Romansh language take along' or Italian "andare via" 'to go away', the large number in Romansh suggests an influence of German, where this pattern is common. However, prepositional verbs are also common in the (Romance) Lombard language spoken in the bordering Swiss and Italian regions. The verbs "far cun" 'to participate' or "grodar tras" 'to fail' for example, are direct equivalents of German "mitmachen" (from "mit" 'with' and "machen" 'to do) and "durchfallen" (from "durch" 'through' and "fallen" 'to fall'). Less integrated into the Romansh verbal system are constructions following the pattern of "far il" ('doing the') + a German infinitive. Examples
Romansh language around them remained Romansh-speaking longer. The shift to German was caused in particular by the influence of the local German-speaking élites and by German-speaking immigrants from the north, with the lower and rural classes retaining Romansh longer. In addition, beginning around 1270, the German-speaking Walser began settling in sparsely populated or uninhabited areas within the Romansh-speaking heartland. The Walser sometimes expanded into Romansh-speaking areas from their original settlements, which then often became German-speaking, such as Davos, Schanfigg, the Prättigau, Schams, and Valendas, which became German-speaking by the 14th century. In rare cases, these Walser settlements were eventually assimilated by their