Editing Romansh language (section)

== Vocabulary ==
No systematic synchronic description of Romansh vocabulary has been carried out so far.{{sfn|Liver|2009}} Existing studies usually approach the subject from a historical perspective, taking particular interest in pre-Roman substratum, archaic words preserved only in Romansh, or in loan words from German. A project to compile together all known historic and modern Romansh vocabulary is the [[Dicziunari Rumantsch Grischun]], first published in 1904, with the 13th edition currently in preparation.

=== Raetic and Celtic ===
The influence of the languages ([[Raetic language|Raetic]] and [[Celtic languages|Celtic]]) spoken in Grisons before the arrival of the Romans is most obvious in [[Toponymy|placenames]], which are often pre-Roman. Since very little is known about the Celtic language once spoken in Grisons, and almost nothing about Raetic, words or placenames thought to come from them are usually simply referred to as "pre-Roman". Apart from placenames, such words are found in landscape features, plant and animal names unique to the Alps, and tools and methods related to alpine [[Transhumance in the Alps|transhumance]].{{sfn|Liver|1999|p=75}} Such words include:
* Raetic: ''gnieu'' (Surs. ''igniv''; Suts. ''(a)gnieu, ugnieu''; Surm. ''nia''; Put., Val. ''gnieu''; Jauer ''agnieu'') "nest, eyrie",<ref>''Newsletter Val Müstair'', Dec. 2006, p. 3, [pdf], accessed 24 May 2012, available at [http://www.muenstertal.ch/newsletter/2006.12.pdf]{{Dead link|date=August 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}.</ref> ''ampauna'' (Surs. ''puauna''; Suts. ''omgia, ontga''; Surm. ''omgia''; Puter ''ampa''; Val. ''amp(u)a'') "raspberry", ''izun'' (Surs. ''izun''; Suts. ''(n)izùn''; Surm. ''izung''; Put., Val. ''uzun''; Jauer ''anzola'') "bilberry",<ref>''Newsletter Val Müstair'', 2006, p. 3.</ref> ''chamutsch'' (Surs. ''camutsch''; Suts., Surm. ''tgamutsch''; Put., Val. ''chamuotsch'') "[[chamois]]", ''crap'' (all dialects) "rock", ''gonda'' (Val.) "scree slope", ''grip'' (Surs., Suts. ''grep''; Surm. ''crepel, crap''; Put., Val. ''grip'') 'cliff', ''grusaida'' (Surs. ''{{Audio|Roh-sursilvan-grusaida.ogg|grusaida}}''; Put., Val. ''grusaida'') "[[Rhododendron ferrugineum|snow rose]]", ''panaglia'' (Surs. ''{{Audio|Roh-sursilvan-panaglia.ogg|panaglia}}''; Val. ''panaglia'') "[[butter churn]]", ''schember'' (Surs. ''schiember''; Suts., Surm. ''schember''; Put., Val. ''dschember'') "[[Swiss pine]]" (< ''*gimberu'' < Raetic<ref>Robert Planta, ''Rätisches Namenbuch'', vol. 2, s.v. "gimberu" (Zürich: 1985), 162.</ref> ''*𐌊𐌉𐌌𐌓𐌖 (*kimru, *gimru)''.<ref>Johannes Kramer et al., ''Vocabulario anpezan'', 4 vols. (Gerbrunn: 1982-8), 397.</ref>), ''signun'' (Surs. ''{{Audio|Roh-sursilvan-signun.ogg|signun}}''; Val. ''signun'', Put. ''signun, sain'') "chief herder on a seasonal pasture" (cf. [[German language|German]] ''Senn''), ''tschess'' (Surs. ''tschéss''; Surm. ''tschess, tschissùn'') '(golden) eagle', ''urlaun'' (Surs.) '[[Lagopus|ptarmigan]]';
* Celtic: ''carmun'' (Surs. ''carmun'') "weasel", ''dischariel'' (Surs. ''derschalet''; Surm. ''darschalet, ischier''; Put., Val. ''dischöl'') "goblin, nightmare",<ref>Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', 2nd edn. (Paris: Errance, 2008), 158.</ref> ''draig'' "sieve", ''glitta'' (Surs. ''gliet(ta)'') "silt, mud", ''grava'' (Surs. ''{{Audio|Roh-sursilvan-grava.ogg|grava}}''; Val. ''grava'') "[[scree]]",<ref>Decurtins (1993). p. 12</ref> ''mat'' "boy" ~ ''matta'' (Surs., Surm., Put., Val. ''matta''; Suts. ''mata'') "girl", ''mellen'' (Surs. ''{{Audio|Roh-sursilvan-mellen.ogg|mellen}}''; Surm., Put. ''mellen''; Suts. ''melen'') "yellow", ''tegia'' (Surs. ''{{Audio|Roh-sursilvan-tegia.ogg|tegia}}''; Suts., Surm. ''tigia''; Put. ''tegia''; Val. ''teja'') "alpine hut", ''trutg'' (Surs., Suts. ''trutg''; Surm. ''trotg''; Put. ''truoch''; Val. ''truoi'') "footpath, drove way", ''tschigrun'' (Surs. ''{{Audio|Roh-sursilvan-tschigrun.ogg|tschigrun}}''; Put., Val. ''tschigrun'') "whey cheese".<ref>Liver in Schläpfer & Bickel 2000, p. 219</ref>
* Other Pre-Roman words include: ''chalun'' (Surs. ''calun''; Suts. ''calùn''; Surm. ''calung''; Put., Val. ''gialun'') "hip" (< ''*galon''),<ref>Krefeld, Thomas (1994): Der surselvische Wortschatz, die questione ladina und die quantitative Arealtypologie. In: Ladina, Vol. 18: p. 270, 277 [http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/5898/1/5898.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115332/http://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/5898/1/5898.pdf|date=2015-04-02}}</ref> ''tschanc'' (Put., Val.) "left (hand)" (< ''*čaŋk, *čamp''),<ref name="Krefeld 1994. p. 277">Krefeld (1994). p. 277</ref> ''lisüra'' (Put., Val.) "joint, link" (< ''*lisura'').<ref name="Krefeld 1994. p. 277" /> Some other possibly Pre-Roman origin words are: ''tatona'' (Surs., Suts. ''totona''; Surm. ''tutona'') "nape of the neck, back of the neck",<ref name="cf. Krefeld 1994. p. 276">cf. Krefeld (1994). p. 276</ref> ''brentina'' (Surs. ''brentina''; Suts. ''brenta, brantgegna''; Surm. ''brainta''; Val. ''brenta'') "fog, mist",<ref name="cf. Krefeld 1994. p. 276" /> ''dascha'' (Val.) "twig".

=== Latin stock ===
Like all languages, Romansh has its own archaisms, that is, words derived from Latin that in most other Romance languages have fallen out of use or taken niche meanings. Examples include ''baselgia'' "church" (cf. [[Vegliote]] ''bašalka'', [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''biserică''), ''nuidis'' "grudgingly, reluctantly" (< Latin ''invitus''), ''urar'' "to pray" (cf. [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''orar'', [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''a ura'' ‘to wish’), ''aura'' "weather" (cf. [[Old French]] ''ore'', [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]] ''avrî''), ''scheiver'' "carnival",<ref>Schläpfer & Bickel 2000</ref> ''cudesch'' "book", the last two of which are only found in Romansh. The non-Engadinese dialects retain ''anceiver'' ~ ''entschaiver'' "to begin", from Latin ''incipere'', otherwise found only in Romanian ''începe'', whereas Surmiran and Engadinese (Putèr, Vallader) and all other Romance languages retain a reflex of Latin *''cuminitiāre'', e.g. Engadinese ''(s)cumanzar'', Italian ''cominciare'', French ''commencer''. Other examples are ''memia'' (adv.) "too much" from Latin ''nimia'' (adj., fem.) (otherwise only found in [[Old Occitan]]),<ref>Liver in Schläpfer & Bickel 2000, p. 217</ref> ''vess'' "difficult" from Latin ''vix'' "seldom"<ref name="Liver">{{cite book |first=Ricarda |last=Liver |chapter=Le romanche (rhéto-roman) des Grisons |trans-chapter=Graubünden Romansh (Rhaeto-Romance) |title=Dictionnaire des langues |trans-title=Dictionary of Languages |location=Paris |publisher=PUF |date=2011 |page=604}}</ref> (cf. [[Old Spanish]] ''abés'', Romanian ''abia'' < ''ad vix''), and Engadinese ''encleger'' "to understand" (vs. non-Engadinese ''capir''), also found in Romanian ''înțelege'' and [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''(n)dëgjoj'', from Latin ''intellegere''. Some unique innovations include ''tedlar'' "to listen" from Latin ''titulare'' and ''patertgar'' "to think" from ''pertractare''.<ref name="Liver" />

=== Germanic loanwords ===
Another distinguishing characteristic of Romansh vocabulary is its numerous Germanic loanwords.

Some Germanic loan words already entered the language in Late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages, and they are often found in other Romance languages as well. Words more particular to Romansh include Surs./ Suts. ''tschadun'', Surm. ''sdom''/''sdong'', Engad. ''sdun'' "spoon", which is also found in [[Ladin language|Ladin]] as ''sciadon'' and Friulian as ''sedòn'' and is thought to go back to Ostrogothic *skeitho, and it was once probably common throughout Northern Italy.{{sfn|Liver|2009|p=139}} Another such early loan is ''bletsch'' "wet", which probably goes back to Old Frankish ''blettjan'' "to squeeze", from where French ''blesser'' "to wound" is also derived. The change in meaning probably occurred by the way of "bruised fruit", as is still found in French ''blet''.{{sfn|Liver|2009|p=139}} Early Germanic loans found more commonly in the other Romance languages includes Surs./Vall. ''blau'', Suts. ''blo''/''blova'', Surm. ''blo''/''blava'', Put. ''blov'' "blue", which is derived from Germanic ''blao'' and also found for instance in French as ''bleu'' and Italian as ''blu''.

Others were borrowed into Romansh during the [[Old High German]] period, such as ''glieud'' "people" from OHG ''liut'' or Surs. ''uaul'', Suts. ''gòld'', Surm. ''gôt'', eng. ''god'' 'forest' from OHG ''wald''. Surs. ''baul'', Suts. ''bòld'', Engad. ''bod'' 'soon, early, nearly' is likely derived from [[Middle High German]] ''bald, balde'' "keen, fast"{{sfn|Liver|2009|p=144}} as are Surs. ''nez'', Engad. ''nüz'' "use" from Middle High German ''nu(t)z'', or ''losch'' "proud" likely from Middle High German ''lôs''. Other examples include Surs. ''schuber'' "clean" from Swiss German ''suuber'', Surs. ''schumber'' "drum" from Swiss German or Middle High German ''sumber'', and Surs. ''schufar'' "to drink greedily" from Swiss German ''suufe''.{{sfn|Liver|2009|p=144}}

Some words were adapted into Romansh through different dialects of German, such as the word for "farmer", borrowed as ''paur'' from [[Bavarian language|Bavarian]] in Vallader and Putèr, but from [[Alemannic language|Alemannic]] as ''pur'' in the other dialects.

In addition, many German words entered Romansh beginning in the 19th century, when numerous new objects and ideas were introduced. Romansh speakers often simply adopted the German words, such as ''il zug'' "the train" or ''il banhof'' "the train station". Language purists attempted to coin new Romansh words instead, which were occasionally successful in entering popular usage. Whereas ''il tren'' and ''la staziun'' managed to replace ''il zug'' and ''il banhof'', other German words have become established in Romansh usage, such as ''il schalter'' "the switch", ''il hebel'' "the lever", ''la schlagbohrmaschina'' "the hammer drill", or ''in schluc'' "a sip".<ref>Carigiet, Werner in Schläpfer & Bickel 2000, p. 238</ref> Especially noticeable are interjections such as ''schon'', ''aber'' or ''halt'', which have become established in everyday language. In a few cases, there was a semantic shift, such as ''uaffen'', "tool", derived from ''Waffe'', "weapon".