Historical Usage of Romansh

Romansh was widely spoken in many of the cantons of Eastern Switzerland up until the 10th century when the neighboring languages began to expand. Over the course of the following centuries, a number of natural disasters, encroaching neighbors, and lack of written language caused Romansh to decline in popularity. By the 19th century, many people actively tried to get rid of the language in favor of its counterpart, German. Luckily, due to the isolating nature of the valleys in that canton, Romansh was able to survive in these communities. (9)

Today, Romansh has 40,039 speakers (L1 and L2 combined). There are a number of instutions that have been established by the Romansh language authority, Lia Rumantscha, to support and encourage the learning of the language. Unfortunately, it's losing steam due to the rising interest in German and Italian due to their international importance in comparison to Romansh. (8)

Many villages in the valleys of Eastern Switzerland function entirely in Romansh, though most of the residents of these areas do speak one or more of the other national languages. This isnt' the case for the larger cities of this area, as they typically function in either Italian or German to account for larger businesses who prefer to do their work in either German or Italian as those languages are more global (8).

Endangerment

In comparison to other European languages, Romansh falls in the minority. Sitting at 40,039 speakers puts the language at just below the 30.2% of European languages that have less than 100,000 speakers. Worldwide, it places amongst the 1,605 languages with 10,000-99,999 speakers that account for 26.5% of the languages of the world. (7)

In the Rhaeto-Romance branch of the Romance languages, Romansh is the second most spoken. Its two fellow Rhaeto-Romance langauges, Ladin and Friulian, are both langauges of Northern Italy that have similar smaller communities who speak their prospective langauges in combination with the national language(s). All three benefit from national protection and the ability to have schooling and government acts in their language. Romansh does not have as much usage as its more spoken sister language, Friulian, and has not experienced a spike in media being produced in the language like Friulian, but it does have a number of newspapers and a rich literary history (11)

Due to government interest in preserving the minority language and the recent rise of a larger Romansh entitiy that promotes usage and teaching of the language, Lia Rumantscha, the language isn't in a particulary dangerous position. The Swiss government gives $4 million  annually to the preservation of the language. The number of speakers has declined in the past century due to the expansion of its nieghbors, but schooling in the language has been promoted and the number of speakers who are bilingual in both Romansh and another national language is high. 

The factor that stand against the language's future is the sheer power of the other two close-proximity languages, Italian and German. Businesses are skeptical of changing their processes into Romansh because it only holds relevance in the few cantons that speak the language. Additionally, in the larger scope, the language is only spoken by less than 1% of the Swiss population, making it a drop of water in the larger linguistic bucket of the country. Many supporters of the language also encourage the parents who raise their children to speak the language to also educate their children in one of the other two larger national languages in order to allow the children to have a better opportunity in ventures outside of the Romansh-speaking world. Overall, the attitude towards the language is neutral to slightly positive from its speakers.(10)

It is all these aforementioned factors that lead many to list the language as "threatened" but not "in danger of extinction" or "moribund". These facts lead one to the conclusion that the language will continue its decline into fewer speakers, but the larger community and national support will allow for the langauge to continue being spoken, even if the number of speakers is smaller.   

Using the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale, one could categorize Romansh as between 2-5 (Provincial, Wider Communication, Educational) depending upon the region. The scale does not fit comfortably with the nature of Romansh, as the language is shifting at different speeds for different Romansh-speaking cantons. Many areas have lost the ability to use the language at work in favor of Italian/German and media in the language is only produced in the larger cantons. Luckily the support of the Swiss government has made Romansh education very sustainable. (4)

Threats

The biggest threats to the language fall into four categories:

Local: Romansh is being passed over in favor of other, more widely-spoken languages as the language of education for many Romansh children. 

Regional: The Romansh-speaking areas are hidden in mountain valleys and are very often in contact with their counterparts due to the geography of the region. This impedes upon the ability of a Romansh speaker to have mobility while still using their language.

National: Many businesses and universities do not want to offer Romansh as a language of usage. They find that because the language is used in such a small area that it is not beneficial to the business/university to conduct business in the language when they can choose any of the other three national languages that are established business/academic languages in many other areas of the world. 

International: Because Romansh is only spoken in Eastern Switzerland and Leichtenstein, there is no room with which a Romansh speaker could freely move their lives. If they wish to use the language on a daily basis outside of their family group, they have to live within a Romansh-speaking canton or community. If they want to be able to use the language as a work language, they must also live in the aforementioned areas. Additionally, as the main 100 global languages have started to create concrete spaces for themselves on the global market, it discourages the growth and usage of other languages on a global scale.

Assessing the Language

When considering the current state of Romansh, there are many ways to view the situation. Due to the separated nature of the language, it's hard to qualify it on the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale because the languaeg is used differently in each community. 

It would be apt to assess the language using Edwards' 1992 Typology Schema in a Pro/Con style set up (2). 

Pros

Governmentally Recognized Language (official language amongst 3 others)

Goverment Allocates Money for Language Promotion

Language Organization (Lia Rumantscha) Supporting Language Worldwide

Some Community Schools in Romansh

36,600 Speakers Regularly Using Language in Daily Life

Apx. 40,000 Speakers in Total

Isolated Nature of Swiss Valleys Slows Expansion of Other Languages

Media is Being Produced in Language

Content has been produced for Centuries in Language 

Netural/Slightly Positive Langauge Attitude

Cons

Language Only Spoken by 1% of Swiss Population 

Government Monetary Support Only Goes so Far

Usage of German/Italian Expanding in Switzerland 

Higher Education not Available in Language

Many Parents Choose to Raise Children Bilingual or in Another Language

Outside of the Valley Towns, Language isn't Used

Amount of Content in Language is Small

Language Attitude isn't as Positive as it Could Be