Romansch
[également appelé Grishun, Rumauntsch, Rheto-Romance]Classification : Indo-European
·vulnérable
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Vulnérable
100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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~60,000
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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
- DOMAINES D'UTILISATION
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- TENDANCES AU NIVEAU DES LOCUTEURS
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- TRANSMISSION
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- SOUTIEN GOUVERNEMENTAL
- Official language
- SOUTIEN INSTITUTIONNEL
- 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.
- AUTRES LANGUES PARLÉES PAR LA COMMUNAUTÉ
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German
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Italian
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French
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and various other non-national languages
- COMMENTAIRES SUR LE CONTEXTE DE LA LANGUE
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.
- Orthographe
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.