The Romansh Language

Romansh is one of the three primary divisions of the Rhaeto-Romance language (the others being Ladin and Friulian). They belong to the Italic, or Romance family. The various forms of Rhaeto-Romance are spoken by 600,000 to 800,000 people living in southeastern Switzerland and northeastern Italy. This region is sometimes referred to as "Rhaeto-Romania."

Romansh is a descendant of Latin, which was brought into present-day Switzerland in 15 BC, when Roman legions under Tiberius and Drusus conquered and colonized the area. (Little is known about the pre-Roman inhabitants of the Alpine region.) The Romans named the province "Raetia Prima," with Curia Raetorum (present-day Chur) as its capital. The province remained part of the Empire until it was overrun by the Alemanni (German tribes from the north) by the fifth century. These people were in turn displaced by the Ostrogoths, and then by the Franks in 536. The region existed as a more or less autonomous church state until about 800, when it was ruled by the Carolingian kings, and later by the Holy Roman Empire.

In 843, the bishopric of Chur was detached from the archdiocese of Milan and incorporated into the archdiocese of Mainz. This was a decisive step in giving the region a more northern orientation toward the German-speaking world. During the 13th and 14th centuries, German speakers from the Vallais began to colonize several of the higher Alpine valleys. In 1464, a large fire destroyed Chur, and German-speaking tradesmen came to rebuild the town. As a result, the Romansh-speaking peoples lost their linguistic and cultural center. The language was further weakened during the Reformation by the development of written forms that were different for each dialect, instead of a unified standard.

By the 14th century, the Holy Roman Empire began to assert greater control over the region, and organized groups arose to oppose this. Between 1367 and 1436, three leagues were formed, and this began an evolution toward democracy in the form of autonomous communes. A loose confederation known as "The Free State of the Three Leagues" was formed in 1471. In 1803, the Three Leagues adopted the name Graubünden and joined the Swiss Confederation.

The building of railways and roads into mountain regions in 19th century, along with an increase in tourism, posed new threats for the Romansh language. Romansh speakers themselves began to view their language as an economic impediment. Gradually, schools, churches, and communal councils replaced Romansh with German. By the late 19th century, defenders of the language began the so-called "Rhaeto-Romance Renaissance."

In 1938, Romansh was recognized as a national language of Switzerland in addition to French, German, and Italian. A written standard, called Rumantsch Grischun, was developed in 1982. In 1996, Romansh was accorded status as an official language of Switzerland. Despite its official recognition (in contrast to Friulian and Ladin), the long-term prospects for the language remain in doubt.

Today, forms of Romansh are spoken by 50,000 to 70,000 people living in Graubünden (about 24% of the canton's inhabitants, and 1% of all Swiss). Romansh is divided into five dialects: Surselvan, Sutselvan, Surmeiran, Puter, and Vallader. Surselvan Romansh is spoken by about 18,000 inhabitants of the Bündner Oberland. The following is an example of Surselvan Romansh (Rhaeto-Romansh: Facts & Figures, 1996, p. 23):

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."

The fox was hungry once again. Suddenly, it saw a crow sitting in a tree, holding a piece of cheese in its beak. I would find that really tasty, it thought to itself and called out to the crow: "What a pretty creature you are! If your song is as beautiful as your looks, then you must be the prettiest bird of all."