Romansh language 17th century, after which it became entirely German-speaking because of the Counter-Reformation denunciation of Romansh as a "Protestant language". When Grisons became part of Switzerland in 1803, it had a population of roughly 73,000, of whom around 36,600 were Romansh speakers—many of them monolingual—living mostly within the Romansh-speaking valleys. The language border with German, which had mostly been stable since the 16th century, now began moving again as more and more villages shifted to German. One cause was the admission of Grisons as a Swiss canton, which brought Romansh-speakers into more frequent contact with German-speakers. Another factor was the increased
Romansh language as in Sursilvan "Jeu mon direct" 'I am going directly', rather than "Jeu mon directamein". This usage is rare in most other Romance languages with a few sporadic exceptions as in French "parler haut" or Italian "vosà fort" 'speak aloud', and the common usage in colloquial Romansh is likely an influence from German. Especially noticeable and often criticized by language purists are particles such as "aber", "schon", "halt", "grad", "eba", or "zuar", which have become an integral part of everyday Romansh speech, especially in Sursilvan. Negation was originally formed by a double negative in all Romansh dialects. Today, this usage