Romansh
Rumantsch, Romontsch, Rumauntsch, Rumàntsch
Sursilvan house inscription in Trun
Pronunciation	[rʊˈmantʃ], [ʁoˈmɔntʃ], [rʊˈmɛntʃ], [rʊˈmaʊ̯ntʃ], [rʊˈmœntʃ]
Spoken in	Switzerland
Region	Grisons (Graubünden)
Ethnicity	Romansh Swiss
Native speakers	35,000 (language of best command)  (2000)[1] 60,000 (regular speakers)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Romance Western Gallo-Romance Rhaeto-Romance Romansh
Standard forms	Rumantsch Grischun Putèr Sutsilvan Surmiran Sursilvan Vallader
Dialects	Sursilvan Vallader Surmiran Putèr Sutsilvan Jauer Tuatschin
Writing system	Latin
Official status
Official language in	Switzerland
Language codes
ISO 639-1	rm
ISO 639-2	roh
ISO 639-3	roh
Linguasphere	51-AAA-k
The traditional Romansh-speaking parts of Switzerland (dark green)
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Romansh (also spelled Romansch, Rumants(c)h, or Romanche; Romansh: rumantsch/rumauntsch/romontsch/rumàntsch; German: Rätoromanisch; Italian: Romancio) is one of the four national languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian and French. It is one of the Rhaeto-Romance languages, descended from the Vulgar Latin spoken by Roman era occupiers of the region, and as such is closely related to French, Occitan, and Lombard, as well as the other Romance languages to a lesser extent.

In the 2000 Swiss Census, it was spoken by 35,095 people in Switzerland as the language of "best command", of which 27,038 resided in the canton of Grisons (Graubünden) and by 61,815 in the "best command" plus "regularly spoken" categories.^[2] Spoken by around 0.9% of Switzerland's 7.7 million inhabitants, it is Switzerland's least-used national language in terms of number of speakers and the tenth most spoken language in Switzerland overall.

Linguistic Classification[link]

Romansh is a Romance language descending from Vulgar Latin, the spoken language of the Roman Empire. Within the Romance languages, Romansh stands out through its peripheral location, which manifests itself through several archaic features. Another distinguishing feature is the centuries-long language contact with German, which is most noticeable in the vocabulary and to a lesser extent the syntax of Romansh. Romansh belongs to the Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages, which includes languages such as French, Occitan, and Lombard alongside Romansh. The main feature placing Romansh within the Gallo-Romance languages is the fronting of Latin /u/ to [y] or [i] as seen in Latin muru 'wall', which is  mür (help·info) or  mir (help·info) in Romansh. The main features distinguishing Romansh from the Gallo-Italic languages to the south are:

• Palatalization of Latin K and G in front of A, as in Latin cane 'dog', which is  tgaun (help·info) in Sursilvan, tgang in Surmiran, and  chaun (help·info) in Putèr and Vallader (the difference between <tg> and <ch> being purely orthographic). 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  casa (help·info) and Putèr  chesa (help·info) 'house'.
• Retention of word-final -s as in buns chavals 'good horses' as opposed to Italian buoni cavalli.
• Retention of L following /p b k g f/: Latin clavem 'key' > clav as opposed to Italian chiave.^[3]

Whether or not Romansh forms a separate subgroup within Gallo-Romance together with Friulan and Ladin known as Rhaeto-Romance is an unresolved issue, known as the Questione ladina. Some linguists posit that these languages are descended from a common language, which was then fractured geographically through the spread of German and Italian. This position goes back to the Italian linguist Graziadio Ascoli who first made the claim in 1873.^[4] The other position is that any similarities between these three languages can be explained through their relative geographic isolation, which shielded them from linguistic changes, whereas the Gallo-Italic varieties of northern Italy were more open to linguistic influences from the south. Linguists who take this position often point out that the similarities between the languages are comparatively few.^[5] This position was first introduced by the Italian dialectologist Carlo Battisti. This purely linguistic dispute acquired a political relevance within the Italian irredentist movement. Italian nationalists interpreted the hypothesis of Battisti as implying that Romansh, Friulan, and Ladin were not separate languages but rather dialects of Italian. This was then used as a way to claim the territories where these languages were spoken for Italy.^[6] Today, Romansh is not considered an Italian dialect, primarily because the Romansh-speaking area is otherwise German-speaking; the Romance languages spoken in Italophone territory, such as Lombard, are called "Italian dialects" despite being in the same Gallo-Romance subgroup as Romansh.

Geographic distribution[link]

Romansh as a habitually spoken language in Grisons in 2000
  90–100%   75–90%   55–75%
  45- 55%   25–45%   10–25%

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 Swiss canton of Grisons; the last areas outside the canton to speak Romansh, the Vinschgau in South Tyrol, became German-speaking in the 17th century. Inside Grisons, the language borders largely stabilized in the 16th century and remained almost unchanged until the 19th century.^[7] 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.^[8] The villages of Samnaun, Sils im Domleschg, Masein, and Urmein, 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.

Romansh as the language of best command in Grisons in 2000
  90–100%   75–90%   55–75%
  45- 55%   25–45%   10–25%

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,^[9] while Romansh is either extinct or only spoken by a small minority in the remaining 18 municipalities within the traditional language area. In total, Romansh was the language of best command for 24,016 people within the traditional language area in 2000, representing 32.8%.^[10] In 1880 by contrast, 35,742 had declared Romansh as their native language, representing 85.9% of the population of the traditional Romansh language area.^[7] 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 is found in the capital of Grisons, Chur, as well as in Swiss cities outside of Grisons. The number of Romansh speakers residing outside the Canton of Grisons represents 33,7% of all habitual users of Romansh,^[11] and about 20% of those who declared Romansh as their language of best command in 2000.^[12] About 10% of all Romansh speakers reside in parts of Grisons outside the traditional Romansh language area.

The presence of Romansh within its traditional language area varies from region to region. Whereas it is the every day language for virtually the entire population in some areas, in others the only remaining speakers of Romansh have moved there from elsewhere. In the Surselva region, it is the habitually spoken language of 78.5% and the language of best command of 66%. Within Surselva, the western areas Cadi and Val Lumnezia usually have around 80% Romansh speakers, whereas it is only around 50% in the Gruob, and around 10% in the Imboden District further east.^[13] 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. In the Sutselva region, Romansh is extinct or only spoken by a small number of older people, with the exception of 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.^[14]

In the Upper Engadine-Valley, it is a habitually spoken language for 30.8% and the language of best command for 13%. The only municipality which still has a Romansh majority is S-chanf, but in many other villages it is still widely spoken even if a large majority declared German as their language of best command. This is the case in Samedan for instance, where only 16.7% declared Romansh as their language of best command in 2000, but 42.2% declared to speak the language habitually. In the Upper Engadine, 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 generally over 70% declaring it as a habitually spoken language. Overall, 60.4% in the Lower Engadine declared Romansh as their language of best command in 2000, with 77.4% declaring it as a habitually spoken language.^[13]

Dialects[link]

Historical distribution of the dialects of Romansh, German, and Italian in Grisons:
  Sursilvan   Tuatschin

  Sutsilvan

  Surmiran

  Putèr

  Vallader   Jauer

Romansh comprises a group of closely related dialects, which are most commonly divided into five different varieties, all of which have developed a standardized form:

• Sursilvan (rm.  sursilvan (help·info); derived from the name of the Surselva-region, which itself is derived from sur 'above' and selva 'forest') – spoken in the Vorderrhein (Rain anteriur) valley, including the Val Lumnezia, Foppa, and Cadi. It is the most widely spoken variety, with 17,897 people within the Surselva region (54.8%) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language in the Swiss census of 2000.^[15]
• Sutsilvan (derived from sut 'below' and selva 'forest') – spoken in the Hinterrhein (Rain posteriur) valley, including Plaun, Tumliasco, Schons. It is the least widely spoken Romansh variety, with 1,111 people within its historical area (15.4%) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language.^[15] It has become extinct across much of its historical area since the turn of the 20th century.
• Surmiran (derived from sur 'above' and meir 'wall') – spoken in the Julia and Albula valleys, including Surses and Sutses
• Putèr (rm.  putèr (help·info); probably originally a nickname derived from put 'porridge', meaning 'porridge-eaters'.^[16]) – spoken in the upper Engadine valley (Engiadin' Ota) west of Zernez. Romansh was named by 5,497 people within the upper Engadine valley (30%) as a habitually spoken language in the census of 2000.^[15]
• Vallader (derived from val 'valley') – is spoken in the lower Engadine valley (Engiadina Bassa) and the Val Müstair. It is the second most commonly spoken variety of Romansh, with 6,448 people in the lower Engadine valley (79.2%) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language in the census of 2000.^[15]

Aside from these five major dialects, two additional varieties are often distinguished. One is the dialect of the Val Müstair, which is closely related to Vallader but often separately referred to as Jauer (derived from the personal pronoun jau 'I', i.e. 'the jau-sayers'). Less commonly distinguished is the dialect of Tujetsch and the Val Medel, which is markedly different from Sursilvan and is referred to as Tuatschin. Additionally, the standardized variety Rumantsch Grischun intended for pan-regional use has been introduced since 1982. The dialect of the Val Bregaglia 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.^[17]

These dialects form a dialect continuum with no clear-cut divisions between them. This continuum has now been ruptured by the spread of German however, so that Romansh is now geographically divided into at least two non-adjacent parts. As there are no clear-cut divisions, several classifications are used. Putèr and Vallader are sometimes referred to as one specific variety known as Ladin (rm.  ladin (help·info)), as they have retained this word to mean Romansh; not to be confused with the closely related language in Italy's Dolomite mountains also known as Ladin. Sursilvan is often grouped by itself and Sutsilvan and Surmiran are referred to as Central Romansh (rm. Grischun central).^[18] Other classifications group Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, and Surmiran together as Rhenish varieties. Surmiran in particular often forms a transition zone between the dialects of the Engadine and the Rhine valley.

For example, the Ladin varieties Putèr and Vallader retain the rounded front vowels /y/ un /ø/ (written ü and ö), which have been derounded to /i/ and /e/ in the other dialects. Compare Putèr  mür (help·info) to Sursilvan  mir (help·info) ‘wall’ and Putèr  chaschöl (help·info) to Sursilvan  caschiel (help·info) 'cheese'. Another difference involves the extend of the palatalization of Latin K in front of A, which is rare in Sursilvan but common in the other varieties: Sursilvan  casa (help·info), Surmiran tgesa, and Putèr  chesa (help·info) 'house'.

The different dialects of Romansh are not always mutually comprehensible. Speakers of Sursilvan and of the Ladin varieties Vallader and Putèr in particular, are usually initially not able to understand each other.^[19] Since 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 with speakers of other varieties. A common Romansh identity is not widespread outside of intellectual circles, even though this has been changing among the younger generation.^[20]

Official status in Switzerland and language politics[link]

In Switzerland, official language use is governed by the territorial principle, meaning that the official status of each of the four national languages is limited to specific geographic areas, with only the federal administration being officially quadrilingual. Romansh is an official language on the federal level, one of the three official languages of the Canton of Grisons, and is a working language of various districts and numerous municipalities within the canton.

Official Status at the Federal Level[link]

The first Swiss constitution of 1848, as well as the subsequent revision of 1872, make no mention of Romansh, which at the time was not a working language of the Canton of 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 hold official weight.^[21] 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 that was 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" 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 Grisons.^[22] The Romansh language movement led by the Lia Rumantscha 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.^[23]

A 10-Francs bill of the 6th series, the first to include Romansh.

This status did have disadvantages however. For instance, official name registers and property titles had to be in either 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 Grisons was ordered not to make entries into its corporate registry in Romansh.^[24] The Swiss national bank first planned to include Romansh on its bills in 1956, when a new series was introduced. Due to internal disputes within the Lia Rumantscha over whether the bills were to feature the Sursilvan version Banca nazionala svizra or the Vallader version Banca naziunala svizzra, the bills then instead 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 Banca naziunala svizra. The numbers on the bills were printed in Surmiran, a minor intermediate dialect.

Following a referendum on March 10, 1996, Romansh was recognized as a partial official language of Switzerland alongside German, French, and Italian (Article 70 of the Swiss Constitution). The article declares German, French, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansh to be national languages of Switzerland. The official languages are declared to be German, French, and Italian, with Rhaeto-Romansh as an official language when corresponding with Romansh-speaking people.^[25] This means that in principle, it is possible to address the federal administration in Romansh and receive an answer in the same language.^[26] In what the Federal Culture Office itself admits is "more a placatory and symbolic use"^[27] 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.

The Swiss Army 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.^[28]

Official Status in the Canton of Grisons[link]

Grisons is the only canton of Switzerland where Romansh is recognized as an official language. The working language of the Three Leagues was only German until 1794 however, 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,^[29] 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.^[30] 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.^[31]

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 language may be used in court, and that a member of the cantonal parliament is free to use any of the three languages.^[32] 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.^[31] 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.^[33] Up until the 1980s it was usually seen as a provocation when a deputy in the cantonal parliament used Romansh during a speech.^[34]

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 Grisons, with 19 being bilingual in their administrative business.^[35] 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.^[36]

Romansh in education[link]

Languages of instruction in the traditionally Romansh-speaking areas of Grisons as of 2003

  Romansh school

  Bilingual Romansh-German school

  German school, Romansh as a subject

  German schooling only

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.^[37] This "so-called Romansh school" is found in 82 municipalities of Grisons as of 2001. The bilingual school is found only in Samedan, Pontresina, and Ilanz/Schnaus. In 15 municipalities, German is the sole medium of instruction as of 2001, with Romansh being taught as a subject.^[38]

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.^[38] 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 Grisons, Chur, runs a bilingual Romansh-German elementary school.^[39]

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 Zurich also maintains a partial chair for Romansh language and literature together with the ETH Zurich since 1985.

Standardisation[link]

Romansh was nationally standardised in 1982 by Zürich-based linguist Heinrich Schmid. The standardised language, called Rumantsch Grischun ("Romansh of Grisons") is promoted by the Lia Rumantscha, the umbrella organization for all Romansh associations.

Rumantsch Grischun has been slow to find acceptance in Grisons. The cantonal and national government have adopted it for government texts and since 2003 for schoolbooks, and the local media use it alongside the traditional spelling. But the opposition to what traditionalists consider a "bastard language", lacking the emotional appeal of the older dialects, remains substantial. Many municipalities, who are responsible for choosing the language of instruction in the public schools, continue to use the local spelling. In 2011, a group, Pro Idioms, was founded to lobby for the reintroduction of schoolbooks in the traditional dialects.^[40]

History[link]

Origins and development until modern times[link]

Romansh originates from the spoken Latin brought to the region by Roman soldiers, merchants, and officials following the conquest of modern-day Grisons by the Romans in 15 BC. Before that, the languages spoken in the area were Celtic and Raetic, with Raetic apparently being spoken mainly in the Lower Engadine valley. Traces of these languages can be found mainly in toponyms, such as the names of villages such as Tschlin, Scuol, Savognin, Glion, Breil/Brigels, Brienz/Brinzauls, Purtenza, or Trun. Additionally, a small number of pre-Latin words have survived in Romansh, mainly concerning animals, plants, or geological features unique to the alps such as camutsch 'chamois' or grava 'scree'.

Romansh during the early Middle Ages

  lost to German and Italian, 700–1100

  Romansh-speaking area, c. 1100

It is unknown how rapidly the Celtic and Raetic inhabitants were romanized followed the conquest of Raetia. Some linguists assume that the area was rapidly romanized following the Roman conquest, whereas others think that this process was not complete until the 4th or 5th century AD, when more thoroughly romanized Celts from farther north fled south to avoid invasions by Germanic tribes.^[41] 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 the year 537 AD, the Ostrogoths handed over the province of Raetia Prima to the Frankish Empire, who continued to have local rulers administrate the so-called Duchy of Chur. However, following the death of the last Victorid ruler, Bishop Tello, around 765, Charlemagne assigned a Germanic duke to administrate the region. Additionally, the Diocese of Chur was transferred from the Archdiocese of Milan to the Diocese of Mainz in 843. The combined effect was a cultural reorientation towards the German-speaking north, especially as the ruling elite was now almost entirely composed of speakers of German.^[42]

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 Rhine Valley 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^[43] and by the 15th century, the Rhine Valley of St. Gallen and the areas around the Wallensee were entirely German-speaking.^[42] This language shift was a long, drawn-out process, with German first being adopted in larger, central towns while the more peripheral areas around them remained Romansh-speaking for longer. The shift to German was caused in particular by the influence of the local German-speaking elites and by German-speaking immigrants from the north, with the lower and rural classes retaining Romansh for longer.^[44]

In addition, beginning around 1270 the German-speaking Walser began settling in sparsely or non-populated 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, Schanfigg, the Prättigau, Schams, or Valendas which became German-speaking by the 14th century.^[45] In rare cases, these Walser settlements were eventually assimilated by their Romansh-speaking neighbors, for instance in the Oberhalbstein or Medel and Tujetsch in the Surselva region.^[46]

"La mort da Benedetg Fontana", a Romansh passage in a Latin chronicle by Durich Chiampel

The germanization of Chur had particular long-term consequences. Even though the city had long 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.^[47] Following 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 the majority language to become German. In a chronicle written in 1571/72 by Durich Chiampell, he 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.^[42] The loss of Chur to German is considered a crucial event by many linguists. According to Sylvia Osswald for example, it occurred precisely at a time when the introduction of the printing-press could have led to the Romansh dialect of the capital becoming a common written language for all Romansh speakers.^[48] Other linguists such as Jachen Curdin Arquint are skeptical of this view however, and assume that the various Romansh-speaking regions would still have developed their own regional written standards.^[49]

Instead, several regional written varieties of Romansh began appearing during the 16th century. The first surviving work in Romansh is the Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs written by Gian Travers in the Putèr dialect. This work, written in 1527, is an epic poem describing the 1st Musso war which Travers himself had taken part in.^[50] Aside from the Chianzun da Müs, Travers also translated numerous biblical plays into Romansh, though only the titles are known for many of them. Another early writer is Giachem Bifrun, who also wrote in Putèr and is the author of the first printed book in Romansh, a catechism which was 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 Romansh 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 would be expected of the first pieces of writing in a language. Because of this, the linguist Ricarda Liver assumes that these written works are based on an earlier, pre-literature tradition of using Romansh in administrative and legal situations, of which no evidence survives.^[51] The authors themselves often mention the novelty of writing Romansh in their prefaces, and discuss an apparently common prejudice that Romansh was a language that could not be written.^[52]

Front page of Ilg Vêr Sulaz da pievel giuvan

The first writing in the Sursilvan and Sutsilvan dialects appear in the 17th century. As in the Engadine, these early works usually have a religious theme, in particular the struggles between Protestants and Counter-Reformers. The first surviving work is the catechism Curt mussameint dels principals punctgs della Christianevla Religiun, published in 1601 by Daniel Bonifaci 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, Ilg Vêr Sulaz da pievel giuvan ("The true joys of young people"), a series of religious instructions for Protestant youths was published by Steffan Gabriel. Four years later in 1615, a catholic catechism Curt Mussament was published in response, written by Gion Antoni Calvenzano. The first translation of the New Testament into Sursilvan was published in 1648 by the son of Steffan Gabriel, Luci Gabriel. 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.^[53] 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 varitey of Sursilvan or Putèr were more commonly used there until the 20th century.^[54]

In the 16th century, the language border between Romansh and German largely stabilized, and remained almost unchanged until the late 19th century.^[7] 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 due to the Counter-Reformation denouncing it as a "protestant language".

Romansh during the 19th and 20th century[link]

When Grisons became part of Switzerland in 1803, it had a population of roughly 73.000, of which around 36.600 were Romansh speakers, living mostly within the Romansh-speaking valley, and many of whom were monolingual speakers of Romansh.^[55] The language border to German, which had mostly been stable since the 16th century, now began moving again as more and more villages shifted to German. One factor 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 Grisons, which had always used German as its administrative language. This meant that German became more and more present in the daily lives of Romansh speakers.^[56] In addition, many Romansh speakers migrated to the larger cities, which were German-speaking, while at the same time speakers of German settled in Romansh villages. Finally, economical changes meant that the Romansh-speaking villages which had mostly been self-sufficient until then, engaged in more frequent commerce with German-speaking regions. Also, increased mobility through improvements in the infrastructure made travel and contact with other regions much easier than it had been.^[57] Finally, the rise of tourism made knowledge of German an economical 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 not seen as a threat but rather as an important capacity for communicating outside one's home region.^[58] The common people frequently even demanded better access to learning German.^[56] 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.^[59]

Some people even welcomed a disappearance of Romansh, in particular among progressives. In their eyes, Romansh was an obstacle to the economic and intellectual development of the Romansh people.^[60] 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".^[61] Others however, saw Romansh as an economical 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. His main rationale for fostering Romansh was:

The Romansh language is an immense advantage in learning so much more rapidly the languages derived from Latin of France, Italy, Spain etc, as can be seen with the Romansh youth, which travels to these countries and learns their language with ease.[...] We live in between an Italian and a German people. How practical is it, when one can learn the languages of both without effort?^[62]

—Mattli Conrad - 1807

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 hold no weight against all the disadvantages that come from such an isolated and uneducated language.^[63]

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 concept designed 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.^[64]

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.^[65]

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 Società Retorumantscha in 1885.^[67] In 1919, the Lia Rumantscha 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.^[67]

Loss of the Romansh-speaking majority in modern times according to the Swiss censuses

  before 1860

  1870-1900

  1910-1941

  1950-1960

  1970

  1980-2000

  Romansh majority in 2000

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.^[68] From Thusis, which had become German-speaking in the 16th/17th century, the Heinzenberg and Domleschg valleys were gradually Germanized over the next decades. Around the turn of the century, the inner Heinzenberg and Cazis became German-speaking, followed by Rothenbrunnen, 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.^[69] In order to halt the decline of Romansh, the Lia Rumantscha began establishing Romansh day care schools, called Scoletas, beginning in the 1940s with the aim of reintroducing Romansh to children. Although the Scoletas 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.^[70] 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.^[71]

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 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.".^[72] 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. In 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.^[73] In the Upper Engadine by contrast, 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.

Language Structure[link]

Phonology[link]

Romansh has up to 26 consonant phonemes, of which two are only found in some varieties and one only in loanwords borrowed from German.

Notes:

^1 only in some dialects, notably Surmiran, and only word-finally as in paung 'bread'.

^2 often transcribed as the palatal stops [c] and [ɟ] in broad transcriptions.

^3 only occurs in German loanwords such as halunc 'crook'.

^4 also pronounced [ʁ] in some dialects of Sursilvan.

^5 only in some dialects, notably Putèr, and only word-finally as in amih 'friend'.

The voiced obstruents are fully voiced in Romansh and voiceless ones are non-aspirated, in contrast to Swiss German with which Romansh is in extensive contact. Voiced obstruents are devoiced word-finally however as in buob 'boy' >  [buɔp] (help·info), chöd 'warm' >  [tɕøt] (help·info), saung 'blood' >  [sɛntɕ] (help·info), or clav 'key' >  [klaf] (help·info).

The vowel inventory varies somewhat between dialects, as the front rounded vowels /y/ and /ø/ and are only found in Putèr and Vallader. They have historically been unrounded in the other varieties and are only found in recent loans from German there. They are not found in the pan-regional variety Rumantsch Grischun either. The now nearly extinct Sutsilvan dialects of the Heinzenberg have /œ/ as in plànta 'plant,tree', but this is etymologically unrelated to the [ø] found in Putèr and Vallader. The exact realization of the phoneme /o/ varies from [ʊ] to [o] depending on the dialect:  cudesch (help·info) /  cudisch (help·info) 'book'. It is regarded as either a marginal phoneme or not a separate phoneme from /u/ at all by some linguists.^[74]

Word stress generally falls either on the last or the penult syllable of a word. Unstressed vowels are generally reduced to a Schwa, whose exact pronunciation varies between [ə] or [ɐ] as in  canzun (help·info) 'song'. Vowel length is predictable:

• Unstressed vowels are short.
• Stressed vowels in closed syllables (those with a coda) are:

  long before /r/

  short elsewhere

• Stressed vowels in open syllables are:

  short before voiceless consonants

  long elsewhere

The amount of diphthongs varies significantly between dialects. The Sursilvan dialects contains eleven diphthongs and four triphthongs ([ɪau], [ɪɛu], [uau], and [uɛi]).

Other dialects have different inventories; Putèr for instance lacks [au], [ɛu], and [uɛ] as well as the triphthongs, but has [yə], which is missing in Sursilvan. A phenomenon known as "hardened diphthongs", in which the second vowel of a falling Diphthong is pronounced as [k], was once common in Putèr as well, but is nowadays limited to Surmiran: strousch 'barely > [ʃtrokʃ].

Orthography[link]

L'alfabet rumantsch

The letters k (ka), w (ve dubel), and y (ipsilon or i grec) are used only in words borrowed from foreign languages, such as: kilogram, ski, kino, kiosc, kilo, kilowat, Washington, western, stewardess, whisky, happy, or hockey.

Because most Romansh-speaking people are familiar with German spelling, Romansh orthography borrows from German: The "sh" sound, for example, is written in the German fashion, "sch" (see "rumantsch"), not "sc" as in Italian, and ö and ü are used.

Morphology[link]

The following description deals mainly with the Sursilvan dialect, which is the most well-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 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, whereas 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 pronouns and three plural 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, e.g. 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 prepostion 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. These only differ 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'.

but in the feminine: 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, conditional, and imperative. The most common forms in Sursilvan are:

Syntax[link]

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:

• In order 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: Cura ch'el ei entraus, ein tuts stai sin peis – "When he entered, everyone stood up".
• As well as in other, stylistic variations.

This feature might be a result of contact with German, or it might be an archaic feature no longer found in other Romance languages.

A sentence is negated 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 ai 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 only found in Putèr and Vallader is the preposition of a direct object, when that direct object is a person or an animal, with a, as in hest 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[link]

No systematic synchronic description of Romansh vocabulary has been carried out so far.^[75] 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, first published in 1904, with the 13th edition currently in preparation.

The influence of the languages spoken in Grisons before the arrival of the Romans (Raetic and Celtic) 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.^[76] Such words include,

• Raetic: agnieu 'mountain pine',^[77] amp(u)a, omgia 'raspberry', anzola 'blueberry',^[78] chamutsch 'chamois', crap 'rock', gonda 'scree slope', grip 'cliff', grusaida 'snow rose', panaglia 'butter churn', (d)schember 'Swiss pine', signun, sain 'chief herder on a seasonal pasture', tschéss 'eagle', urlaun 'ptarmigan';
• Celtic: carmun 'weasel', dischöl, döschel 'goblin',^[79] draig 'sieve', glitta 'silt, mud', grava 'scree',^[80] mat 'boy' ~ matta 'girl', mellen 'yellow', tegia 'alpine hut', trutg 'footpath, cow path', tschigrun 'whey cheese'.^[81]

Archaisms are words derived from Latin which have fallen out of use in other Romance languages. Examples include baselgia 'church' (in Romanian biserică), urar 'to pray', or scheiver 'carnival',^[82] cudesch 'book', and aura 'weather' which are today found only in Romansh. In non-Engadinese, the Latin verb incipere has been preserved as entschaiver 'to begin'. This is otherwise only found in Romanian as începe, whereas in the other Romance languages including Engadinese (Puter, Vallader), the verb 'to begin' stems from Latin *cuminitiāre: Putèr cumanzer, Italian cominciare, and French commencer. Other examples are memia (adv.) 'too much', derived from Latin nimia (adj., fem.), otherwise only found in Old Occitan,^[83] and Engadinese encleger 'to understand' (vs. non-Engadinese capir), found only in Romanian înţelege, both from Latin intellegere.

Another distinguishing characteristic of Romansh vocabulary are its numerous German loanwords. Some were borrowed into Romansh as early as the Old High German period, such as glieud 'people' from OHG liut, and uaul ~ gòld ~ god 'forest' from OHG wald. Other examples include malegiar 'to paint' (← malen), schenghegiar 'to give (a present)' (← schenken), or schazegiar 'to estimate' (← schätzen).^[84] 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 Alemannic as pur in the other dialects. 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 appear. The word pur has given rise to derived words such as pura 'farmwife, female farmer' or puranchel 'small-time farmer'. The adjective flissi 'hard-working' has given rise to the noun flissiadad 'industriousness'.

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'.^[85] Especially noticeable are interjections such as schon, aber or halt, which have become established in everyday language.

Romansh literature and music[link]

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 only known from a few fragments. The oldest writing identified as Romansh is the so-called Würzburg manuscript, which is dated to the 10th or 11th century and was probably written in the Abbey of Saint Gall. It consists of only the sentence: Diderros ne habe diege muscha, which is considered an early form of Romansh. Two translations are proposed, either "Diderros does not even have ten flies" or "Diderros has ten flies from this", probably meaning that the scribe named Diderros was poorly paid for his work.^[86] A longer piece of writing is found in the Einsiedeln Homily dated to the 11th century which is a 14-line long incomplete translation of a Latin homily. In addition, a Romansh court testimony about grazing rights in the Val Müstair is attested from 1389 in an otherwise Latin document: Introekk in sum la vall de Favergatscha et introekk eintt la vall da Vafergatscha; la e vcinn faitt una puntt chun dis punt alta e chun dis eintt feder Vinayr – "As far up as the Favergatscha valley and into the Vafergatscha valley. There where they are building a bridge which they call punt alta and what they call eintt feder Vinayr".

The first surviving work in Romansh is the Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs written by Gian Travers in the Putèr dialect. This work, written in 1527, is an epic poem describing the 1st Musso war which Travers himself had taken part in.^[50] Subsequent works usually have a 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 Daniel Bonifaci 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 Steffan Gabriel. Four years later in 1615, a catholic catechism Curt Mussament was published in response, written by Gion Antoni Calvenzano. The first translation of the new testament into Sursilvan was published in 1648 by the son of Steffan Gabriel, Luci Gabriel. The first complete translation of the Bible, the Bibla da Cuera was published between 1717 and 1719.

Non-religious writings in Romansh began appearing in the second half of the 19th century in substantial numbers. The literary output of this period often deals with the language itself and is seen as part of the Romansh revival known as the "Romansh Renaissance". Most literature of the period consists of poetry and short stories praising the Romansh language and usually dealing with topics related to the rural background of the Romansh valleys. Another common theme is the emigration of the so-called "Randulins", who would spend much of their lives working abroad. In addition, many works were translated into Romansh, generally German writers that were popular at the time. Well-known Sursilvan poets of the time include Théodore de Castelberg (1748–1818), Placidus a Spescha (1752–1833) or Gion Antoni Huonder (1824–1867). The most well-known Sursilvan poet is Giachen Caspar Muoth (1844–1906) however, who is often considered the most well-versed Romansh poet of all. His poets and ballads often deal with Romansh itself, such as his most famous work Al pievel romontsch ("To the Romansh people):

Manuscript of Al pievel romontsch

 Stai si, defenda,
Romontsch, tiu vegl lungatg,
Risguard pretenda
Per tiu patratg! (help·info)

Stand up, defend,

Romansh, your old language,

demand respect

for your thought!

—Giachen Caspar Muoth, Al pievel romontsch

Other Sursilvan writers of the Romansh Renaissance include Caspar Decurtins (1855–1916), who collected among other things popular legends, ballads, and songs, as well as Giachen Michel Nay (1860–1920), who described rural life in several novels, Alfons Tuor (1871–1904), and Gian Fontana (1897–1935), who are also known for their novels. In addition, the priest Maurus Carnot (1865–1935) who had grown up in Samnaun but did not speak the Romansh dialect of his hometown, learned Sursilvan in Disentis and later wrote plays, lyric, and short stories dealing with rural life. Finally, Flurin Camathias is the author of several Sursilvan plays, poems, and epics, in addition to having translated numerous works into Romansh.

Literary works in Surmiran are comparatively rare, with Alexander Lozza from Murmarera being the most notable one.

In the Engadine, the first modern poets include Gian Battista Tschander and Conradin de Flug (1787–1874). Writers of the Romanticism era include Siméon Caratsch (1826–1891) and Gian Fadri Caderas (1830–1891), who co-authored some works such as the comedy Ils duos poets. Other well-known poets and song-writers of the period include Andrea Bezzola (1840–1897), author of the song Ma bella Val, mi' Engiadina, or Gudench Barblan (1860–1916), author of the song A la lingua materna

Chara lingua da la mamma,

tü sonor rumantsch ladin,
tü favella dutscha, lamma,
oh, co t’am eu sainza fin!

Dear language of the mother,

you Romansh sound of the Engadine,

you sweet, soft speech,

oh, how I love you endlessly!

—Gudench Barblan, A la lingua materna

Another important Engadine figure of the period is Zaccaria Pallioppi (1820–1873). While he also wrote poems of his own, his main work is the first Ladin dictionary, published by his son in 1895. One of the first female writers is Clementina Gilli (1858–1942), who translated several major works of European literature and published a few original works as well, using the pseudonym Clio. Other Engadine writers of the Romansh-Renaissance include Schimun Vonmoos (1868–1940), who wrote poets and short tales in addition to translating, Gian Gianett Cloetta (1874–1965) or Eduard Bezzola (1875–1948), who wrote dramas, comedies, and songs or translated them. The most well-known Engadine poet is Peider Lansel (1863–1943) however, who retired at an early age in 1906 and dedicated himself to poetry, becoming one of the first Romansh writers to gain fame outside of his region. His work includes over 200 poems, which were published in several collections in 1907 (Primulas), 1912 (La cullana d'ambras) and 1929 in his principal work Il vegl chalamêr. In addition, his work includes several anthologies of Romansh poets, such as La musa ladina (1910) and La musa rumantscha (posthumous 1950). Shortly before his death, he became the first Romansh writer to receive the Grosser Schillerpreis.

From the 1940s onwards, Romansh writers began to reflect on the widespread economical and social changes of traditional Romansh society and the word of modernity. Andri Peer (1921–1985) from the Lower Engadine is considered one of the first modern Romansh writers, whose works introduced modern literary trends into Romansh. His modern writing style was initially met with opposition, and he was not fully recognized and appreciated until much later. Another Engadine writer of this literary movement is Cla Biert (1920–1981), who became known for his humorous short stories. Notably Sursilvan writers include Flurin Darms (1918–) for his lyrics, and Gion Battesta Sialm (1897–1977) and Guglielm Gadola (1902–1961) for their short stories. One of the more famous contemporary novelists is Toni Halter (1914–1986), who treated historic or rural themes in his works. Also known for his novels and short stories is the Sursilvan writer Gion Deplazes (1918–). The Engadine writer Jon Semadeni (1910–) is the author of several theater plays and sketches, in addition to writing some prose as well. Also known for their plays are Men Gaudenz and Tista Murk (1915–1992) from the Val Müstair and Carli Fry (1897–1956) from Surselva. More recently, the Sursilvan writer Arno Camenisch (1978–) gained attention outside the Romansh community for his novels and short stories, including the bilingual Romansh-German book Sez Ner.

Concerning children and young-adult books, some original works have been written in Romansh alongside a large number of translations. The most famous of these are the books of Selina Chönz, whose book Uorsin has became famous well outside of Switzerland in its German version Schellenursli. Other authors include Clo Duri Bezzola (Kindels dal malom), Göri Klainguti (Linard Lum), Linard Bardill (Il guaffen gelg), G. Netzer (Martin steiler, Annina, La princessa loscha), Theo Candinas (La fuigia dil Stoffel) or Claudia Cadruvi (Capuns ed il stgazi dals Franzos).

The Romansh writers are organized in the writer's union Uniun per la Litteratura Rumantscha established in 1946, which organizes the yearly event Dis da Litteratura since 1990. Most writers today write in their regional dialect, while the pan-regional variety Rumantsch Grischun is seeing increased use in works done by the Lia Rumantscha such as translations of children's books.

In regards to 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. In the Eurovision Song Contest of 1989 for instance, Switzerland was represented by a Romansh song, Viver senza tei. Since 2004, the hip-hop group Liricas Analas 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, or the rock/pop band The Capoonz. Composer Gion Antoni Derungs has written three operas with Romansh librettos: Il cerchel magic(1986), Il semiader (1998) and Tredeschin (2000).

Romansh in the media[link]

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 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.^[87] News broadcasts are generally in the pan-regional variety Rumantsch Grischun. The Televisiun Rumantscha airs regular broadcasts on SF 1, which are subtitled in German. Programs include the informational broadcast Telesguard, which is broadcast daily from Monday to Friday. The children show Minisguard and the informational broadcast Cuntrasts are aired on weekends. Additionally, the shows Controvers, Pled sin via, and others are broadcast during irregular intervals.^[88]

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

Several Romansh-language magazines are also published regularly, including the youth magazine Punts and the yearly publication Calender Romontsch.

Sample[link]

The fable The Fox and the Crow by Aesop, translated into all six dialects of Romansh and Rumantsch Grischun.^[89]

Sursilvan  audio (help·info)	Sutsilvan	Surmiran	Putèr  audio (help·info)	Vallader	Jauer	Rumantsch Grischun	Translation
L'uolp era puspei inagada fomentada. Cheu ha ella viu sin in pegn in tgaper che teneva in toc caschiel en siu bec. Quei gustass a mi, ha ella tertgau, ed ha clamau al tgaper: «Tgei bi che ti eis! Sche tiu cant ei aschi bials sco tia cumparsa, lu eis ti il pli bi utschi da tuts».	La gualp eara puspe egn'eada fumantada. Qua â ella vieu sen egn pegn egn corv ca taneva egn toc caschiel ainten sieus pecel. Quegl gustass a mei, â ella tartgieu, ed ha clamo agli corv: «Tge beal ca tei es! Scha tieus tgànt e aschi beal sco tia pareta, alura es tei igl ple beal utschi da tuts».	La golp era puspe eneda famantada. Co ò ella via sen en pegn en corv tgi tigniva en toc caschiel an sies pecal. Chegl am gustess, ò ella panso, ed ò clamo agl corv: «Tge bel tgi te ist! Schi ties cant è schi bel scu tia parentscha, alloura ist te igl pi bel utschel da tots».	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 vuolp d'eira darcheu üna jada fomantada. Qua ha'la vis sün ün pin ün corv chi tgnaiva ün toc chaschöl in seis pical. Quai am gustess, ha'la pensà, ed ha clomà al corv: «Che bel cha tü est! Scha teis chant es uschè bel sco tia apparentscha, lura est tü il plü bel utschè da tuots».	La 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 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».	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".

See also[link]

	Switzerland portal
	Language portal