3.9 Switzerland: Rumantsch
Description
This article is from the Switzerland FAQ, by Marc Schaefer schaefer@alphanet.ch with numerous contributions by others.
3.9 Switzerland: Rumantsch
The fourth language of Switzerland, also called ``Rhaeto-Romanisch''
in German, and ``Romanche' ' in French is spoken by less than 50'000
people, in the Graubuenden Kanton. Efforts are being made to revive
it: it is being tought in schools in those areas now. It is rooted in
the ancient roman language.
Rumantsch consists of five different dialects (Sursilvan, Surmiran,
Sutsilvan, Vallader, and Putèr), and there's also a constructed
standard language, Rumantsch Grischun, which was created in 1982 to
serve as an ``Einheitssprache'' or common language, which can be
understood by the speakers of the five dialects quite well, with a
little effort.
If you would like to read some Rumantsch, please check
http://www.luna.nl/~benne/rumantsch.html, where you can find links to
some Rumantsch Web resources, like the on-line magazine PUNTS
(http://www.grnet.ch/punts/), which is entirely written in Rumantsch
(as well as in Rumantsch Grischun as in the various local dialects).
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