Let's speak Romansh !

Let's speak Romansh !

Multilingualism is part of the Swiss DNA and contributes to Switzerland’s cultural diversity. At the same time, Switzerland’s minority languages arouse much fascination in the outside world… and Romansh varieties are often little known to many Swiss people. Romansh is mainly spoken in the canton of Graubünden. However, Romansh speakers living all over Switzerland are ambassadors for their language in the other cantons.

The Rhaetians, the Romans and today's Romansh

The Rhaetians, the Romans and today's Romansh

The canton of Graubünden seems to have two identities: the cantonal railway isn’t called the Graubünden Railway, but the Rhaetian Railway, and instead of a Graubünden Museum there’s a Rhaetian Museum. 

The name comes from the Rhaetians, the ancient tribes shrouded in mystery who once inhabited the Alpine region. Although Celts settled in large parts of Graubünden, the canton nevertheless became predominantly Rhaetian, mainly thanks to the Romans, who around 2,000 years ago established a vast province called Rhaetia, which extended far beyond the borders of today’s Graubünden. 

The language also changed with the Romans: Latin found its way into the province, developing into a distinct language in the subsequent centuries: Romansh. 

Today, Romansh is one of the three official languages in Graubünden, alongside German and Italian. It’s the only trilingual canton in Switzerland. So Graubünden not only has a Rhaetian Railway and a Rhaetian Museum, but also a ‹Viafier retica› and a ‹Museum retic›. 

 

From
Müstair to Mustér

From
Müstair to Mustér

The Graubünden coat of arms features the ibex, which also makes its home in Pontresina: some 1,800 of the animals inhabit the nearby slopes of Piz Albris, forming one of the largest ibex colonies in the Alps. 

In Graubünden, on average, there’s about one ibex to every square kilometre. There are even more Romansh people: there are around four people who cite Romansh as their main language per square kilometre. 

But there’s a problem with these averages: in addition to 937 mountains, Graubünden has some 150 valleys in which Graubünden German, Walser German and Italian are traditionally spoken, plus many other languages. What’s more, there are five distinct varieties of Romansh. 

A Romansh person who lives in Müstair in the Val Müstair therefore won’t necessarily understand a Romansh person who lives in Disentis/Mustér in the Surselva region – although Müstair and Mustér both go back to the Latin word monasterium (monastery). On
top of that, the two are separated by a postbus and train journey that takes around four and a half hours. That’s slightly longer than a train journey right across Switzerland from Chur to Geneva. 

In the Upper Engadine, the Puter variety of Romansh is traditionally spoken. In Pontresina – Puntraschigna in Romansh – however,the proportion of Romansh speakers fell from around 45% in 1880 to just over 8% in 2000. 

One reason for that is tourism and its need for labour. Today, about 9% of people in Pontresina speak Portuguese – more than Romansh. However, Portuguese speakers can pick up Romansh relatively quickly, as both are Romance languages. 

The Graubünden coat of arms features the ibex, which also makes its home in Pontresina: some 1,800 of the animals inhabit the nearby slopes of Piz Albris, forming one of the largest ibex colonies in the Alps. 

Given this diversity, how can people best communicate with each other? Could a uniform written language save this diverse but threatened language? These considerations led to the creation of the standard written language Rumantsch Grischun in the 1980s. Today, it’s mainly used in a supra-regional context and as an official language, but is hardly ever taught as a literacy language in the Graubünden school system: on the contrary, most communes ended up reverting to teaching their ancestral variety of Romansh. Rumantsch Grischun has however established itself as an official language, and is also used by the media and for information purposes.

Literature,
comics and games

Literature,
comics and games

Uorsin? Come again? Ursli? Sounds vaguely familiar. Schellenursli? Ah yes, the story of the boy who climbs up to a mountain hut through the deep snow to fetch a big bell. He wants to take part in the Chalandamarz, the old custom of celebrating the end of winter, and doesn’t want to be stuck at the back of the procession, with the small bells. Schellenursli – or Uorsin in Romansh – is still a feature of Swiss children’s bedrooms, not least because of the illustrations by artist Alois Carigiet. Less well known is writer Selina Chönz, who created the story in 1945. She lived in the Lower Engadine village of Guarda, right next to the ‹Schellenursli› house. 

What’s a Buttatsch cun îgls? It loosely translates as a cow’s stomach with eyes. The unusual creature appears in old Alpine tales, and also features in a Romansh comic, Il Crestomat, an e-comic based on the Romansh Chrestomathy, one of the most important collections of Romansh texts. The comic provides a modern approach to the history of Rumantschia and the Romansh language. 

Romansh is also present in the world of computer games – namely with Mundaun, which is described by its creators as a «lovingly hand-pencilled horror tale set in a dark, secluded valley of the Alps». The language spoken in the game is not English, but Romansh, and the plot is set around Piz Mundaun in the Surselva region.

«Rumantsch poetic» –
what makes Romansh music
special?

«Rumantsch poetic» –
what makes Romansh music
special?

Musica rumantscha, which often takes ancient songs and combines them with modern sounds, gives the listener a melodious introduction to Romansh. Bibi Vaplan and Pascal Gamboni for example are two singer-songwriters of the genre, while hip-hop group Liricas Analas from Surselva began to attract attention in 1999, releasing the first ever Romansh rap album in 2004. 

Curdin Nicolay,
lat da chavra

Bibi Vaplan: 
Lascha a mai 

Pascal Gamboni:
Unics

Bibi Vaplan:
Lascha a mai 

Liricas Analas: 
Siemis 

Voices of youth
on the future of Romansh

Voices of youth
on the future of Romansh

How do young adults from Romansh-speaking communities experience language? How important is Romansh to them as one of the various languages they speak? And what do they think about the place this minority language has in Graubünden?

Three statements from Romansh youths give insight into their point of view.

Curdin Melchior (19), 
Val Schons:

«Romansh was helpful for me when I was learning English and French. English is actually kind of like German with Romansh words and a different accent. It wasn’t so difficult to learn.»

Alexander Bott (21), 
Val Müstair:

«As soon as I speak Romansh, I feel back at home. Romansh means home. I associate everything I like with Romansh.»

 

Julia Cardoso (19), 
Engiadin’Ota:

«I just think it’s nice to keep this tradition of speaking Romansh alive. Speaking Romansh is something very special for me, because not many people can do it.»

© FDFA, Presence Switzerland 2022 / Source: www.rumantsch-e.ch