Romansh people Romansh people The Romansh people (also spelled Romansch, Rumantsch, or Romanche; Romansh: , "rumàntsch", or ) are a Romance ethnic group of Switzerland, native speakers of the Romansh language. They are usually multilingual, also speaking German (both the standard variety and the local Swiss German) and sometimes Italian, which are the other official languages of Graubünden, the canton where they are concentrated. They make up about 1% of Switzerland's population and 15% of Graubünden's. The Romansh people began advocating for an end to German dominion over them starting with World War I. In 1937 the Swiss government recognized the Romansh
Romansh language objects and ideas were introduced. Romansh speakers often simply adopted the German words, such as "il zug" 'the train' or "il banhof" 'the train station'. Language purists attempted to coin new Romansh words instead, which were occasionally successful in entering popular usage. Whereas "il tren" and "la staziun" managed to replace "il zug" and "il banhof", other German words have become established in Romansh usage, such as "il schalter" 'the switch', "il hebel" 'the lever', "la schlagbohrmaschina" 'the hammer drill', or "in schluc" 'a sip'. Especially noticeable are interjections such as "schon", "aber" or "halt", which have become established in