Rhetoroman language (more precisely, languages) is spoken on our planet by few. Some may even think that, like Latin, Romansh is dead, but it is not. It is quite possible to learn this archaic language, but first you need to understand the term, because it is not one language, but a whole group.
Areal association
The Romansh language is a group of Romance languages. Their distribution site is the Gallo-Italian language area, so they are not a genetic group.
Friulian got its name from the Friuli region of Italy, where it was distributed. This area stretches north from Venice to the border with Austria, and east to the border with Slovenia.
Ladin language also exists in northern Italy, east of the Dolomites, in the Alto Adige area.
Romansh is a Swiss Romansh language whose distribution area is the Rhine Valley and the canton of Graubünden.
Engadin dialect - also included in this group. It still exists in the Inn Valley in Switzerland.
Native speakers
The fate of these languages is interesting. The most common at the moment is Friulian, about three hundred thousand people speak it. At the moment, all four languages are legally recognized as national languages, however, Romansh has acquired official status recently (it is owned by several tens of thousands of people around the world). That is, even this Romansh language is alive, but it is taught in Swiss schools only in areas where native speakers live. By the way, the inhabitants of the canton of Graubünden are not going to bury their language: some newspapers and magazines are published on it, signs and signs are made. Even the radio in the canton broadcasts in Romansh.
An interesting feature: Romance (like Friulian) has several dialects. Verkhneengadinsky and Surselvsky are the most important. With a frequency of one year, they replace each other as national language of the canton.
In Latin
The archaic Romansh has its roots. What language could form its basis? Of course, Latin. The ancient Romans conquered the Alpine region, bringing with their weapons their tongue. Permanent migrations of tribes and past centuries also contributed, however, the inhabitants of the canton of Graubünden joke that if one of the Roman legionnaires suddenly returned from the dead and asked for a pack of cigarettes at a nearby kiosk, they would understand.
In the 8th-9th centuries, the Swiss Romansh language experiences strong German pressure, as the latter receives the status of an administrative language. Although in Romance language documents and translations of religious texts were even published, most of which were translations from Latin. The archaic "peasant" language persisted for almost ten centuries, and even in the middle of the 19th century, almost half of the inhabitants of the canton of Graubünden called this Romansh language their native language.
It is believed that it was in this century that the biggest blow was dealt to him: unemployment reached its limit, and the development of roads led to the fact that more and more native speakers left the canton. To find a good job in a new place, they needed to be fluent in German.
After some time, local writers and cultural society sounded the alarm: the language was in danger of extinction. As a result of its promotion, not only in the canton itself, but also in other areas, the Romansh language in Switzerland was elevated to the status of the national language of the country, but this happened not so long ago - in 1938.
Friuli
The most common Romansh language is Friulian. Although modern linguists dispute his attitude to the Romance language group and tend to be considered as a separate language. There is still no consensus on this issue.
Friulian is in some respects close to the languages of northern Italy, but not so much as to consider them related. He is still included in the group of “Romans”, although scientists call this classification somewhat outdated.
In Friulian, diphthong is preserved, a stun at the end of the word of voiced consonants is also a characteristic feature. There are also peculiarities in grammar: two types of plural formation and the use of special inflection when making a sentence with a question.
Unity of languages
Although the languages of the Romansh group have common features, they conditionally united them into one group not so long ago. This was done by a linguist from Italy G. Ascoli in 1873. He examined in detail the question of the linguistic unity of the so-called Ladin dialects, that is, Romansh, Ladin and Friulian languages, but he also noted the isolation of the latter. The term “Romansh language” itself was introduced by the German novelist T. Gartner ten years after the publication of Ascoli's work.
In addition to modern names in the works of linguists, such as “Alpine Romanesque”, “Retoladinsky”, “Reto-Friulian” were also used, and the whole group in some works (for example, H. Schneller) was called the Friulo-Ladino-Kurval language union.
Neither Ascoli nor Gartner "officially" included Friulian into the group of Romansh languages, however, for some reason, many researchers of Romance languages began to consider it as part of the Ladin area.
How to learn Romansh
This is a rare language, so finding a teacher in linguistic centers can be difficult (or expensive), but do not despair - you can find everything you need on the Internet. The first thing you need is a grammar textbook. Learning any language is easiest to start with understanding its structure. The problem here will be that textbooks and dictionaries are mainly also in foreign languages: German, French, Italian. Much easier to deal with this language will be the one who speaks Latin.
There are few native speakers, but they are. Therefore, you can study the language in the region of its distribution. If this is not possible, it is worth trying to find a medium in video chat for those who are looking for an interlocutor for a conversation in a foreign language. In addition, there is also fiction in Romansh; these are mainly translations of classical antique literature, for example, Aesop's fables. Reading not only helps to learn the language quickly, but also makes the process interesting.