December 6, 2016

Switzerland, 4 national languages and more …

Not only does Switzerland have three official languages (Italian, German and French) and – with Romansh – four national languages, it also has a considerable number of variants, especially among the Swiss-German dialects. But Switzerland’s linguistic diversity is comprised of many more. Without counting the immigration languages and prevalence of English throughout the country, Switzerland has, apart from its regional languages, also a fifth (non-territorial) language, a fact only a few people are aware of. Although the use of these languages is on the decline, they are a part of Switzerland’s plurilingual landscape and contribute to the enrichment of the nation’s cultural and linguistic diversity. 

The question of languages is a key cultural component of Switzerland. German, French, Italian and Romansh are the four national languages spoken in the country. The first three are the official languages for relations with the Confederation and the Cantons; whereas the latter two are “less widely used official languages”, the latter is to some extent an official language (cf. Constitution) and only spoken in the Canton of Graubünden, where it has had official status since the 19^th century.

Romansh is indeed on a gradual yet steady decline. It is estimated that it is still spoken by 60,000 individuals and serves as the primary language for less than 40,000 (according to recent estimates; new studies are in progress). Romansh is divided into five intra-regional languages: Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter and Vallader. A pan-regional form of the language is used as an official language: Rumantsch Grischun, which is based on three of the five variants most frequently spoken (Sursilvan, Vallader and Surmiran) and was introduced by Lia Rumantscha in 1982.

However, there is also a fifth language in Switzerland even though it does not appear in any official texts: the non-territorial Yenish. It is a Germanic language derived from the southern German dialects of Upper German whose lexis incorporated many terms from Yiddish, Hebrew and Romani. It is spoken by the nomadic or semi-nomadic group of people of the same name. In this sense Yenish is a sociolect: a language spoken by a social group characterised by its culture (the Yenish in Germany and its neighbouring countries can be verified since the 18^th century).

With the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Switzerland recognised Yenish as a “non-territorial” national language in 1997. It is therefore an officially recognised language constituting an integral part of Switzerland’s cultural heritage. Approximately 30,000 members of this community live in Switzerland, 3,500 of whom live as nomads. They suffered from persecution not only in Nazi Germany, but also in Switzerland right up to the beginning of the 1970s. The project initiated in 1926 by the Swiss foundation Pro Juventute called “Kinder der Landstrasse” (literally: Children of the Country Road) was discontinued in 1973. One of its aims was to prevent vagrancy and spearate Yenish children from their parents. According to estimates, more than 600 children were taken from the custody of their parents and placed in foster homes, children’s homes, orphanages, psychiatric clinics or reform schools.

Aside from Yenish with its status of a non-territorial language (cf. Principle of Territoriality in the Swiss Constitution), Switzerland also has numerous regional languages. Unfortunately, these are on the decline or have already practically disappeared. Four of these languages are Bavarian, Franco-Provençal, Yiddish and Walser German.

Bavarian is a major group of Upper German variants and is spoken in Switzerland as a Tyrolean dialect (Southern Bavarian). It is only spoken in the municipality of Samnaun (Graubünden) and considered Switzerland’s smallest linguistic minority. This distinction comes from the municipality’s geographic location, for it could only be reached from Austrian Tyrol until a road connecting it to Switzerland was built in 1913.

Franco-Provençal is a Romance language spoken in France, Switzerland and Italy. It shares certain characteristics with regional French dialects (langues d’oïl) and Occitan without belonging to either. It is not an archaism of langues d’oïl, as earlier believed, but rather an independent Romance language just as old as the remaining Gallo-Romance languages. Arpitan has become a more popular than Franco-Provençal as the name for the language. Although Arpitan is a neologism, it is based on a long toponymic tradition. Historically, the language has been used in the French-speaking cantons in Switzerland, with the exception of Jura. As a living language it is now all but extinct in the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel and Vaud, but is still spoken locally in rural areas of the cantons of Valais and Fribourg (Gruyère District). Apart from Evolène (VS), where half of the population speaks the dialect, the language is considered to be extinct by Swiss authorities because it is no longer passed down. Nevertheless, organisations representing its speakers continue to call for official recognition.

Yiddish is a Jewish language of Germanic origin and close to the German language. With lexical influences from Hebrew and Slavic, it served as a regional vernacular in Ashkenazic communities throughout Central and Eastern Europe. In the past Yiddish was spoken by two thirds of the Jewish population all around the world, reaching a peak in the 1920s before its use successively dwindled after the Second World War. At present the decline seems to have stabilised and is spoken in Switzerland by a small community of 1,500 individuals, for the most part by the ultra-orthodox Jewish population.

Walser German (Walserdeutsch) is also a group of Germanic languages spoken in the Upper Valais. The Walser, Alemanni from the Bernese Oberland, settled in Goms around the year 1000, subsequently establishing more than 150 colonies in large parts of the Alpine range from Savoy to Tyrol. Presently threatened by extinction, Walser German is still spoken in Switzerland by approximately 10,000 people.

CATEGORY: Legal basis
TAGS: Minorities, Culture
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