Romansh Language - Dialects

Dialects

Romansh comprises a group of closely related dialects, which are most commonly divided into five different varieties, all of which have developed a standardized form:

• Sursilvan (rm. sursilvan; derived from the name of the Surselva-region, which itself is derived from sur 'above' and selva 'forest') – spoken in the Vorderrhein (Rain anteriur) valley, including the Val Lumnezia, Foppa, and Cadi. It is the most widely spoken variety, with 17,897 people within the Surselva region (54.8%) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language in the Swiss census of 2000.
• Sutsilvan (derived from sut 'below' and selva 'forest') – spoken in the Hinterrhein (Rain posteriur) valley, including Plaun, Heinzenberg, Domleschg, and Schams. It is the least widely spoken Romansh variety, with 1,111 people within its historical area (15.4%) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language. It has become extinct across much of its historical area since the turn of the 20th century.
• Surmiran (derived from sur 'above' and meir 'wall') – spoken in the Julia and Albula valleys, including Surses and Sutses
• Putèr (rm. putèr; probably originally a nickname derived from put 'porridge', meaning 'porridge-eaters'.) – spoken in the Upper Engadine valley (Engiadin' Ota) west of Zernez. Romansh was named by 5,497 people within the Upper Engadine valley (30%) as a habitually spoken language in the census of 2000.
• Vallader (rm. vallader; derived from val 'valley') – is spoken in the Lower Engadine valley (Engiadina Bassa) and the Val Müstair. It is the second most commonly spoken variety of Romansh, with 6,448 people in the Lower Engadine valley (79.2%) naming Romansh as a habitually spoken language in the census of 2000.

Aside from these five major dialects, two additional varieties are often distinguished. One is the dialect of the Val Müstair, which is closely related to Vallader but often separately referred to as Jauer (derived from the personal pronoun jau 'I', i.e. 'the jau-sayers'). Less commonly distinguished is the dialect of Tujetsch and the Val Medel, which is markedly different from Sursilvan and is referred to as Tuatschin. Additionally, the standardized variety Rumantsch Grischun intended for pan-regional use has been introduced since 1982. The dialect of the Val Bregaglia is usually considered a variety of Lombard and speakers use Italian as their written language, even though the dialect shares many features with the neighboring Putèr dialect of Romansh.

These dialects form a dialect continuum without clear-cut divisions. This continuum has now been ruptured by the spread of German, so that Romansh is now geographically divided into at least two non-adjacent parts. Several classifications are used. Putèr and Vallader are sometimes referred to as one specific variety known as Ladin (rm. ladin), as these dialects have retained this word to mean Romansh; it is not to be confused with the closely related language in Italy's Dolomite mountains also known as Ladin. Sursilvan is often classed separately and Sutsilvan and Surmiran are referred to as Central Romansh (rm. Grischun central). Other classifications group Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, and Surmiran together as Rhenish varieties. Surmiran in particular often forms a transition zone between the dialects of the Engadine and the Rhine valley.

For example, the Ladin varieties Putèr and Vallader retain the rounded front vowels /y/ and /ø/ (written ü and ö), which have been derounded to /i/ and /e/ in the other dialects. Compare Putèr mür to Sursilvan mir ‘wall’ and Putèr ögl to Sursilvan egl 'eye'. Another difference involves the extent of the palatalization of Latin K in front of A, which is rare in Sursilvan but common in the other varieties: Sursilvan casa, Surmiran tgesa, and Vallader chasa 'house'.

The dialects of Romansh are not always mutually comprehensible. Speakers of Sursilvan and of the Ladin varieties Vallader and Putèr in particular, are usually unable to understand each other initially. Because speakers usually identify themselves primarily with their regional dialect, many do not take the effort to attempt to understand unfamiliar dialects, and prefer to speak Swiss German with speakers of other varieties. A common Romansh identity is not widespread outside of intellectual circles, even though this has been changing among the younger generation.