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 Sursilvan in the west and the dialects of the Engadine in the east, with Sutsilvan and Surmiran forming a transition zone between them. The Engadinese varieties "Putèr" and "Vallader" are often referred to as one specific variety known as "Ladin" (rm. ), which is not to be confused with the closely related language in Italy's Dolomite mountains also known as Ladin. Sutsilvan and Surmiran are sometimes grouped together as Central Romansh (rm. "Grischun central"), and then grouped together with Sursilvan as "Rhenish Romansh" (in German, "Rheinischromanisch"). One feature that separates the Rhenish varieties from Ladin is the retention of the