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 various Romansh-speaking regions would still have developed their own separate written standards. Instead, several regional written varieties of Romansh began appearing during the 16th century. Gian Travers wrote the first surviving work in Romansh, the "Chianzun dalla guerra dagl Chiaste da Müs", in the Putèr dialect. This epic poem, written in 1527, describes the first Musso war, in which Travers himself had taken part. Travers also translated numerous biblical plays into Romansh, though only the titles survive for many of them. Another early writer, Giachem Bifrun, who also wrote in Putèr, penned the first printed book in Romansh, a catechism