinrich Schmid Heinrich Schmid (6 April 1921 – 23 February 1999) was a Swiss linguist and "father" of the Rhaeto-Romance Dachsprachen ("umbrella languages") Rumantsch Grischun and Ladin Dolomitan. Heinrich Schmid lived his entire life in the same house in Z ...

presented to the Lia Rumantscha the same year the rules and directives for this standard language under the name Rumantsch Grischun (Rumantsch Grischun: ''rumantsch grischun''). Schmid's approach consisted of creating a language as equally acceptable as possible to speakers of the different dialects, by choosing those forms which were found in a majority of the three strongest varieties: Sursilvan, Vallader, and Surmiran (Puter has more speakers than Surmiran but is spoken by a lower percentage of the population in its area). The elaboration of the new standard was endorsed by the Swiss National Fund and carried out by a team of young Romansh linguists under the guidance of Georges Darms and Anna-Alice Dazzi-Gross. The Lia Rumantscha then began introducing Rumantsch Grischun to the public, announcing that it would be chiefly introduced into domains where only German was being used, such as official forms and documents, billboards, and commercials. In 1984, the assembly of delegates of the head organization Lia Rumantscha decided to use the new standard language when addressing all Romansh-speaking areas of the Grisons. From the very start, Rumansh Grischun has been implemented only on the basis of a decision of the particular institutions. In 1986, the federal administration began to use Rumantsch Grischun for single texts. The same year, however, several influential figures began to criticize the introduction of Rumantsch Grischun. Donat Cadruvi, at the time the president of the cantonal government, claimed that the Lia Rumantscha was trying to force the issue. Romansh writer Theo Candinas also called for a public debate on the issue, calling Rumantsch Grischun a "plague" and "death blow" to Romansh and its introduction a "Romansh Kristallnacht", thus launching a highly emotional and bitter debate which would continue for several years. The following year, Theo Candinas published another article titled ''Rubadurs Garmadis'' in which he compared the proponents of Rumantsch Grischun to Nazi thugs raiding a Romansh village and desecrating, destroying, and burning the Romansh cultural heritage. The proponents responded by labeling the opponents as a small group of archconservative and narrow-minded Sursilvans and CVP politicians among other things. The debate was characterized by a heavy use of metaphors, with opponents describing Rumantsch Grischun as a "test-tube baby" or "castrated language". They argued that it was an artificial and infertile creation which lacked a heart and soul, in contrast to the traditional dialects. On the other side, proponents called on the

Romansh people The Romansh people (also spelled Romansch, Rumantsch, or Romanche; rm, links=no, rumantschs, ''rumàntschs'', ''romauntschs'' or ''romontschs'') are a Romance ethnic group, the speakers of the Romansh language, native to the Swiss canton of Gri ...

to nurture the "new-born" to allow it to grow, with Romansh writer Ursicin Derungs calling Rumantsch Grischun a "''lungatg virginal''" 'virgin language' that now had to be seduced and turned into a blossoming woman. The opposition to Rumantsch Grischun also became clear in the Swiss census of 1990, in which certain municipalities refused to distribute questionnaires in Rumantsch Grischun, requesting the German version instead. Following a survey on the opinion of the Romansh population on the issue, the government of the Grisons decided in 1996 that Rumantsch Grischun would be used when addressing all Romansh speakers, but the regional varieties could continue to be used when addressing a single region or municipality. In schools, Rumantsch Grischun was not to replace the regional dialects but only be taught passively. The compromise was largely accepted by both sides. A further recommendation in 1999, known as the "Haltinger concept", also proposed that the regional varieties should remain the basis of the Romansh schools, with Rumantsch Grischun being introduced in middle school and secondary school. The government of the Grisons then took steps to strengthen the role of Rumantsch Grischun as an official language. Since the cantonal constitution explicitly named Sursilvan and Engadinese as the languages of ballots, a referendum was launched to amend the relevant article. In the referendum, which took place on June 10, 2001, 65% voted in favor of naming Rumantsch Grischun the only official Romansh variety of the Canton. Opponents of Rumantsch Grischun such as Renata Coray and Matthias Grünert argue, however, that if only those municipalities with at least 30% Romansh speakers were considered, the referendum would have been rejected by 51%, with an even larger margin if only those with at least 50% Romansh speakers were considered. They thus interpret the results as the Romansh minority having been overruled by the German-speaking majority of the canton. Rätoromanische Schulsprachen

A major change in policy came in 2003, when the cantonal government proposed a number of spending cuts, including a proposal according to which new Romansh teaching materials would not be published except in Rumantsch Grischun from 2006 onwards, the logical result of which would be to abolish the regional varieties as languages of instruction. The cantonal parliament passed the measure in August 2003, even advancing the deadline to 2005. The decision was met by strong opposition, in particular in the Engadine, where teachers collected over 4,300 signatures opposing the measure, followed by a second petition signed by around 180 Romansh writers and cultural figures, including many who were supportive of Rumantsch Grischun but opposed its introduction as a language of instruction. Opponents argued that Romansh culture and identity was transmitted through the regional varieties and not through Rumantsch Grischun and that Rumantsch Grischun would serve to weaken rather than strengthen Romansh, possibly leading to a switch to German-language schools and a swift Germanization of Romansh areas. The cantonal government refused to debate the issue again however, instead deciding on a three-step plan in December 2004 to introduce Rumantsch Grischun as the language of schooling, allowing the municipalities to choose when they would make the switch. The decision not to publish any new teaching materials in the regional varieties was not overturned at this point, however, raising the question of what would happen in those municipalities that refused to introduce Rumantsch Grischun at all, since the language of schooling is decided by the municipalities themselves in the Grisons. The teachers of the Engadine in particular were outraged over the decision, but those in the Surmeir were mostly satisfied. Few opinions were heard from the Surselva, which was interpreted either as support or resignation, depending on the viewpoint of the observer. In 2007–2008, 23 so called "pioneer-municipalities" ( Lantsch/Lenz, Brienz/Brinzauls, Tiefencastel,

Alvaschein Alvaschein ( Romansh: Alvaschagn) is a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls ...

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...

, Stierva, Salouf, Cunter, Riom-Parsonz, Savognin, Tinizong-Rona, Mulegns,

Sur Sur or SUR or El Sur (Spanish "the South") may refer to: Geography * Sur or Shur (Bible), the wilderness of Sur/Shur from the Book of Exodus * Sur (river), a river of Bavaria, Germany * Súr, a village in Hungary * Sur, a district of the city of ...

, Marmorera, Falera,

Laax Laax ( rm, Lags) is a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Laax is first mentioned c. 1290–98 as ''Lags''. Geography Laax has an area, , of . Of this area, 35.8% is used for agricultural purp ...

, Trin,

Müstair Müstair is a village in the Val Müstair municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. In 2009 Müstair merged with Fuldera, Lü, Switzerland, Santa Maria Val Müstair, Tschierv and Valchava to form Val Müstair.

, Santa Maria Val Müstair,

Valchava Valchava is a village in the Val Müstair (''Müstair valley'') of the canton of Graubünden (Grisons), Switzerland. It was an independent municipality in the district of Inn until on 1 January 2009 Valchava merged with Fuldera, Lü, Müstai ...

Fuldera Fuldera is a village in the Val Müstair municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Inn District, Switzerland, Inn in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. In 2009 Fuldera merged with Lü, Switz ...

Tschierv Tschierv is a village in the Val Müstair municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. In 2009 Tschierv merged with Fuldera, Lü, Müstair, Santa Maria Val Müstair and Valchava to form the municipality of Val M� ...

and Lü) introduced Rumantsch Grischun as the language of instruction in 1st grade, followed by an additional 11 ( Ilanz, Schnaus,

Flond Flond is a village in the municipality of Mundaun in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. In 2009 Flond merged with Surcuolm to form the municipality of Mundaun.Schluein Schluein (; rm, Schleuis) is a municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Schluein is first mentioned in 831 as ''Falerunae''. In 1298 it was mentioned as ''Sluwen''. Throughout the middle ages until the ...

, Pitasch, Riein, Sevgein, Castrisch,

Surcuolm Surcuolm is a village in the municipality of Mundaun in the district of Surselva in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. In 2009 Surcuolm merged with Flond to form the municipality of Mundaun.Luven and

Duvin Duvin (german: Duvin ), rm, Duin ) is a former municipality in the district of Surselva in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2014 the former municipalities of Duvin, Castrisch, Ilanz, Ladir, Luven, Pitasch, Riein, Ruschein, Schnaus, ...

) the following year and another 6 ( Sagogn, Rueun,

Siat SIAT may refer to: * S.I.A.T. (Sociedad Ibérica de Automóviles de Turismo), the predecessor company of the Spanish car maker SEAT (S.E.A.T., Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo) * Siebelwerke/ATG, a German aircraft manufacturer * Sib ...

, Pigniu,

Waltensburg/Vuorz Waltensburg/Vuorz is a former municipality in the Surselva Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Andiast and Waltensburg/Vuorz merged into the municipality of Breil/Brigels. History ...

and

Andiast Andiast () is a former municipality in the Surselva Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Until 1943, it was known as Andest.Pro Idioms Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

, demanding the overturning of the government decision of 2003 and launching numerous local initiatives to return to the regional varieties as the language of instruction. In April 2011, Riein became the first municipality to vote to return to teaching in Sursilvan, followed by an additional 4 in December, and a further 10 in early 2012, including

(returning to Vallader), which had been the first to introduce Rumantsch Grischun. As of September 2013, all those municipalities in the Surselva which had switched to Rumantsch Grischun had decided to return to teaching in Sursilvan, with the exception of Pitasch, which, however, followed later. Supporters of Rumantsch Grischun then announced that they would take the issue to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland and announced their intention to launch a cantonal referendum to enshrine Rumantsch Grischun as the language of instruction. The Lia Rumantscha opposes these moves and now supports a model of coexistence in which Rumantsch Grischun will supplement but not replace the regional varieties in school. It cites the need for keeping linguistic peace among Romansh speakers, as it says that the decades-long debate over the issue has torn friends and even families apart. The canton's 2003 decision not to finance school books in the regional varieties was overturned in December 2011. Rumantsch Grischun is still a project in progress. At the start of 2014, it was in use as a school language in the central part of the Grisons and in the bilingual classes in the region of Chur. It was taught in upper-secondary schools, in the university of teacher education in Chur and at the universities of Zürich and Fribourg, along with the Romansh idioms. It remains an official and administrative language in the Swiss Confederation and the Canton of the Grisons as well as in public and private institutions for all kinds of texts intended for the whole Romansh-speaking territory. Until 2021, Surmiran was the only regional variety that was not taught in schools, as all the Surmiran-writing municipalities had switched to Rumantsch Grischun. However, referendums in Surses, Lantsch/Lenz and Albula/Alvra in 2020 led to the return to Surmiran as the language of instruction in the entire Surmiran-writing area, beginning with those pupils who started school in 2021. The only primary schools that will continue teaching in Rumantsch Grischun are the bilingual Romansh/German schools in the cantonal capital of Chur, which is located in a German-speaking area, and in Trin and Domat/Ems, where the local dialects are Sutsilvan but Sursilvan has traditionally been used as the written language. Rumantsch Grischun is read in the news of Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha and written in the daily newspaper ''La Quotidiana'', along with the Romansh idioms. Thanks to many new texts in a wide variety of political and social functions, the Romansh vocabulary has been decisively broadened. The "Pledari Grond" German–Rumantsch Grischun dictionary, with more than 215 000 entries, is the most comprehensive collection of Romansh words, which can also be used in the idioms with the necessary phonetic shifts. The signatories of "Pro Rumantsch" stress that Romansh needs both the idioms and Rumantsch Grischun if it is to improve its chances in today's communication society. There also exist individual dictionaries for each of the different idioms:

, Vallader, Puter,

, and

. As well, the "Pledari Grond" dictionary links to several texts on the grammar of Vallader, Puter, and Rumantsch Grischun.

Official status in Switzerland and language politics

In Switzerland, official language use is governed by the "territorial principle": Cantonal law determines which of the four national languages enjoys official status in which part of the territory. Only the federal administration is officially quadrilingual. Romansh is an official language at the federal level, one of the three official languages of the Canton of the Grisons, and is a working language in various districts and numerous municipalities within the canton.

Official status at the federal level

The first Swiss constitution of 1848, as well as the subsequent revision of 1872, made no mention of Romansh, which at the time was not a working language of the Canton of the Grisons either. The federal government did finance a translation of the constitution into the two Romansh varieties Sursilvan and Vallader in 1872, noting, however, that these did not carry the force of law. Romansh became a national language of Switzerland in 1938, following a referendum. However, a distinction was introduced between "national languages" and "official languages". The status of a national language was largely symbolic, whereas only official languages were to be used in official documents, a status reserved for German, French, and Italian. The recognition of Romansh as the fourth national language is best seen within the context of the "

Spiritual defence The Spiritual national defence (German: ''Geistige Landesverteidigung''; French: ''Défense ationalespirituelle'') was a political-cultural movement in Switzerland which was active from circa 1932 into the 1960s. It was supported by the Swiss ...

" preceding World War II, which aimed to underline the special status of Switzerland as a multinational country. Additionally, this was supposed to discredit the efforts of Italian nationalists to claim Romansh as a dialect of Italian and establish a claim to parts of the Grisons. The Romansh language movement led by the

was mostly satisfied with the status as a national but not official language. Their aims at the time were to secure a symbolic "right of residence" for Romansh, and not actual use in official documents. Euler-10 Swiss Franc banknote (front)

This status did have disadvantages however. For instance, official name registers and property titles had to be in German, French, or Italian. This meant that Romansh-speaking parents were often forced to register their children under German or Italian versions of their Romansh names. As late as 1984, the Canton of the Grisons was ordered not to make entries into its corporate registry in Romansh. The Swiss National Bank first planned to include Romansh on its bills in 1956, when a new series was introduced. Due to disputes within the Lia Rumantscha over whether the bills were to feature the Sursilvan version "" or the Vallader version "", the bills eventually featured the Italian version twice, alongside French and German. When new bills were again introduced in 1976/77, a Romansh version was added by finding a compromise between the two largest varieties Sursilvan and Vallader, which read "", while the numbers on the bills were printed in Surmiran. Following a referendum on March 10, 1996, Romansh was recognized as a partial official language of Switzerland alongside German, French, and Italian in article 70 of the federal constitution. According to the article, German, French, Italian, and Romansh are national languages of Switzerland. The official languages are declared to be German, French, and Italian, and Romansh is an official language for correspondence with Romansh-speaking people. This means that in principle, it is possible to address the federal administration in Romansh and receive an answer in the same language. More precisely, under section 2.6.3 of the Federal Act on the National Languages and Understanding between the Linguistic Communities, Romansh speakers may address the administration in any variety of Romansh, though they will receive a response in Rumantsch Grischun. In what the Federal Culture Office itself admits is "more a placatory and symbolic use" of Romansh, the federal authorities occasionally translate some official texts into Romansh. In general, though, demand for Romansh-language services is low because, according to the Federal Culture Office, Romansh speakers may either dislike the official Rumantsch Grischun idiom or prefer to use German in the first place, as most are perfectly bilingual. Without a unified standard language, the status of an official language of the Swiss Confederation would not have been conferred to Romansh. It takes time and needs to be promoted to get implemented in this new function. The Swiss Armed Forces attempted to introduce Romansh as an official language of command between 1988 and 1992. Attempts were made to form four entirely Romansh-speaking companies, but these efforts were abandoned in 1992 due to a lack of sufficient Romansh-speaking non-commissioned officers. Official use of Romansh as a language of command was discontinued in 1995 as part of a reform of the Swiss military.

Official status in the canton of the Grisons

The Grisons is the only canton of Switzerland where Romansh is recognized as an official language. The only working language of the Three Leagues was German until 1794, when the assembly of the leagues declared German, Italian, Sursilvan, and Ladin (Putèr and Vallader) to have equal official standing. No explicit mention of any official language was made in the cantonal constitutions of 1803, 1814, and 1854. The constitution of 1880 declared that "The three languages of the Canton are guaranteed as national languages, without specifying anywhere which three languages are meant. The new cantonal constitution of 2004 recognizes German, Italian, and Romansh as equal national and official languages of the canton. The canton used the Romansh varieties Sursilvan and Vallader up until 1997, when Rumantsch Grischun was added and use of Sursilvan and Vallader was discontinued in 2001. Lubiu traffic

This means that any citizen of the canton may request service and official documents such as ballots in their language of choice, that all three languages may be used in court, and that a member of the cantonal parliament is free to use any of the three languages. Since 1991, all official texts of the cantonal parliament must be translated into Romansh and offices of the cantonal government must include signage in all three languages. In practice, the role of Romansh within the cantonal administration is limited and often symbolic and the working language is mainly German. This is usually justified by cantonal officials on the grounds that all Romansh speakers are perfectly bilingual and able to understand and speak German. Up until the 1980s it was usually seen as a provocation when a deputy in the cantonal parliament used Romansh during a speech. Cantonal law leaves it to the districts and municipalities to specify their own language of administration and schooling. According to Article 3 of the cantonal constitution however, the municipalities are to "take into consideration the traditional linguistic composition and respect the autochthonous linguistic minorities". This means that the language area of Romansh has never officially been defined, and that any municipality is free to change its official language. In 2003, Romansh was the sole official language in 56 municipalities of the Grisons, and 19 were bilingual in their administrative business. In practice, even those municipalities which only recognize Romansh as an official working language, readily offer services in German as well. Additionally, since the working language of the canton is mainly German and many official publications of the canton are available only in German, it is virtually impossible for a municipal administration to operate only in Romansh.

Romansh in education

Within the Romansh-speaking areas, three different types of educational models can be found: Romansh schools, bilingual schools, and German schools with Romansh as a subject. In the Romansh schools, Romansh is the primary language of instruction during the first 3–6 years of the nine years of compulsory schooling, and German during the last 3–9 years. Due to this, this school type is often called the "so-called Romansh school". In practice, the amount of Romansh schooling varies between half and 4/5 of the compulsory school term, often depending on how many Romansh-speaking teachers are available. This "so-called Romansh school" was found in 82 municipalities of the Grisons as of 2001. The bilingual school was found only in Samedan, Pontresina, and Ilanz/ Schnaus. In 15 municipalities, German was the sole medium of instruction as of 2001, with Romansh being taught as a subject. Outside of areas where Romansh is traditionally spoken, Romansh is not offered as a subject and as of 2001, 17 municipalities within the historical language area of Romansh do not teach Romansh as a subject. On the secondary level, the language of instruction is mainly German, with Romansh as a subject in Romansh-speaking regions. Outside of the traditional Romansh-speaking areas, the capital of the Grisons, Chur, runs a bilingual Romansh-German elementary school. On the tertiary level, the University of Fribourg offers Bachelor- and Master programs for Romansh language and literature. The Romansh department there has been in existence since 1991. The University of Zürich also maintains a partial chair for Romansh language and literature together with the ETH Zürich since 1985.

Geographic distribution

Whereas Romansh was spoken as far north as Lake Constance in the early Middle Ages, the language area of Romansh is today limited to parts of the canton of the Grisons; the last areas outside the canton to speak Romansh, the Vinschgau in South Tyrol, became German-speaking in the 17th century. Inside the Grisons, the language borders largely stabilized in the 16th century and remained almost unchanged until the 19th century. This language area is often called the "Traditional Romansh-speaking territory", a term introduced by the statistician Jean-Jacques Furer based on the results of the Swiss censuses. Furer defines this language area as those municipalities in which a majority declared Romansh as their mother tongue in any of the first four Swiss censuses between 1860 and 1888. In addition, he includes Fürstenau. This represented 121 municipalities at the time, corresponding to 116 present-day municipalities. The villages of Samnaun, Sils im Domleschg, Masein, and

Urmein Urmein ''(Romansh language, Romansh: Urmagn)'' is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Viamala Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. History Urmein is first mentioned in 1156 as ''Hof de Or ...

, which were still Romansh-speaking in the 17th century, had lost their Romansh majority by 1860, and are not included in this definition. This historical definition of the language area has been taken up in many subsequent publications, but the Swiss Federal Statistical Office for instance defines the language area of Romansh as those municipalities, where a majority declared to habitually use Romansh in the census of 2000. The presence of Romansh within its traditional language area varies from region to region. In 2000, 66 municipalities still had a Romansh majority, an additional 32 had at least 20% who declared Romansh as their language of best command or as a habitually spoken language, while Romansh is either extinct or only spoken by a small minority in the remaining 18 municipalities within the traditional language area. In the

Surselva Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.Schams, where it is still transmitted to children and where some villages still have a Romansh majority, notably in the vicinity of the Schamserberg. In the Surmiran region, it is the main language in the Surses region, but no longer widely spoken in the

Albula Valley Albula (German; rm, Alvra) is a river of Switzerland, a right tributary of the Hinterrhein. Length: , Basin: . It flows into the Hinterrhein near Thusis Thusis ( it, Tosana, '' Romansh: Tusàn'') is a municipality in the Viamala Region in the ...

. In the Upper Engadine valley, it is a habitually spoken language for 30.8% and the language of best command for 13%. However, most children still acquire Romansh through the school system, which has retained Romansh as the primary language of instruction, even though Swiss German is more widely spoken inside the home. In the Lower Engadine, Romansh speakers form the majority in virtually all municipalities, with 60.4% declaring Romansh as their language of best command in 2000, and 77.4% declaring it as a habitually spoken language. Outside of the traditional Romansh language area, Romansh is spoken by the so-called "Romansh diaspora", meaning people who have moved out of the Romansh-speaking valleys. A significant number are found in the capital of Grisons, Chur, as well as in Swiss cities outside of Grisons.

Current distribution

The current situation of Romansh is quite well researched. The number of speakers is known through the Swiss censuses, with the most recent having taken place in 2000, in addition to surveys by the

Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha (RTR, en, Radio-Television Romansh Switzerland or Swiss Romansh Radio-Television), formerly known as Radio e Televisiun Rumantscha ( en, Romansh Radio and Television), is a Switzerland, Swiss broadcasting com ...

. The quantitative data from these surveys was summed up by statistician Jean-Jacques Furer in 2005. In addition, linguist Regula Cathomas performed a detailed survey of everyday language use, published in 2008. Virtually all Romansh-speakers today are bilingual in Romansh and German. Whereas monolingual Romansh were still common at the beginning of the twentieth century, they are now only found among pre-school children. As Romansh linguist Ricarda Liver writes: The language situation today consists of a complex relationship between several diglossia, since there is a functional distribution within Romansh itself between the local dialect, the regional standard variety, and nowadays the pan-regional variety Rumantsch Grischun as well; and German is also acquired in two varieties:

and

Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...

. Additionally, in

many people 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. Aside from German, many Romansh also speak additional languages such as French, Italian, or English, learned at school or acquired through direct contact. The Swiss census of 1990 and 2000 asked for the "language of best command" as well as for the languages habitually used in the family, at work, and in school. Previous censuses had only asked for the "mother tongue". In 1990, Romansh was named as the "language of best command" by 39,632 people, with a decrease to 35,095 in 2000. As a family language, Romansh is more widespread, with 55,707 having named it in 1990, and 49,134 in 2000. As a language used at work, Romansh was more widely used in 2000 with 20,327 responses than in 1990 with 17,753, as it was as a language used at school, with 6,411 naming it in 2000 as compared to 5,331 in 1990. Overall, a total of 60,561 people reported that they used Romansch of some sort on a habitual basis, representing 0.83% of the Swiss population. As the language of best command, Romansh comes in 11th in Switzerland with 0.74%, with the non-national languages

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

, Croatian,

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

, Portuguese, Spanish, English, and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

all having more speakers than Romansh. In the entire Canton of the Grisons, where about two-thirds of all speakers live, roughly a sixth report it as the language of best command (29,679 in 1990 and 27,038 in 2000). As a family language it was used by 19.5% in 2000 (33,707), as a language used on the job by 17.3% (15,715), and as a school language by 23.3% (5,940). Overall, 21.5% (40,168) of the population of the Grisons reported to be speaking Romansh habitually in 2000. Within the traditional Romansh-speaking areas, where 56.1% (33,991) of all speakers lived in 2000, it is the majority language in 66 municipalities. Lugnez Vrin

The status of Romansh differs widely within this traditional area however. Whereas in some areas Romansh is used by virtually the entire population, in others the only speakers are people who have moved there from elsewhere. Overall, Romansh dominates in most of the

Surselva Surselva Region is one of the eleven administrative districts in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. It was created on 1 January 2017 as part of a reorganization of the canton.Lower Engadine as well as parts of the Surses, whereas German is the dominant daily language in most other areas, though Romansh is often still used and transmitted in a limited manner regardless. In general, Romansh is the dominant language in most of the Surselva. In the western areas, the Cadi and the Lumnezia, it is the language of a vast majority, with around 80% naming it as their language of best command, and it often being a daily language for virtually the entire population. In the eastern areas of the Gruob around Ilanz, German is significantly more dominant in daily life, though most people still use Romansh regularly. Romansh is still acquired by most children in the Cadi and Gruob even in villages where Romansh speakers are in the minority, since it is usually the language of instruction in primary education there. Even in villages where Romansh dominates, newcomers rarely learn Romansh however, as Sursilvan speakers quickly accommodate by switching to German, so that there is often little opportunity to practice Romansh even when people are willing to learn it. Some pressure is often exerted by children, who will sometimes speak Romansh even with their non-Romansh-speaking parents. In the

Imboden District Imboden District (german: Bezirk Imboden, rm, District dal Plaun ) is a former administrative district in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It had an area of and had a population of 20,158 in 2015. It was replaced with the Imboden Region ...

by contrast, it is only used habitually by 22%, and is the language of best command for only 9.9%. Even within this district however, the presence of Romansh varies, with 41.3% in Trin reporting to speak it habitually. In the Sutselva, the local Romansh dialects are extinct in most villages, with a few elder speakers remaining in places such as Präz, Scharans,

Feldis/Veulden Feldis/Veulden is a village in the municipality of Tomils in the district of Hinterrhein in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. In 2009 Scheid merged with Feldis/Veulden, Trans and Tumegl/Tomils to form the municipality of Tomils.

, and

Scheid Scheid is a village in the municipality of Tomils in the district of Hinterrhein in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. In 2009 Scheid merged with Feldis/Veulden, Trans and Tumegl/Tomils to form the municipality of Tomils.

, though passive knowledge is slightly more common. Some municipalities still offer Romansh as a foreign language subject in school, though it is often under pressure of being replaced by Italian. The notably exception is Schams, where it is still regularly transmitted to children and where the language of instruction is Romansh. In the Surmeir region, it is still the dominant every day language in the Surses, but has mostly disappeared from the

. The highest proportion of habitual speakers is found in Salouf with 86.3%, the lowest in Obervaz with 18.9%. In these areas, many Romansh speakers only speak German with their spouses as an accommodation or because of a habit, though they sometimes speak Romansh to their children. In most cases, this is not because of a will to preserve the language, but because of other reasons such as Romansh having been their own childhood language or a belief that their children will later find it easier to learn additional languages. In the Upper Engadine, it is used habitually by 30.8% and the language of best command for 13%, with only S-chanf having a Romansh majority. Even though the main every-day and family language is German, Romansh is not in imminent danger of disappearing in the Upper Engadine, due to the strong emotional attachment to the language and in particular the Romansh-language school, which means that a Romansh-speaking core always exists in some form. Romansh is often a sign of being one of the locals, and used to distinguish oneself from tourists or temporary residents, so that outsiders will sometimes acquire Romansh in order to fit in. In the Lower Engadine by contrast, Romansh is the majority language virtually everywhere, with over 80% reporting it as a habitually spoken language in most villages. The status of Romansh is even stronger in the

, where 86.4% report to speak it habitually, and 74.1% as their language of best command. In the Lower Engadine, outsiders are generally expected to learn Romansh if they wish to be integrated into the local community and take part in social life. In addition, there is often pressure from inside the family to learn Romansh. File:Romanisch als Umgangssprache 2000.PNG, Romansh as a habitually spoken language within the traditional language area in 2000 File:Romanisch als bestbeherschte Sprache 2000.PNG, Romansh as the language of best command within the traditional language area in 2000 File:LinguaRumantsha.png, Romansh as the language of best command in the entire canton File:Romanisch als verstandene Sprache 2003.PNG, Percentage of people reporting to understand Romansh in 2003 Overall, Jean-Jacques Furer concludes that the shrinkage of the Romansh-speaking areas is continuing, though at different rates depending on the region. At the same time, he notes that Romansh is still very much alive, a fact that is obvious in those areas where it retains a strong presence, such as most parts of the Surselva and the Lower Engadine. It is also assured that Romansh will continue to be transmitted for several more generations, even though each succeeding generation will be more and more rooted in German as well as Romansh. As a result, if the overall linguistic situation does not change, speakers will slowly become fewer and fewer with each generation. He also concludes however, that there are still enough speakers to ensure that Romansh will survive in the long term at least in certain regions. He considers the Romansh-language school system to be the single most crucial factor in this.

Phonology

Romansh has up to 26 consonant phonemes. Two are only found in some varieties, and one is found only in loanwords borrowed from German. Notes: : only in some dialects, notably Surmiran, and only word-finally as in ''paung'' 'bread'. : often transcribed as the palatal stops and in broad transcriptions. : only in some dialects, notably Putèr, and only word-finally as in ''amih'', 'friend'. : only occurs in German loanwords such as ''halunc'' 'crook'. : also pronounced in some dialects of Sursilvan. The voiced

obstruent An obstruent () is a speech sound such as , , or that is formed by ''obstructing'' airflow. Obstruents contrast with sonorants, which have no such obstruction and so resonate. All obstruents are consonants, but sonorants include vowels as well as ...

s are fully voiced in Romansh, in contrast to

with which Romansh is in extensive contact, and voiceless obstruents are non-aspirated. Voiced obstruents are devoiced word-finally, however, as in ''buob'' 'boy' > , ''chöd'' 'warm' > , ''saung'' 'blood' > , or ''clav'' 'key' > . The vowel inventory varies somewhat between dialects, as the front rounded vowels and are found only in Putèr and Vallader. They have historically been unrounded in the other varieties and are found only in recent loans from German there. They are not found in the pan-regional variety Rumantsch Grischun either. The now nearly extinct

dialects of the

have as in ''plànta'' 'plant, tree', but this is etymologically unrelated to the found in Putèr and Vallader. The exact realization of the phoneme varies from to depending on the dialect: / 'book'. It is regarded as either a marginal phoneme or not a separate phoneme from by some linguists. Word stress generally falls either on the last or the penult syllable of a word. Unstressed vowels are generally reduced to a

schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...

, whose exact pronunciation varies between or as in 'song'. Vowel length is predictable: * Unstressed vowels are short. * Stressed vowels in closed syllables (those with a

coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...

) are: *: long before *: short elsewhere * Stressed vowels in open syllables are: *: short before voiceless consonants *: long elsewhere The number of

diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...

s varies significantly between dialects. Sursilvan dialects contain eleven diphthongs and four triphthongs (, , , and ). Other dialects have different inventories; Putèr, for instance, lacks , , and as well as the triphthongs but has , which is missing in Sursilvan. A phenomenon known as "hardened diphthongs", in which the second vowel of a falling Diphthong is pronounced as , was once common in Putèr as well, but is nowadays limited to Surmiran: ''strousch'' 'barely > .

Orthography

Romansh is written in the Latin alphabet, and mostly follows a phonemic orthography, with a high correspondence between letters and sounds. The orthography varies slightly depending on the variety. The vowel inventories of the five regional written varieties differ widely (in particular in regards to diphthongs), and the pronunciation often differs depending on the dialect even within them. The orthography of

is particularly complex, allowing for different pronunciations of the vowels depending on the regional dialect, and is not treated in this table.

Morphology

The following description deals mainly with the Sursilvan dialect, which is the best-studied so far. The dialects Putèr and Vallader of the Engadine valley in particular diverge considerably from Sursilvan in many points. When possible, such differences are described. Nouns are not inflected for case in Romansh; the grammatical category is expressed through word order instead. As in most other Romance languages, Romansh nouns belong to two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. A definite article (masc. ''il'' or ''igl'' before a vowel; fem. ''la'') is distinguished from an indefinite article (masc. ''in'', ''egn'', ''en'' or ''ün'', depending on the dialect; fem. ''ina'', ''egna'', ''ena'' or ''üna''). The plural is usually formed by adding the suffix -s. In Sursilvan, masculine nouns are sometimes irregular, with the stem vowel alternating: * ''il mir'' 'the wall' – ''ils mirs'' 'the walls'. * ''la casa'' 'the house' – ''las casas'' 'the houses'. * irregular: ''igl iev'' 'the egg' – ''ils ovs'' 'the eggs'. A particularity of Romansh is the so-called "collective plural" to refer to a mass of things as a whole: * ''il crap'' 'the stone' – ''ils craps'' 'the stones'. * collective: ''la crappa'' 'rock'. Adjectives are declined according to gender and number. Feminine forms are always regular, but the stem vowel sometimes alternates in the masculine forms: * fem. ''bial'' (sg.) – ''biala'' (pl.) 'good' * masc. ''bien'' (sg.) – ''buns'' (pl.) 'good'. Sursilvan also distinguishes an attributive and predicative form of adjectives in the singular. This is not found in some of the other dialects however: * Attributive: ''in bien carstgaun'' 'a good human (person)' * Predicative : ''il carstgaun ei buns'' 'the human (person) is good' There are three singular and three plural pronouns in Romansh (Sursilvan forms shown below): There is a T–V distinction between familiar ''ti'' and polite ''vus''. Putèr and Vallader distinguish between familiar ''tü'' and ''vus'' and polite ''El/Ella'' and ''Els/Ellas''. Pronouns for the polite forms in Putèr and Vallader are always capitalized to distinguish them from third person pronouns: ''Eau cugnuosch a Sia sour'' "I know your sister" and ''Eau cugnuosch a sia sour'' "I know his/her sister". The 1st and 2nd person pronouns for a direct object have two distinct forms, with one occurring following the preposition ''a'': ''dai a mi tiu codisch'' 'give me your book'. A particularity of Sursilvan is that reflexive verbs are all formed with the reflexive pronoun ''se-'', which was originally only the third person pronoun: * ''jeu selavel'' 'I am washing myself'. * ''ti selaves'' 'you are washing yourself'. * ''el/ella selava'' 'he/she is washing her/himself'. * ''nus selavein'' 'we are washing ourselves'. * ''els/ellas selavan'' 'they are washing themselves'. The other Romansh dialects distinguish different reflexive pronouns however. Possessive pronouns occur in a pronominal and a predicative form that differ only in the masculine form, however: * ''miu tgaun'' 'my dog' – ''il tgaun ei mes'' 'the dog is mine'. * ''vies problem'' 'your problem' – ''quei problem ei vos'' 'that problem is yours'. The feminine remains the same: ''sia casa'' 'her/his house' – ''quella casa ei sia'' 'this house is hers/his' Three different demonstrative pronouns ''quel'', ''tschel'', and ''lez'' are distinguished: ''A quel fidel jeu, a tschel buc'' 'I trust that one, but not that other one' or ''Ed il bab, tgei vegn lez a dir?'' 'and the father, what is he going to say?'. Verb tenses are divided into synthetic forms (present, imperfect) and analytic forms (perfect, pluperfect, future, passive) distinguished by the grammatical moods indicative,

subjunctive The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...

conditional Conditional (if then) may refer to: * Causal conditional, if X then Y, where X is a cause of Y * Conditional probability, the probability of an event A given that another event B has occurred *Conditional proof, in logic: a proof that asserts a ...

, and imperative. These are most common forms in Sursilvan:

Syntax

The syntax of Romansh has not been thoroughly investigated so far. Regular word order is subject–verb–object, but subject-auxiliary inversion occurs in several cases, placing the verb at the beginning of a sentence: * To form a question: ''Eis el aunc cheu?'' – "Is he still there?". * In declarative sentences: ''Damaun mein nus en vacanzas'' – "Tomorrow, we go on vacation". * When an independent clause is placed after the

dependent clause A subordinate clause, dependent clause, subclause, or embedded clause is a clause that is embedded within a complex sentence. For instance, in the English sentence "I know that Bette is a dolphin", the clause "that Bette is a dolphin" occurs as t ...

: ''Cura ch'el ei entraus, ein tuts stai sin peis'' – "When he entered, everyone stood up". * As well as in other stylistic variations. These features are in close concord with German syntax, which has likely reinforced them. However, this need not mean that they are due entirely to language contact. In fact, similar tendencies can be observed in Old French. A sentence is

negated In logic, negation, also called the logical complement, is an operation that takes a proposition P to another proposition "not P", written \neg P, \mathord P or \overline. It is interpreted intuitively as being true when P is false, and false ...

by adding a negative particle. In Sursilvan, this is ''buc'', placed after the verb, while in other dialects such as Putèr and Vallader, it is ''nu'', placed before the verb: * Sursilvan: ''Jeu hai buc fatg quei'' – "I didn't do that". * Putèr: ''La vschinauncha nu vegn isoleda da la naiv'' – "The village does not get cut off by snow". A feature found only in Putèr and Vallader (as it is in Castilian Spanish) is the preposition of a direct object, when that direct object is a person or an animal, with ''a'', as in ''test vis a Peider?'' "did you see Peter?", ''eau d'he mno a spass al chaun'' "I took the dog out for a walk", but ''hest vis la baselgia?'' "did you see the church?".

Vocabulary

No systematic synchronic description of Romansh vocabulary has been carried out so far. Existing studies usually approach the subject from a historical perspective, taking particular interest in pre-Roman substratum, archaic words preserved only in Romansh, or in loan words from German. A project to compile together all known historic and modern Romansh vocabulary is the

Dicziunari Rumantsch Grischun The ''Dicziunari Rumantsch Grischun'' (abbreviation DRG) is the biggest dictionary of the Romansh language. Founded in 1904 by the Indo-Europeanist Robert von Planta and the Societad Retorumantscha, which still bears the responsibility for edit ...

, first published in 1904, with the 13th edition currently in preparation.

Raetic and Celtic

The influence of the languages ( Raetic and

) spoken in Grisons before the arrival of the Romans is most obvious in placenames, which are often pre-Roman. Since very little is known about the Celtic language once spoken in Grisons, and almost nothing about Raetic, words or placenames thought to come from them are usually simply referred to as "pre-Roman". Apart from placenames, such words are found in landscape features, plant and animal names unique to the Alps, and tools and methods related to alpine transhumance. Such words include: * Raetic: ''gnieu'' (Surs. ''igniv''; Suts. ''(a)gnieu, ugnieu''; Surm. ''nia''; Put., Val. ''gnieu''; Jauer ''agnieu'') 'nest, eyrie', ''ampauna'' (Surs. ''puauna''; Suts. ''omgia, ontga''; Surm. ''omgia''; Puter ''ampa''; Val. ''amp(u)a'') 'raspberry', ''izun'' (Surs. ''izun''; Suts. ''(n)izùn''; Surm. ''izung''; Put., Val. ''uzun''; Jauer ''anzola'') 'bilberry', ''chamutsch'' (Surs. ''camutsch''; Suts., Surm. ''tgamutsch''; Put., Val. ''chamuotsch'') '

', ''crap'' (all dialects) 'rock', ''gonda'' (Val.) 'scree slope', ''grip'' (Surs., Suts. ''grep''; Surm. ''crepel, crap''; Put., Val. ''grip'') 'cliff', ''grusaida'' (Surs. '; Put., Val. ''grusaida'') ' snow rose', ''panaglia'' (Surs. '; Val. ''panaglia'') '

butter churn A butter churn is a device used to convert cream into butter. This is done through a mechanical process, frequently via a pole inserted through the lid of the churn, or via a crank used to turn a rotating device inside the churn. Etymology The ...

', ''schember'' (Surs. ''schiember''; Suts., Surm. ''schember''; Put., Val. ''dschember'') ' Swiss pine' (< ''*gimberu'' < Raetic ''*𐌊𐌉𐌌𐌓𐌖 (*kimru, *gimru)''.), ''signun'' (Surs. '; Val. ''signun'', Put. ''signun, sain'') 'chief herder on a seasonal pasture' (cf.

''Senn''), ''tschess'' (Surs. ''tschéss''; Surm. ''tschess, tschissùn'') '(golden) eagle', ''urlaun'' (Surs.) ' ptarmigan'; * Celtic: ''carmun'' (Surs. ''carmun'') 'weasel', ''dischariel'' (Surs. ''derschalet''; Surm. ''darschalet, ischier''; Put., Val. ''dischöl'') 'goblin, nightmare', ''draig'' 'sieve', ''glitta'' (Surs. ''gliet(ta)'') 'silt, mud', ''grava'' (Surs. '; Val. ''grava'') ' scree', ''mat'' 'boy' ~ ''matta'' (Surs., Surm., Put., Val. ''matta''; Suts. ''mata'') 'girl', ''mellen'' (Surs. '; Surm., Put. ''mellen''; Suts. ''melen'') 'yellow', ''tegia'' (Surs. '; Suts., Surm. ''tigia''; Put. ''tegia''; Val. ''teja'') 'alpine hut', ''trutg'' (Surs., Suts. ''trutg''; Surm. ''trotg''; Put. ''truoch''; Val. ''truoi'') 'footpath, drove way', ''tschigrun'' (Surs. '; Put., Val. ''tschigrun'') 'whey cheese'. * Other Pre-Roman words include: ''chalun'' (Surs. ''calun''; Suts. ''calùn''; Surm. ''calung''; Put., Val. ''gialun'') 'hip' (< ''*galon''), ''tschanc'' (Put., Val.) 'left (hand)' (< ''*čaŋk, *čamp''),Krefeld (1994). p. 277 ''lisüra'' (Put., Val.) 'joint, link' (< ''*lisura''). Some other possibly Pre-Roman origin words are: ''tatona'' (Surs., Suts. ''totona''; Surm. ''tutona'') 'nape of the neck, back of the neck',cf. Krefeld (1994). p. 276 ''brentina'' (Surs. ''brentina''; Suts. ''brenta, brantgegna''; Surm. ''brainta''; Val. ''brenta'') 'fog, mist', ''dascha'' (Val.) 'twig'.

Latin stock

Like all languages, Romansh has its own archaisms, that is, words derived from Latin that in most other Romance languages have fallen out of use or taken niche meanings. Examples include ''baselgia'' 'church' (

Vegliote Dalmatian () or Dalmatic (; dlm, langa dalmata, link=no or simply ; it, lingua dalmatica, dalmatico; sh, dalmatski) was a Romance language that was spoken in the Dalmatia region of present-day Croatia, and as far south as Kotor in Monteneg ...

''bašalka'',

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

''biserică'',

''basilique'' for a basilica), ''nuidis'' 'grudgingly, reluctantly' from Latin ''invitus'', ''urar'' 'to pray' ( Portuguese ''orar'',

''a ura'' – to wish), ''aura'' 'weather' ( Old French ''ore'', Aromanian ''avrî''), ''scheiver'' 'carnival', ''cudesch'' 'book', the last two of which are only found in Romansh. The non-Engadinese dialects retain ''anceiver'' ~ ''entschaiver'' 'to begin', from Latin ''incipere'', otherwise found only in Romanian ''începe'', whereas Surmiran and Engadinese (Putèr, Vallader) and all other Romance languages retain a reflex of Latin *''cuminitiāre'', e.g. Engadinese ''(s)cumanzar'', Italian ''cominciare'', French ''commencer''. Other examples are ''memia'' (adv.) 'too much' from Latin ''nimia'' (adj., fem.), only found in

Old Occitan Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label=Occitan language, Modern Occitan, ca, occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteen ...

, ''vess'' 'difficult' from Latin ''vix'' 'seldom' (cf.

Old Spanish Old Spanish, also known as Old Castilian ( es, castellano antiguo; osp, romance castellano ), or Medieval Spanish ( es, español medieval), was originally a dialect of Vulgar Latin spoken in the former provinces of the Roman Empire that provided ...

''abés'', Romanian ''abia'' < ''ad vix''), and Engadinese ''encleger'' 'to understand' (vs. non-Engadinese ''capir''), also found in Romanian ''înțelege'' and

''(n)dëgjoj'', from Latin ''intellegere''. Some unique innovations include ''tedlar'' 'to listen' from Latin ''titulare'' and ''patertgar'' 'to think' from ''pertractare''.

Germanic loanwords

Another distinguishing characteristic of Romansh vocabulary is its numerous Germanic loanwords. Some Germanic loan words already entered the language in Late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages, and they are often found in other Romance languages as well. Words more particular to Romansh include Surs./ Suts. ''tschadun'', Surm. ''sdom''/''sdong'', Engad. ''sdun'' 'spoon', which is also found in

as ''sciadon'' and Friulian as ''sedòn'' and is thought to go back to Ostrogothic *skeitho, and it was once probably common throughout Northern Italy. Another such early loan is ''bletsch'' 'wet', which probably goes back to Old Frankish ''blettjan'' 'to squeeze', from where French ''blesser'' 'to wound' is also derived. The change in meaning probably occurred by the way of 'bruised fruit', as is still found in French ''blet''. Early Germanic loans found more commonly in the other Romance languages includes Surs./Vall. ''blau'', Suts. ''blo''/''blova'', Surm. ''blo''/''blava'', Put. ''blov'' 'blue', which is derived from Germanic ''blao'' and also found for instance in French as ''bleu'' and Italian as ''blu''. Others were borrowed into Romansh during the Old High German period, such as ''glieud'' 'people' from OHG ''liut'' or Surs. ''uaul'', Suts. ''gòld'', Surm. ''gôt'', eng. ''god'' 'forest' from OHG ''wald''. Surs. ''baul'', Suts. ''bòld'', Engad. ''bod'' 'soon, early, nearly' is likely derived from Middle High German ''bald, balde'' 'keen, fast' as are Surs. ''nez'', Engad. ''nüz'' 'use' from Middle High German ''nu(t)z'', or ''losch'' 'proud' likely from Middle High German ''lôs''. Other examples include Surs. ''schuber'' 'clean' from Swiss German ''suuber'', Surs. ''schumber'' 'drum' from Swiss German or Middle High German ''sumber'', and Surs. ''schufar'' 'to drink greedily' from Swiss German ''suufe''. Some words were adapted into Romansh through different dialects of German, such as the word for 'farmer', borrowed as ''paur'' from Bavarian in Vallader and Putèr, but from

as ''pur'' in the other dialects. In addition, many German words entered Romansh beginning in the 19th century, when numerous new objects and ideas were introduced. Romansh speakers often simply adopted the German words, such as ''il zug'' 'the train' or ''il banhof'' 'the train station'. Language purists attempted to coin new Romansh words instead, which were occasionally successful in entering popular usage. Whereas ''il tren'' and ''la staziun'' managed to replace ''il zug'' and ''il banhof'', other German words have become established in Romansh usage, such as ''il schalter'' 'the switch', ''il hebel'' 'the lever', ''la schlagbohrmaschina'' 'the hammer drill', or ''in schluc'' 'a sip'. Especially noticeable are interjections such as ''schon'', ''aber'' or ''halt'', which have become established in everyday language. In a few cases, there was a semantic shift, such as ''uaffen'', "tool", derived from ''Waffe'', "weapon".

Language contact

Romansh speakers have been in close contact with speakers of German dialects such as Alemannic and Bavarian for centuries, as well as speakers of various Italian dialects and Standard German more recently. These languages have influenced Romansh, most strongly the vocabulary, whereas the German and Italian influences on morphology and syntax are much more limited. This means that despite German influence, Romansh has remained a Romance language in its core structure. Romansh linguist Ricarda Liver also notes that an influence of Swiss German on intonation is obvious, in particular in the Sursilvan dialect, even though this has so far not been linguistically studied. The influence of German is generally strongest in the Rhenish varieties Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, and Sursilvan, where French loanwords (frequently not borrowed directly but transmitted through German) are also more numerous. In the dialects of the Engadine, by contrast, the influence of Italian is stronger. In the Engadinese written languages, Putèr and Vallader, Italian-influenced spellings, learned words, and derivations were previously abundant, for instance in Zaccaria Pallioppi's 1895 dictionary, but came under scrutiny at the start of the 20th century and were gradually eliminated from the written language. Following reforms of the written languages of the Engadine, many of these Italian words fell out of usage (such as ''contadin'' 'farmer' instead of ''paur'', ''nepotin'' 'nephew' rather than ''abiadi'', ''ogni'' 'everyone' instead of ''inmincha'', ''saimper'' 'always' instead of ''adüna'', and ''abbastanza'' 'enough' instead of ''avuonda''), while others persisted as synonyms of more traditional Ladin words (such as ''tribunal'' 'court' alongside ''drettüra'', ''chapir'' alongside ''incleger'', and ''testimoni'' 'witness' alongside ''perdütta''). Aside from the written language, everyday Romansh was also influenced by Italian through the large number of emigrants, especially from the Engadine, to Italy, the so-called Randulin. These emigrants often returned with their Romansh speech influenced by Italian.Grünert, Matthias (2010). Ein italienischer Streifzug durch die Rumantschia. Mitteilungen VBK ikg, (10):23–27. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2016 from https://www.zora.uzh.ch/33261/2/2010_02__Ein_Italienischer_Streifzug_durch_die_Rumantschia.pdf

German loanwords

German loanwords entered Romansh as early as the Old High German period in the Early Middle Ages, and German has remained an important source of vocabulary since. Many of these words have been in use in Romansh for long enough that German speakers no longer recognize them as German, and for morphological derivations of them to have appeared, in particular through the suffix ''-egiar ~ iar'', as in Surs. ''baghegiar'', sut. ''biagear'', Surm. ''biagier'', Put. ''biager'', Vall. ''bear'' 'to build', derived from Middle High German ''bûwen''. Other examples include ''malegiar'' 'to paint' (← ''malen''), ''schenghegiar'' 'to give (a present)' (← ''schenken''), ''schazegiar'' 'to estimate' (← ''schätzen''), or Surs. ''betlegiar'' (sut. ''batlagear'', Surm./Put. ''batlager'', Vall. ''supetliar'') 'to beg', derived from Swiss German ''bettle'' with the same meaning. Nouns derived from these verbs include ''maletg'' 'painting', ''schenghetg'' 'gift', ''schazetg'' 'estimation', or ''bagetg'' 'building'. The adjective ''flissi'' 'hard-working' has given rise to the noun ''flissiadad'' 'industriousness'. The word ''pur'' has given rise to derived words such as ''pura'' 'farmwife, female farmer' or ''puranchel'' 'small-time farmer', as has ''buob'' ‘boy’ from Swiss German ''bueb'' ‘boy’, with the derivations ''buoba'' ‘girl’ and ''buobanaglia'' ‘crowd of children’.

Italian and Gallo-italic loanwords

Common nouns of Italian origin include ''resposta/risposta'' 'answer', ''vista/vesta'' 'view', ''proposta'' 'proposal', ''surpresa/surpraisa'' 'surprise', and ''offaisa/offesa'' 'insult'. In Ladin, many such nouns are borrowed or derived from Italian and end in –a, whereas the same group of nouns in Sursilvan frequently ends in –iun and where borrowed either from French or formed through analogy with Latin. Examples include ''pretensiun'' ‘opinion, claim’ vs. ''pretaisa'', ''defensiun'' ‘defense’ vs. ''defaisa'', or ''confirmaziun'' ‘confirmation’ vs. ''conferma''. Other Italian words used throughout Romansh include the words for 'nail', which are derived from Italian ''acuto'' 'sharp', which has yielded Sur. ''guota'', Sut. ''guta'', Surm. ''gotta'', and Ladin ''guotta/aguotta'', whereas the Romansh word for 'sharp' itself (Rhenish: ''git'', Ladin ''agüz'') is derived from the same Latin source ACUTUM. Words from Lombard and

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

related to crafts include Ladin ''marangun'' 'carpenter' (← Venetian ''marangon''), as opposed to ''lennari'' in other Romansh dialects, ''chazzoula'' 'trowel' (← Lombard ''cazzola''), or ''filadè'' 'spinning wheel' (← Lombard ''filadel''). Other words include culinary items such as ''macaruns'' 'macaroni' (← ''maccheroni''); ''tschiculatta/tschugalata'' 'chocolate' (← ''cioccolata'' or Lombard ''ciculata/cicolata''), Ladin and Surmiran ''limun/limung'' 'lemon' as opposed to Sursilvan ''citrona'' (← ''limone''), ''giabus/baguos'' 'cabbage' (← Lombard ''gabüs''), ''chanella/canella'' 'cinnamon' (← ''cannella''). In Sursilvan, the word ''ogna'' 'flat cake' can be found, which is derived from Italian ''lasagna'', with the initial ''las-'' having been mistaken for the plural article, and the vowel having been adapted to Sursilvan sound patterns through analogy with words such as ''muntogna'' 'mountain'. Others are words for animals such as ''lodola'' 'lark' (← ''lodola'') or ''randulina'' 'swallow' (← Lombard ''randulina''), as well as Ladin ''scarafagi/scarvatg'' 'beetle' (← ''scarafaggio''). Other Italian words include ''impostas'' 'taxes' (← ''imposte''; as opposed to Rhenish ''taglia''), ''radunanza/radunonza'' 'assembly' (← ''radunanza''), Ladin ''ravarenda'' '(Protestant) priest' (← ''reverendo''), ''bambin'' 'Christmas child (giftbringer)' (← ''Gesù Bambino''), ''marchadant/marcadont'' 'merchant' (← ''mercatante'') or ''butia/buteia'' 'shop' (← ''bottega''). In Ladin, Italian borrowings also include words groups not usually borrowed readily. Examples include pronouns such as ''qualchosa'' 'something' (← ''qualcosa''), ''listess'' 'the same one' (← Lombard or Venetian ''l'istess''), adverbs such as ''apunta'' 'exactly' (← ''appunto''), ''magara/magari'' 'fairly/quite' (← ''magari''), prepositions like ''dürant/duront'' 'during' (← ''durante'') and ''malgrà/malgrad'' 'despite' (← ''malgrado''), and conjunctions such as ''però'' 'but' (← ''però'') and ''fin cha'' 'until' (← ''finché''). Most of these are confined to Ladin, with some exceptions such as Sursilvan ''magari'', ''duront'', and ''malgrad''.

Germanic calques

Aside from outright loanwords, the German influence on Romansh often takes the form of calques, where Romanic vocabulary has taken on the meaning of German words, summed up by Italian dialect

olog The theory of ologs is an attempt to provide a rigorous mathematical framework for knowledge representation, construction of scientific models and data storage using category theory, linguistic and graphical tools. Ologs were introduced in 2010 ...

ist Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...

Graziadio Isaia Ascoli in 1880 as "''materia romana e spirito tedesco''" ("Roman body and German soul"). The earliest examples go back to

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

times and show the influence of Germanic law. Such words include ''tschentament'' 'statute', a derivation of the verb ''tschentar'' (from Latin *''sedentare'' 'to sit') as an analogy to Middle High German ''satzunge'' or Surs./sut./Surm. ''lètg'', Put. ''alach'', Vall. ''lai'' 'marriage', derived from Latin ''legem'' (accusative singular of ''lēx'' 'law'), with the meaning of Middle High German ''ê, ewe''. A more recent example of a loan translation is the verb ''tradir'' 'to betray', which has taken on the additional meaning of German ''verraten'' of 'to give away' as in ''tradir in secret'' 'to give away a secret', originally covered by the verb ''revelar''. Particularly common are combinations of verbs with

locative adverb A locative adverb is a type of adverb that refers to a location or to a combination of a location and a relation to that location. Generally, a locative adverb is semantically equivalent to a prepositional phrase involving a locative or directiona ...

s, such as ''vegnir cun'' 'to accompany' (literally 'to come with'), ''vegnir anavos'' 'to come back', ''far cun'' 'to participate' (literally 'to do with'), ''far giu'' 'to agree on' (literally 'to do down'), or ''grodar tras'' 'to fail' (literally 'to fall through'). Whereas such verbs also occur sporadically in other Romance languages as in French ''prendre avec'' 'to take along' or Italian ''andare via'' 'to go away', the large number in Romansh suggests an influence of German, where this pattern is common. However,

prepositional verb In the traditional grammar of Modern English, a phrasal verb typically constitutes a single semantic unit composed of a verb followed by a particle (examples: ''turn down'', ''run into'' or ''sit up''), sometimes combined with a preposition (e ...

s are also common in the (Romance) Lombard language spoken in the bordering Swiss and Italian regions. The verbs ''far cun'' 'to participate' or ''grodar tras'' 'to fail' for example, are direct equivalents of German ''mitmachen'' (from ''mit'' 'with' and ''machen'' 'to do) and ''durchfallen'' (from ''durch'' 'through' and ''fallen'' 'to fall'). Less integrated into the Romansh verbal system are constructions following the pattern of ''far il'' ('doing the') + a German infinitive. Examples include ''far il löten'' 'to solder', ''far il würzen'' 'to season', or ''far il vermissen'' 'to miss, to feel the absence of'. German also often serves as a model for the creation of new words. An example is Surs. ''tschetapuorla'' 'vacuum cleaner', a compound of ''tschitschar'' 'to suck' and ''puorla'' 'dust', following the model of German ''Staubsauger'' – the Italian word, ''aspirapolvere'' possibly being itself a calque on the German word. The Engadinese dialects on the other hand have adopted ''aspiradur'' from Italian ''aspiratore'', which, however, does not mean "vacuum cleaner". A skyscraper, which is a direct loan translation from English in many Romance languages (as in French ''gratte-ciel'', Italian ''grattacielo''), is a loan translation of German ''Wolkenkratzer'' (literally 'cloud-scraper') in Sursilvan: ''il sgrattaneblas'' (from ''sgrattar'' 'to scratch' and ''neblas'' 'clouds'). The Engadinese varieties again follow the Italian pattern of ''sgrattatschêl'' (from ''tschêl'' 'sky'). A more recent word is ''la natelnumra'' 'the cell phone number', which follows the word order of Swiss German ''Natelnummer'', and is found alongside ''la numra da natel''. Examples of idiomatic expressions include Surs. ''dar in canaster'', Engad. ''dar ün dschierl'', a direct translation of German 'einen Korb geben', literally meaning 'to hand a basket', but used in the sense of 'turning down a marriage proposal' or ''esser ligiongia ad enzatgi'', a loan translation of the German expression ''jemandem Wurst sein'', literally meaning 'to be sausage to someone' but meaning 'not cared about, to be unimportant'.

Morphosyntax

Apart from vocabulary, the influence of German is noticeable in grammatical constructions, which are sometimes closer to German than to other Romance languages. For instance, Romansh is the only Romance language in which indirect speech is formed using the

subjunctive mood The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...

, as in Sursilvan ''El di ch'el seigi malsauns'', Putèr ''El disch ch'el saja amalo'', 'He says that he is sick', as compared to Italian ''Dice che è malato'' or French ''Il dit qu'il est malade''. Ricarda Liver attributes this to the influence of German. Limited to Sursilvan is the insertion of entire phrases between auxiliary verbs and participles as in ''Cun Mariano Tschuor ha Augustin Beeli discurriu'' 'Mariano Tschuor has spoken with Augustin Beeli' as compared to Engadinese ''Cun Rudolf Gasser ha discurrü Gion Peider Mischol'' 'Rudolf Gasser has spoken with Gion Peider Mischol'. In contemporary spoken language, adjective forms are often not distinguished from adverbs, as in Sursilvan ''Jeu mon direct'' 'I am going directly', rather than ''Jeu mon directamein''. This usage is rare in most other Romance languages with a few sporadic exceptions as in French ''parler haut'' or Italian ''vosà fort'' 'speak aloud', and the common usage in colloquial Romansh is likely an influence from German. Especially noticeable and often criticized by language purists are particles such as ''aber'', ''schon'', ''halt'', ''grad'', ''eba'', or ''zuar'', which have become an integral part of everyday Romansh speech, especially in Sursilvan. Negation was originally formed by a double negative in all Romansh dialects. Today, this usage is limited to Surmiran as in ''ia na sa betg'' 'I do not know' (it has also been included in panregional Rumantsch Grischun). While the first particle was lost in Sursilvan, where negation is now formed only with ''buc'' as in ''jeu sai buc'', the Ladin varieties lost the second particle ''brich(a)'', apparently under the influence of Italian, as in Putér ''eau nu se''.

Romansh influences on German

The influence of Romansh on the local vernacular German has not been studied as thoroughly as vice versa. Apart from place names throughout the former speech area of Romansh, only a handful of Romansh words have become part of wider German usage. Such words include "Gletscher" 'glacier' or "Murmeltier" 'marmot' (derived from Romansh ''murmunt''), as well as culinary items such as

Maluns Maluns are a traditional dish of the Grisons. They are essentially made of boiled and grated potatoes mixed with flour. The mixture is then slowly fried in butter until it breaks into little balls or crumbs. The dish is typically served with a com ...

or Capuns. The Romansh influence is much stronger in the German dialects of Grisons. It is sometimes controversially suspected that the pronunciation /k/ or /h/ in words such as ''Khind'' and ''bahe'', as opposed to /x/ in other Swiss German dialects (''Chind'' and ''bache''), is an influence of Romansh.Treffers-Daller & Willemyns (2002). ''Language Contact at the Romance-Germanic Language Border''. pp. 130–131 In morphosyntax, the use of the auxiliary verb ''kho'' 'to come' as opposed to ''wird'' 'will' in phrases such as ''leg di warm a, sunscht khunscht krank'' ('put on warm clothes, otherwise you will get sick') in Grisons-German is sometimes attributed to Romansh, as well as the lack of a distinction between the accusative and dative case in some Grisons-German dialects and the word order in phrases such as ''i tet froge jemand wu waiss'' ('I would ask someone who knows'). In addition, some words, neuter in most dialects of German, are masculine in Grisons-German. Examples include ''der Brot'' 'the bread' or ''der Gäld'' 'the money'. Common words of Romansh origin in Grisons-German include ''Spus/Spüslig'' 'bridegroom' and ''Spus'' 'bride', ''Banitsch'' 'cart used for moving dung', and ''Pon'' 'container made of wood'. In areas where Romansh either is still spoken or has disappeared recently, Romansh words are even more common in the local dialects of German.

Attitudes towards language contact

The influence of German has been seen in different ways by linguists and language activists. The Italian dialectologist Ascoli for instance described Romansh as "a body that has lost its soul and taken on an entirely foreign one in its place" in the 1880s. This opinion was shared by many, who saw the influence of German as a threat to and corruption of Romansh, often referring to it as a disease infecting Romansh. This view was prevalent until after World War II, with many contemporary linguists and activists by contrast seeing these loan elements as completely natural and as an integral part of Romansh, which should be seen as an enrichment of the language. This position is currently held among others by the language activists Bernard Cathomas, Iso Camartin, or Alexi Decurtins, who argue for a relaxed attitude towards loan elements, which they point out are often among the most down-to-earth elements of the language, and that the dual nature of Romansh can also be seen as an advantage in being open to cultural elements from both sides. This position is also shared by several contemporary authors in particular from the Surselva, such as

Arno Camenisch Arno Camenisch (born 1 February 1978 in the village of Tavanasa in the Swiss Canton Grisons) is a Swiss writer publishing in German and Romansh. Biography Camenisch grew up in Tavanasa and moved to Chur to study at a teacher training college ...

, who makes heavy use of Germanisms in his works.

Literature, music and media

Romansh had a rich oral tradition before the appearance of Romansh writing, but apart from songs such as the ''Canzun da Sontga Margriata'', virtually none of it survives. Prior to the 16th century, Romansh writings are known from only a few fragments, although the Swiss Literary Archives do have a number of collections of Romansh literature, spanning from the late 19th to the early 21st century. The oldest known written records of Romansh dating from the period before 1500 are: * the ''Würzburg manuscript'' (10th century); * the ''Einsiedeln Homily'' dates from the early 12th century, discovered in 1907, and consists of a few lines, in an early form of the Romonsch dialect, of interlinear translation (with the original Latin text) of a sermon attributed to St Augustine; * the ''Müstair linguistic monument'' dated 1389 and consisting of a fragment of a document about grazing rights on common land in the

, it is a court testimony in Romansh attested in an otherwise Latin document: SynopsisRumantsch

The first substantial surviving work in Romansh is the ''Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs'' written in the Putèr dialect in 1527 by

. It is an epic poem describing the First Musso war which Travers himself had taken part in. Subsequent works usually have religious themes, including Bible translations, manuals for religious instructions, and biblical plays. In 1560, the first Romansh translation of the New Testament: ''L'g Nuof Sainc Testamaint da nos Signer Jesu Christ'' by Giachem Bifrun, was published. Two years later, in 1562, another writer from the Engadine, Durich Chiampel, published the ''Cudesch da Psalms'', a collection of Romansh church songs in the Vallader dialect. In the Sursilvan dialect, the first surviving works are also religious works such as catechism by

, and in 1611 ''Ilg Vêr Sulaz da pievel giuvan'' ("The true joys of young people"), a series of religious instructions for Protestant youths was published by

. Four years later in 1615, a Catholic catechism ''Curt Mussament'' was published in response, written by

. The first translation of the New Testament into Sursilvan was published in 1648 by the son of Steffan Gabriel,

. The first complete translation of the Bible, the ''Bibla da Cuera'' was published between 1717 and 1719. In music, choirs have a long tradition in the Romansh-speaking areas. Apart from traditional music and song, Romansh is also used in contemporary pop or hip-hop music, some of which has become known outside the Romansh-speaking regions, for instance, in the Eurovision Song Contest 1989, Switzerland was represented by a Romansh song, ''Viver senza tei''. Since 2004, the hip-hop group

Liricas Analas Liricas Analas is a rap crew from the canton of Grisons, G R . Switzerland. Their first album, ''Analogia'', is the first rap album in the Romansh language Romansh (; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch; Sursilvan: ; Vallader, Surm ...

has become known even outside of Grisons through their Romansh songs. Other contemporary groups include the rock-band ''Passiunai'' with its lead singer

Pascal Gamboni Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to: People and fictional characters * Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name * Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** Blaise Pascal, Fren ...

, or the rock/pop band

The Capoonz ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

. Composer Gion Antoni Derungs has written three operas with Romansh librettos: ''Il cerchel magic'' (1986), ''Il semiader'' (1998) and ''Tredeschin'' (2000). Engadinder-Post-Posta-Ladina

Romansh is used to varying extents in newspapers, the radio, and television. Radio and television broadcasts in Romansh are produced by the Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha, which is part of the Swiss public broadcasting company

SRG SSR The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (german: Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft; french: Société suisse de radiodiffusion et télévision; it, Società svizzera di radiotelevisione; rm, Societad Svizra da Radio e Televisiun; SRG ...

. The radio Radio Rumantsch broadcasts a 24-hour program including informational and music broadcasts. The broadcasters generally speak their own regional dialect on the air, which is considered a key factor in familiarizing Romansh speakers with the dialects outside their home region. News broadcasts are generally in the pan-regional variety Rumantsch Grischun. The two local radio stations Radio Grischa and

Radio Engiadina Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

occasionally broadcast in Romansh, but primarily use German. The Televisiun Rumantscha airs regular broadcasts on

SF 1 SRF 1 (''SRF eins'') is a German-language Swiss television channel, one of three produced by the SRG SSR public-service broadcasting group (the others being SRF zwei and SRF info). The channel, formerly known as SF1, was renamed on 16 Decembe ...

, which are subtitled in German. Programs include the informational broadcast , which is broadcast daily from Monday to Friday. The children's show and the informational broadcast are aired on weekends. Additionally, the shows , , and others are broadcast during irregular intervals. The Romansh newspapers used to be heavily fragmented by regions and dialects. The more long-lived newspapers included the '' Gasetta Romontscha'' in the Surselva, the '' Fögl Ladin'' in the Engadine, '' Casa Paterna/La Punt'' in the Sutselva, and ''

La Pagina da Surmeir LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on Figure 8 ( ...

'' in the Surmeir. Due to financial difficulties, most of these merged into a pan-regional daily newspaper called ''

La Quotidiana ''La Quotidiana'' is the only Romansh daily newspaper. It is published by the Südostschweiz Mediengruppe and was founded in 1997 with support from the Romansh news agency Agentura da Novitads Rumantscha. The newspaper is based in Ilanz, previous ...

'' in 1997. This newspaper includes articles in all five dialects and in Rumantsch Grischun. Apart from ''La Quotidiana'', ''La Pagina da Surmeir'' continues to be published to a regional audience, and the '' Engadiner Post'' includes two pages in Romansh. A Romansh news agency, the

Agentura da Novitads Rumantscha Agentura. Ru (Russian: Агентура.Ру) is a Russian web-site founded in 2000 as an online community of journalists who cover terrorism, and intelligence agencies. From 2000 to 2006 the web-site was supported by ISP Relcom and since 2006 Age ...

, has been in existence since 1997. Several Romansh-language magazines are also published regularly, including the youth magazine ''Punts'' and the yearly publications ''

Calender Romontsch A calender is a series of hard pressure rollers used to finish or smooth a sheet of material such as paper, textiles, rubber, or plastics. Calender rolls are also used to form some types of plastic films and to apply coatings. Some calend ...

'' and '' Chalender Ladin''. In September 2018 ''

Amur senza fin ''Hide and Seek'' ( rm, Amur senza fin, lit=Endless love) is a Swiss romantic comedy-drama film directed by Christoph Schaub. It is the first-ever Romansh language television film and made its debut at the Locarno Festival. The film was also scre ...

'', the first-ever Romansh-language television film, debuted on Swiss national television.

Sample text

The fable The Fox and the Crow by Aesop with a French version by

Jean de La Fontaine Jean de La Fontaine (, , ; 8 July 162113 April 1695) was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his ''Fables'', which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Euro ...

; translated into the Dachsprache Rumantsch Grischun and all six dialects of Romansh: Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter, and the similar-looking but noticeably different-sounding dialects Vallader and Jauer, as well as a translation into English.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * Bundesamt für Statistik. (2021, 25 January). Hauptsprachen in der Schweiz, 2019. Downloaded from https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/bevoelkerung/sprachen-religionen/sprachen.assetdetail.15384655.html ccessed 16 April 2021 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Website of the ''Lia Rumantscha'' organization

Radio Televisiun Rumantscha

* ttp://www.e-lir.ch Lexicon Istoric Retic (LIR)– Encyclopedia about Switzerland. Partial translation of the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland in Romansh with additional articles.
Romansh basic lexicon (several dialects) at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
* Dictionaries *
Romansh-English, with different Romansh dialects
*
Romansh-German/German-Romansh
{{Authority control Definitely endangered languages Rhaeto-Romance languages