Romansh language proponents called on the Romansh people to nurture the "new-born" to allow it to grow, with Romansh writer Ursicin Derungs calling Rumantsch Grischun a ""lungatg virginal"" 'virgin language' that now had to be seduced and turned into a blossoming woman. The opposition to Rumantsch Grischun also became clear in the Swiss census of 1990, in which certain municipalities refused to distribute questionnaires in Rumantsch Grischun, requesting the German version instead. Following a survey on the opinion of the Romansh population on the issue, the government of Grisons decided in 1996 that Rumantsch Grischun would be used when addressing all Romansh
Romansh language surviving work in Romansh is the "Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs" written in the Putèr dialect in 1527 by Gian Travers. It is an epic poem describing the First Musso war which Travers himself had taken part in. Subsequent works usually have religious themes, including Bible translations, manuals for religious instructions, and biblical plays. In 1560, the first Romansh translation of the New Testament: "L'g Nuof Sainc Testamaint da nos Signer Jesu Christ" by Giachem Bifrun, was published. Two years later, in 1562, another writer from the Engadine, Durich Chiampel, published the "Cudesch da Psalms", a collection of