Romansh is a Romance language descending from Vulgar Latin, the spoken language of the Roman Empire. Among the Romance languages, Romansh stands out because of its peripheral location. This has resulted in several

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Romansh comprises a group of closely related dialects, which are most commonly divided into five different varieties, each of which has developed a

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Origins and development until modern times
Romansh originates from the spoken Latin brought to the region by Roman soldiers, merchants, and officials following the conquest of the modern-day Grisons area by the Romans in 15 BC.

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Whereas Romansh was spoken as far north as Lake Constance in the early Middle Ages, the language area of Romansh is today limited to parts of the canton of the Grisons; the last areas outside the canton to speak Romansh, the Vinschgauin

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Romansh has up to 26 consonant phonemes. Two are only found in some varieties, and one is found only in loanwords borrowed from

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The following description deals mainly with the Sursilvan dialect, which is the best-studied so far. The dialects Putèr and Vallader of the Engadine valley in particular diverge considerably from Sursilvan in many points. When possible, such differences are

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In Switzerland, official language use is governed by the "territorial principle": Cantonal law determines which of the four national languages enjoys official status in which part of the territory.

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