Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Grishun, Rumauntsch, Rheto-Romance, Rhaeto-Romance, Romansh, Romanche, Rhäto-Romanisch, Romanisch, Rätoromanisch
CLASSIFICATION		Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Western Romance
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		roh
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Lower Engadine Sursilvan Surmiran-Albula Upper Engadine Sursilvan-Oberland
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Romansh Facts & Figures” . Manfred Gross ·

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~60,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
According to the 2000 Swiss census, 35,095 speakers reported that Romansh was the language over which they had the "best command." 27,038 of these were in Canton Graubünden. In total the census reports 60,816 speakers of Romansh.

DATE OF INFO: 2000

DOMAINS OF USE
SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION
GOVERNMENT SUPPORT: Official language
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT: In Graubünden, the communes have the autonomy to determine their own administrative and school languages. Romansh may be either a language of tuition or a subject taught.
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: In 1938, Romansh was recognised as a national language in addition to French, German and Italian. With the recognition of Romansh as a partially official language in 1996, it has now been placed on the same footing as Switzerland’s other three official languages as far as certain matters are concerned.
More on Orthography: The Romansh language territory in Graubünden includes Surselva (the regions along the valley of the Rein Anteriur or Vorderrhein), certain parts of Sutselva (Hinterrhein), Surmeir and the Albula Valley (Oberhalbstein), Upper Engadin, Lower Engadin and the Val Müstair. Each of these regions has its own idiom. The five idioms are considered as written Romansh languages. These written languages cannot, however, cover the whole panoply of spoken dialects. Dozens of such local dialects make the Romansh linguistic atlas into a confusing microcosm. In 1982, Rumantsch Grischun, a supra-regional written Romansh language, came into being and in 1996 it was declared to be an official administrative and court language of the Swiss Confederation and Canton Graubünden.

PLACES: Switzerland, most notably in Canton Graubünden

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: In Canton Graubünden, the territory in which Romansh has traditionally been spoken is comprised of five regions. Surselva occupies the large sector in the northwest of the canton. In Central Graubünden, Romansh used to be spoken in the Domleschg/Tumleastga and Heinzenberg/Mantogna regions and is still spoken today in parts of the Val Schons (Schams), Surmeir (Oberhalbstein) and the Albula Valley. The Engadin and the Val Müstair (Münstertal) form the southeastern Romansh language territory.

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
35,100
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Data for the number of native speakers comes from the 2000 census.

DATE OF INFO: 2000

PLACES: Switzerland;

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
35,095
Native speakers worldwide

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
40,000
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
65,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Perhaps little more than half
of the official number of 65,000 speakers use the language actively.

DATE OF INFO: 1986

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Many children learn the language, but most of them become more fluent in German and may not use Romansh actively later in life.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

German

PLACES: Switzerland

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Spoken in Graubunden (Grischun), mainly in Surselva, Seumeir, and Unterengadin.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

3-03900-037-3		2004	Romansch Facts & Figures		31-44			Chur, Switzerland	Lia Rumantscha		http://www.liarumantscha.ch/data/media/pdf/facts_figures/facts_figures_english.pdf	Manfred Gross	Manfred Gross. 2004. "Romansch Facts & Figures." 31-44. Online: http://www.liarumantscha.ch/data/media/pdf/facts_figures/facts_figures_english.pdf.						German; Italian
		2007	Europe and North Asia	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	211-282	C. Moseley	London & New York: Routledge					Tapani Salminen	Salminen, Tapani. 2007. "Europe and North Asia." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 211-282. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD	65,000	1986	10000-99999	Perhaps little more than half of the official number of 65,000 speakers use the language actively.	German					Threatened (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	11	Many children learn the language, but most of them become more fluent in German and may not use Romansh actively later in life.	13	13	Switzerland	Spoken in Graubunden (Grischun), mainly in Surselva, Seumeir, and Unterengadin.
0199255911		2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press	New York					2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.																		46.6666666667,8.83333333333
	16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX			http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	35,100	2000	10000-99999	Data for the number of native speakers comes from the 2000 census.						Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Switzerland;
	2nd	2004	Romansh Facts & Figures			Manfred Gross			Lia Rumantscha	Mike Evans; Barbara Evans	http://www.liarumantscha.ch/data/media/pdf/facts_figures/facts_figures_english.pdf		2004. "Romansh Facts & Figures." edited by Manfred Gross. Online: http://www.liarumantscha.ch/data/media/pdf/facts_figures/facts_figures_english.pdf.		~60,000	2000	10000-99999	According to the 2000 Swiss census, 35,095 speakers reported that Romansh was the language over which they had the "best command." 27,038 of these were in Canton Graubünden. In total the census reports 60,816 speakers of Romansh.	German, Italian, French, and various other non-national languages	Official language	In 1938, Romansh was recognised as a national language in addition to French, German and Italian. With the recognition of Romansh as a partially official language in 1996, it has now been placed on the same footing as Switzerland’s other three official languages as far as certain matters are concerned.	In Graubünden, the communes have the autonomy to determine their own administrative and school languages. Romansh may be either a language of tuition or a subject taught.	All speakers of Romansh are multilingual	Vulnerable (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	11		10	12	Switzerland, most notably in Canton Graubünden	In Canton Graubünden, the territory in which Romansh has traditionally been spoken is comprised of five regions. Surselva occupies the large sector in the northwest of the canton. In Central Graubünden, Romansh used to be spoken in the Domleschg/Tumleastga and Heinzenberg/Mantogna regions and is still spoken today in parts of the Val Schons (Schams), Surmeir (Oberhalbstein) and the Albula Valley. The Engadin and the Val Müstair (Münstertal) form the southeastern Romansh language territory.
	3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing	Paris			http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub	35,095		10000-99999							Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)							46.5777,9.6954
			World Oral Literature Project								http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.		40,000		10000-99999							Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Romansch

Language metadata

Language information by source

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

35,100

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

35,095

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

40,000

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

65,000

Discussion

Romansch

Language metadata

Language information by source

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~60,000

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

35,100

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

35,095

Vulnerable

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

40,000

Threatened

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

65,000

Discussion

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