Romansh is a Gallo-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. 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.
The four national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian, and Romansh. German, French, and Italian maintain equal status as official languages at the national level within the Federal Administration of the Swiss Confederation, while Romansh is used in dealings with people who speak it. Latin is occasionally used in some formal contexts, particularly to denote the country.
The Grisons or Graubünden, more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton of Graubünden, is one of the twenty-six cantons of Switzerland. It has eleven districts, and its capital is Chur. The German name of the canton, Graubünden, translates as the "Grey Leagues", referring to the canton's origin in three local alliances, the Three Leagues. The other native names also refer to the Grey League: Grischùn in Sutsilvan, Grischun in the other forms of Romansh, and Grigioni in Italian. Rhaetia is the Latin name for the area. The Alpine ibex is the canton's heraldic symbol.
The Engadin or Engadine is a long high Alpine valley region in the eastern Swiss Alps in the canton of Graubünden in southeasternmost Switzerland with about 25,000 inhabitants. It follows the route of the Inn from its headwaters at Maloja Pass in the southwest running roughly northeast until the Inn flows into Austria, little less than one hundred kilometers downstream. The En/Inn subsequently flows at Passau into the Danube, making it the only Swiss river to drain into the Black Sea. The Engadine is protected by high mountain ranges on all sides and is famous for its sunny climate, beautiful landscapes and outdoor activities.
Rhaeto-Romance, Rheto-Romance, Rhaeto-Italian,or Rhaetian, is a purported subfamily of the Romance languages that is spoken in south-eastern Switzerland and north-eastern Italy. The name "Rhaeto-Romance" refers to the former Roman province of Raetia. The question of whether these languages actually form a subfamily is called the Questione Ladina. The Italian linguist Graziadio Ascoli, writing in 1873, found them to share a number of intricacies and believed they formed a linguistic group. The Rhaeto-Romance languages differ from Italian in their evolution from Latin by having passed through a stage with phonemic vowel length, undergone certain consonant developments, and possibly developed a pair of central rounded vowels. If the subfamily is genuine, three languages would belong to it: Romansh in Switzerland, and Ladin and Friulian in Italy. Their combined number of speakers is about 660,000; the large majority of these speak Friulian.
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. Author and anthropologist Pascal Hofmeier notes that in choosing to rap in Romansh, a language spoken by only a few thousand people, yet instantly identifiable as Swiss, Liricas Analas takes the concept of Lokalpatriotismus, which is so prevalent in the Swiss hip-hop scene, to an extreme level. Their 2006 CD, AnalFaBad, contained the chart-topping song "Siemis".
The Albula Pass is a Swiss mountain pass in the canton of Graubünden. It lies at the heart of the Albula Alps, on the watershed between the Albula, tributary of the Rhine and the Ova d'Alvra, tributary of the Inn. Overlooking the pass are the ranges of Piz Üertsch (north) and Crasta Mora (south).
As there is no dominant national language, the four main languages of French, Italian, German and Romansch form the four branches which make up a literature of Switzerland. The original Swiss Confederation, from its foundation in 1291 up to 1798, gained only a few French-speaking districts in what is now the Canton of Fribourg, and so the German language dominated. During that period the Swiss vernacular literature was in German, although in the 18th century, French became fashionable in Bern and elsewhere. At that time, Geneva and Lausanne were not yet Swiss: Geneva was an ally and Vaud a subject land. The French branch does not really begin to qualify as Swiss writing until after 1815, when the French-speaking regions gained full status as Swiss cantons. The Italian and Romansch-Ladin branches are less prominent.
Bergün/Bravuogn is a village and former municipality in the Albula Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The double name (German/Romansh) has been the official name since 1943. On 1 January 2018 the former municipalities of Bergün/Bravuogn and Filisur merged into the new municipality of Bergün Filisur.
The Romansh people are a Romance ethnic group, the speakers of the Romansh language, native to the Swiss canton of Grisons (Graubünden).
Sursilvan is a group of dialects of the Romansh language spoken in the Swiss district of Surselva. It is the most widely spoken variety of Romansh with 17,897 people within the Surselva District (54.8%) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language in the Swiss census of 2000. The most closely related variety is Sutsilvan, which is spoken in the area located to the east of the district.
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 was temporarily based in Ilanz, afterwards in Chur. It is the successor of all Romansh newspapers, with the exception of the Surmiran Pagina da Surmeir. La Quotidiana is written in both the traditional varieties and the standardized language Rumantsch Grischun; often more than half of the articles are written in Sursilvan, the variety with the largest number of speakers.
Jauer is a dialect of Romansh that is spoken in the Val Müstair. It is closely related to the neighboring dialect of the Lower Engadine, Vallader 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.
Vallader is a variety of the Romansh language spoken in the Lower Engadine valley of southeast Switzerland, between Martina and Zernez. It is also used as a written language in the nearby community of Val Müstair, where Jauer is spoken. In 2008, schools in the Val Müstair switched from Vallader to Rumantsch Grischun as their written language, but switched back to Vallader in 2012, following a referendum.
The Dicziunari Rumantsch Grischun is the biggest dictionary of the Romansh language.
Puter is a variety of Romansh spoken in the Engadin valley in Graubünden, which is in the southeastern part of Switzerland. It is spoken in the central northwestern end of the valley between S-chanf and St. Moritz, as well as in the region of the Bernina Pass. Romansh was named by 5,497 people within the upper Engadine valley (30%) as a habitually spoken language in the census of 2000, which probably corresponds roughly to the total number of speakers. The term is probably originally a nickname derived from put 'porridge', meaning 'porridge-eaters'.
Chalandamarz is a traditional spring festival in Romansh-speaking and Italian-speaking parts of the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It is celebrated on, and named for, the First of March and marks the end of winter.
The following is a list of Romansh exonyms, that is to say Romansh-language names for towns and cities that do not speak Romansh.
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.
Alexander Lozza, OFMCap was a Swiss Catholic priest from Graubünden. He wrote poetry in Italian and Romansh language, especially in the Surmiran dialect.
