Autonomous Province of Bozen - South Tyrol – Abteilung Generic

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Rumantschia

In the year 15 BC Drusus and Tiberius – the stepsons of Caesar Augustus – conquered the Alpine territories which later were to form the Rhaetia Province. Even if the birth of Rhaetoromance does not really correspond to this date, the political incidents of the year 15 BC created the preconditions which determined the development of that branch of Vulgar Latin which was to become a new Neo-Latin language in the course of its further development.
Only little is known about the linguistic circumstances which the Romans found at their arrival in the Alpine regions. There is the common opinion that various tribes were living together in this Alpine area; the Celts and the Rhaetians seem to be the most important ones of these. The Celts belonged to the Indo-Germanic language family, the classification of the Rhaetians is controversial. Nowadays, the predominant view is that the Rhaetians were not an Indo-Germanic tribe. In the valleys of today’s Grisons the Rhaetians probably settled in Lower Engadin.
The linguistic situation of the Alpine area at the times of the Roman conquest is significant for the history of the Romansh language only as far as toponomastics and a little part of the appellative vocabulary is concerned. 2 to 2.5% of the Romansh words (400-500 words of about 20.000) date back to a time before the Roman conquest that is to say, that they cannot be led back to a Latin root. The majority of pre-Roman words are expressions referring to the countryside, to fauna and flora or to Alpine farming. Some words have been preserved up to now: for example crap (stone), grip (rock), tschut (sheep), ampuauna (raspberry), alaussa (bird cherry). It is surprising that a great part of Romansh toponyms have pre-Roman origins (for example Ardez, Zernez, Brigels, Ilanz). The major part of the Romansh linguistic heritage, however, has (Vulgar) Latin roots.
The contacts with the Germanic North which have been determinant for the history of the Romansh language already started at the Roman times. The first Alemannic incursions already took place in the middle of the 4th century. Due to political and religious reorientation a continuous Germanisation of the Rhaetian territories occurred from the 8th century onwards. Even in those territories, where the Romansh language was maintained, the language was relatively strongly influenced by Germanic (vocabulary, morphology, syntax and phonetics). The advancing of the Germanic tribes triggered off a similar linguistic development as it had happened with Latin some centuries before. Examples for the Germanic linguistic heritage are baud (< BALDA; soon), guaud (< WALDA, wood) and giavischar (< GAWUNSKIA, to wish).
In the 16th/18th centuries Romansh developed into a written language. The major impetus for the creation of a literary language was given by the Reformation (spreading from Upper Engadin) and by the Catholic Counter-Reformation.
In the 19th century, with the expansion of the road network, the opening of the Romansh valleys to traffic and the flourishing of tourism, the Romansh language started to be threatened. Various personalities called upon the Romansh population for the defence of their language. This led to a new awareness for the value of the Romansh language. In 1938 Romansh was recognised as forth national Suisse language by the population and by the authorities.