Romansh language Surmiran, a minor intermediate dialect. Following a referendum on March 10, 1996, Romansh was recognized as a partial official language of Switzerland alongside German, French, and Italian in article 70 of the federal constitution. According to the article, German, French, Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansh are national languages of Switzerland. The official languages are declared to be German, French, and Italian, and Rhaeto-Romansh is an official language for correspondence with Romansh-speaking people. This means that in principle, it is possible to address the federal administration in Romansh and receive an answer in the same language. In what the Federal Culture Office itself
Romansh language Friulan and Ladin were not separate languages but rather Italian dialects. They used this as an argument to claim the territories for Italy where these languages were spoken. From a sociolinguistic perspective, however, this question is largely irrelevant. The speakers of Romansh have always identified as speaking a language distinct from both Italian and other Romance varieties. Romansh comprises a group of closely related dialects, which are most commonly divided into five different varieties, each of which has developed a standardized form. These standardized regional standards are referred to as "idioms" in Romansh to distinguish them from the local vernaculars,