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 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