Editing Romansh language (section)

=== 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".