Romansh Language - Geographic Distribution

Geographic Distribution

Whereas Romansh was spoken as far north as Lake Constance in the early Middle Ages, the language area of Romansh is today limited to parts of the Swiss canton of Grisons; the last areas outside the canton to speak Romansh, the Vinschgau in South Tyrol, became German-speaking in the 17th century. Inside Grisons, the language borders largely stabilized in the 16th century and remained almost unchanged until the 19th century. This language area is often called the "Traditional Romansh-speaking territory", a term introduced by the statistician Jean-Jacques Furer based on the results of the Swiss censuses. Furer defines this language area as those municipalities in which a majority declared Romansh as their mother tongue in any of the first four Swiss censuses between 1860 and 1888. In addition, he includes Fürstenau. This represented 121 municipalities at the time, corresponding to 116 present-day municipalities. The villages of Samnaun, Sils im Domleschg, Masein, and Urmein, which were still Romansh-speaking in the 17th century, had lost their Romansh majority by 1860, and are not included in this definition. This historical definition of the language area has been taken up in many subsequent publications, but the Swiss Federal Statistical Office for instance defines the language area of Romansh as those municipalities, where a majority declared to habitually use Romansh in the census of 2000.

In 2000, 66 municipalities still had a Romansh majority, an additional 32 had at least 20% who declared Romansh as their language of best command or as a habitually spoken language, while Romansh is either extinct or only spoken by a small minority in the remaining 18 municipalities within the traditional language area. In total, Romansh was the language of best command for 24,016 people within the traditional language area in 2000, representing 32.8%. In 1880 by contrast, 35,742 had declared Romansh as their native language, representing 85.9% of the population of the traditional Romansh language area. Outside of the traditional Romansh language area, Romansh is spoken by the so-called "Romansh diaspora", meaning people who have moved out of the Romansh-speaking valleys. A significant number is found in the capital of Grisons, Chur, as well as in Swiss cities outside of Grisons. The number of Romansh speakers residing outside the Canton of Grisons represents 33,7% of all habitual users of Romansh, and about 20% of those who declared Romansh as their language of best command in 2000. About 10% of all Romansh speakers reside in parts of Grisons outside the traditional Romansh language area.

The presence of Romansh within its traditional language area varies from region to region. Whereas it is the every day language for virtually the entire population in some areas, in others the only remaining speakers of Romansh have moved there from elsewhere. In the Surselva region, it is the habitually spoken language of 78.5% and the language of best command of 66%. Within Surselva, the western areas Cadi and Val Lumnezia usually have around 80% Romansh speakers, whereas it is only around 50% in the Gruob, and around 10% in the Imboden District further east. Romansh is still acquired by most children in the Cadi and Gruob even in villages where Romansh speakers are in the minority, since it is usually the language of instruction in primary education there. In the Sutselva region, Romansh is extinct or only spoken by a small number of older people, with the exception of Schams, where it is still transmitted to children and where some villages still have a Romansh majority, notably in the vicinity of the Schamserberg. In the Surmiran region, it is the main language in the Surses region, but no longer widely spoken in the Albula valley.

In the Upper Engadine-Valley, it is a habitually spoken language for 30.8% and the language of best command for 13%. The only municipality which still has a Romansh majority is S-chanf, but in many other villages it is still widely spoken even if a large majority declared German as their language of best command. This is the case in Samedan for instance, where only 16.7% declared Romansh as their language of best command in 2000, but 42.2% declared to speak the language habitually. In the Upper Engadine, most children still acquire Romansh through the school system, which has retained Romansh as the primary language of instruction, even though Swiss German is more widely spoken inside the home. In the Lower Engadine, Romansh speakers form the majority in virtually all municipalities, with generally over 70% declaring it as a habitually spoken language. Overall, 60.4% in the Lower Engadine declared Romansh as their language of best command in 2000, with 77.4% declaring it as a habitually spoken language.