Romansh has been recognized as a national language of Switzerland since , and as an official language in correspondence with Romansh-speaking citizens since , along with German , French , and Italian. It is sometimes grouped by linguists with Ladin and Friulian as the Rhaeto-Romance languages , though this is disputed. Romansh is one of the descendant languages of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire , which by the 5th century AD replaced the Celtic and Raetic languages previously spoken in the area.
Romansh retains a small number of words from these languages. Romansh has also been strongly influenced by German in vocabulary and morphosyntax. The language gradually retreated to its current area over the centuries, being replaced in other areas by Alemannic and Bavarian dialects. The earliest writing identified as Romansh dates from the 10th or 11th century, although major works did not appear until the 16th century, when several regional written varieties began to develop.
During the 19th century the area where the language was spoken declined due to the industrialization of Switzerland, but the Romansh speakers had a literary revival and started a language movement dedicated to halting the decline of their language. In the Swiss census, 35, people of whom 27, live in the canton of the Grisons indicated Romansh as the language of "best command", and 61, as a "regularly spoken" language.
In addition, a pan-regional variety called Rumantsch Grischun was introduced in , which is controversial among Romansh speakers. 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. Another distinguishing feature is the centuries-long language contact with German , which is most noticeable in the vocabulary and to a lesser extent the syntax of Romansh.
Romansh belongs to the Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages, which includes languages such as French , Occitan , and Lombard. The main features distinguishing Romansh from the Gallo-Italic languages to the south, and placing it closer to Ladin , Friulian and Franco-Provencal , are:. Another defining feature of the Romansh language is the use of unstressed vowels.
