Editing Romansh language (section)

=== 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".