Jauer (, ) is a

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

of Romansh that is spoken in the Val Müstair. It is closely related to the neighboring dialect of the

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

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

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

Sociolinguistics

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

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

Rumantsch Grischun Romansh ( ; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch) is a Gallo-Romance and/or Rhaeto-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Grisons (Graubünden). Romansh has been recognized as a national language of Switzer ...

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

Swiss German Swiss German (Standard German: , ,Because of the many different dialects, and because there is no #Conventions, defined orthography for any of them, many different spellings can be found. and others; ) is any of the Alemannic German, Alemannic ...

and

Swiss Standard German Swiss Standard German (SSG; ), or Swiss High German ( or ; ), referred to by the Swiss as , or , is the written form of one (German language, German) of four languages of Switzerland, national languages in Switzerland, besides French language, Fr ...

. Additionally, many people in Val Müstair also speak

Bavarian German Bavarian (; ), alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a group of Upper German varieties spoken in the south-east of the German language area, including the German state of Bavaria, most of Austria, and South Tyrol in Italy. Prior to 1945, Bavarian ...

as a second language due to contacts with neighboring

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

Sample text

The fable The Fox and the Crow by

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

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

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

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

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

Notes

References

* {{Rhaeto-Romance languages Romansh dialects