Romansh language

Not to be confused with languages of the Roman Empire, the Roman dialect, or the Romand, Romang, Romanian, or Romani languages.
Romansh
romontsch, rumantsch,
rumauntsch, rumàntsch
From top left to bottom right: Sutsilvan inscription on a house in Andeer, Sursilvan house inscription in Sagogn, Rumantsch Grischun sign in the Swiss National Park, Vallader Sgraffito in Guarda.
Pronunciation[ʁoˈmɔntʃ] ⓘ
[rʊˈmantʃ] ⓘ
[rʊˈmɛntʃ] ⓘ
[rʊˈmaʊ̯ntʃ]
[rəˈmœntʃ]
Native toSwitzerland
RegionGrisons (Graubünden)
EthnicityRomansh
Native speakers
Main language: 40,000 (2019)[1]
Regular speakers: 60,000 (2000)[2]
Standard forms
Dialects
Latin
Official status
Official language in
  Switzerland
Language codes
ISO 639-1rm
ISO 639-2roh
ISO 639-3roh
Glottologroma1326
ELPRomansch
Linguasphere51-AAA-k[4]
IETFrm[5]
  The traditional Romansh-speaking parts of Switzerland
Romansh is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Romansh (/roʊˈmænʃ, roʊˈmɑːnʃ/ roh-MA(H)NSH; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch)[note 1] 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 Switzerland since 1938, and as an official language in correspondence with Romansh-speaking citizens since 1996, along with German, French, and Italian.[6] 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 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 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 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 of Switzerland, but the Romansh speakers had a literary revival and started a language movement dedicated to halting the decline of their language.[7]

In the 2000 Swiss census, 35,095 people (of whom 27,038 live in the canton of the Grisons) indicated Romansh as the language of "best command", and 61,815 as a "regularly spoken" language.[8] In 2010, Switzerland switched to a yearly system of assessment that uses a combination of municipal citizen records and a limited number of surveys.[9] In 2019, there were 40,074 Swiss residents who primarily spoke Romansh;[1] in 2017, 28,698 inhabitants of the canton of the Grisons (14.7% of the population) used it as their main language.[10][11]

Romansh is divided into five different regional dialect groups (Sursilvan, Vallader, Putèr, Surmiran, and Sutsilvan), 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.[12]

  1. ^ a b Bundesamt für Statistik (25 January 2021). "Hauptsprachen in der Schweiz - 2019". Bundesamt für Statistik. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  2. ^ Furer 2005.
  3. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (2022-05-24). "Romansh". Glottolog. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Archived from the original on 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  4. ^ "Rumantsch + Grischun". Linguasphere Observatory. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Romansh". IANA language subtag registry. 16 October 2005. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Amtssprachen und Landessprachen der Schweiz" (official site) (in German). Berne, Switzerland: Swiss National Library (NL). 27 August 2013. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  7. ^ Slater, Julia (5 August 2013). "Switzerland's fourth language under pressure". Swissinfo. Bern: SRG SSR. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
    Leybold-Johnson, Isobel (8 August 2006). "Romansh faces a silent future". Swissinfo. Bern: SRG SSR. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Linguistic geography". Lia Rumantscha. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007.
  9. ^ "Die neue Volkszählung – Das System" [The new census - The system]. Swiss Federal Statistical Office (in German and French). Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Hauptsprachen in der Schweiz" [Permanent resident population by main language in Switzerland] (XLS) (official site) (in German, French, and Italian). Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Federal Statistical Office. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  11. ^ "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Hauptsprachen und Kanton" (XLS) (official site) (in German, French, and Italian). Neuchâtel, Switzerland: Federal Statistical Office. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  12. ^ swissinfo.ch, Terence MacNamee (6 March 2011). "Romansh speakers rebel against standard language". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2020-11-08.


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