About the Romansh Language
About Romansh:
Romansh is a Romance (Rhaetian) language that is spoken in central Europe, specifically in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has a large number of different exonyms including Rhaeto-Romance, Rheto-Romance, Romansh, Romanche, and Rumantsch. It additionally has a number of endonyms including Rumantsch, Rumàntsch, Romauntsch, and Romontsch. Its codes are RM and ROH.
The language is a Proto-Indo-European language, from the Italic branch, and a language that is descended from Latin, making it a Romance Language. It has a number of lexical items that it has borrowed from German due to its geographic proximity, but does not qualify as a Germanic language based on it's genealogical affiliation to Latin. (1)
Romansh currently has 40,039 speakers, but is in a definite decline in speakers due to the twentieth century movement towards using the other three main languages spoken in Switzerland: French, German, and Italian. The language is most in contact with German and Italian, as those are the two most spoken languages besides Romansh in Eastern Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the two areas where Romansh is spoken.
Due to the environment surrounding the language (Romansh-speaking villages are historically situated in the eastern valleys of Switzerland), there are a number of dialects spoken that are distinct. In Romansh linguistics, these are referred to as 'idioms". The main idioms of Romansh are Puter, Surmiran, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, and Vallader. The main standard written form is called "Rumantsch Grischun". (9)
Where is Romansh spoken?
Romansh is primarily spoken in the eastern mountain valleys of Switzerland, but some smaller communities can be found in Liechtenstein. At last count (2012), there are 36,600 L1 speakers using regularly using the language and around 40,039 speakers (L1 and L2 combined) who can speak the language. (9)
