Romansh language: how fast to learn?

A few Romans speak the Romansh language (more precisely, languages). Some might even think that, like Latin, the Romansh language is dead, but it is not. It is possible to learn this archaic language, but first you need to understand the term, because this is not one language, but a whole group.

Aral association

The Romansh language is a group of Romance languages. The place of their distribution is the Gallo-Italian language area, so they are not a genetic group.

The Friulian language derives its name from the region of Friuli in Italy, where it was distributed. This area stretches north from Venice to the border with Austria, and to the east to the border with Slovenia.

Ladino language also exists in the north of Italy, east of the Dolomites, in the Alto-Adige region.

Romansh is the Swiss Romansh language, the distribution area of which is the Rhine Valley and the canton of Graubünden.

The Engadin dialect is also included in this group. It still exists in the Inn Valley in Switzerland.

Native speakers

The fate of these languages is interesting. The most common at the moment is the Friulian, it is spoken by about three hundred thousand people. At the moment, all four languages are legislatively recognized as national languages, however Romansh acquired an official status quite recently (it is owned by several tens of thousands of people all over the world). That is, even this Romanshman language is alive, but in the schools of Switzerland it is taught only in areas where direct carriers live. By the way, the inhabitants of the canton of Graubünden do not intend to bury their language: some newspapers and magazines are published on it, signs and signs are made. Even the radio in the canton is broadcasting in Romansh.

An interesting feature: Romansh (like the Friulian) has several dialects. The Verkhneengadinsky and Surselvsky are the most important. With a periodicity of one year they replace each other as the national language of the canton.

In Latin

Its roots are archaic and Romansh. What language could form the basis of it? Of course Latin. The ancient Romans captured the Alpine lands, bringing with their weapons and their language. The constant migrations of the tribes, and the past centuries, also made their contribution, however, the inhabitants of the canton of Graubünden joke that if one of the Roman legionaries suddenly returned from the dead and asked for a pack of cigarettes in a nearby kiosk, he would have been understood.

In the 8th-9th centuries, the Swiss Romanshman language is under strong German pressure, since the latter receives the status of an administrative language. Although the Romansh language even issued documents and translations of religious texts, most of which were translations from Latin. The archaic "peasant" language stood firm for almost ten centuries, and even in the middle of the 19th century almost half of the inhabitants of the canton of Graubünden called this Romansh language native.

There is an opinion that it was in this century that he was hit hardest: unemployment reached its limit, and the development of roads led to the fact that more and more native speakers were leaving the canton. To find a good job in a new place, they needed to own German.

After a while, local writers and the cultural community sounded the alarm: the language was in danger of extinction. As a result of its promotion not only in the canton itself, but also in other areas, the Romansh language in Switzerland was elevated to the national language status of the country, but it happened not so long ago - in 1938.

Friuli

The most common Romansh language is the Friulian language. Although modern linguists dispute his attitude to the Romance language group and are inclined to regard it as a separate language. There is still no consensus on this issue.

Friulsky in some respects is close to the languages of northern Italy, but not enough to consider them related. He still belongs to the group of "Romanshmen", although scientists call this classification somewhat outdated.

In the Friulian, the diphthong is preserved, as is the characteristic feature of the deafening of the voiced consonants at the end. There are also special features in grammar: two types of plural education and the use of special flexion when writing a sentence with a question.

Unity of languages

Although the languages of the Rhaeto-Romance group have common features, they arbitrarily combined them into one group not so long ago. This was done by the linguist from Italy G. Ascoli in 1873. He examined in detail the question of the linguistic unity of the so-called "Ladin dialects", that is, Romansh, Ladino and Friuli, but also noted the isolation of the latter. The term "Romansh language" was introduced by the German novelist T. Gartner ten years after the publication of the work of Ascoli.

In addition to modern names, linguists also used such things as "Alpine Romance", "Retaladinsky", "Reto-Friulian", and the whole group in some works (for example, H. Schneller) was called the Friulo-Ladino-Kurvalian language union.

Neither Ascoli and Gartner "formally" did not include the Friulian in the group of Romansh languages, but for some reason, by many researchers of the Romance languages, it was regarded as part of the Ladino range.

How to Learn Romansh

This is a little common language, so finding a teacher in linguistic centers can be difficult (or expensive), but do not despair - everything you need can be found on the Internet. The first thing you need is a grammar book. It is easiest to start learning any language with an understanding of its structure. The problem here is that textbooks and dictionaries, in general, also in foreign languages: German, French, Italian. It is much easier to deal with this language will be the one who owns Latin.

Native speakers are few, but they are. Therefore, you can study the language in the region of its distribution. If this is not possible - it's worth trying to find a carrier in video chat for those who are looking for an interlocutor for a conversation in a foreign language. In addition, there is also fiction in the Romansh; Mostly translations of classical ancient literature, for example, the fables of Aesop. Reading not only helps to learn the language quickly, but also makes the process interesting.