Vallader is a variety of the Romansh language spoken in the Engadin

Engadin

The Engadin or Engadine is a long valley in the Swiss Alps located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast Switzerland. It follows the route of the Inn River from its headwaters at Maloja Pass running northeast until the Inn flows into Austria one hundred kilometers downstream...

 valley of southeast Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, between Martina

Martina, Switzerland

Martina is a village in the Lower Engadine valley, in Graubünden, Switzerland. Its border crossing leads to Nauders in Austria. The village is part of the municipality of Tschlin....

 and Zernez

Zernez

Zernez is a municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden.Zernez is a major node in the regional road network, with roads leading into the Upper Engadin and towards Italy, the Lower Engadin and towards Austria, over the Fuorn Pass into the Val Mustair and over the Flüela Pass...

. It was also formerly (until 2008) used as a written language in the nearby community of Val Müstair

Val Müstair

Val Müstair is a municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It was formed on 1 January 2009 through the merger of Tschierv, Fuldera, Lü, Valchava, Santa Maria Val Müstair and Müstair.-Demographics:...

, where Jauer is spoken.

Classification

Puter and Vallader are sometimes referred to as one specific variety known as Ladin, as they have retained this word to mean Romansh. However, Ladin is primarily associated with the closely related language in Italy's Dolomite mountains

Dolomites

The Dolomites are a mountain range located in north-eastern Italy. It is a part of Southern Limestone Alps and extends from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley...

 also known as Ladin

Ladin

Ladin is a language consisting of a group of dialects spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy in the border regions of the provinces Trentino, South Tyrol and Belluno...

.

Example

A text in Vallader, in the standard language Rumantsch Grischun, as well as English.

Vallader

"La vuolp d’eira darcheu üna jada fomantada. Qua ha’la vis sün ün pin ün corv chi tgnaiva ün toc chaschöl in seis pical. Quai am gustess, ha’la pensà, ed ha clomà al corv: „Che bel cha tü est! Scha teis chant es uschè bel sco tia apparentscha, lura est tü il plü bel utschè da tuots."

Rumantsch Grischun

"La vulp era puspè ina giada fomentada. Qua ha ella vis sin in pign in corv che tegneva in toc chaschiel en ses pichel. Quai ma gustass, ha ella pensà, ed ha clamà al corv: "Tge bel che ti es! Sche tes chant è uschè bel sco tia parita, lura es ti il pli bel utschè da tuts."

English

The fox was hungry once again. There he saw a raven upon a fir holding a piece of cheese in its beak. I could just eat that, it thought, and shouted at the raven: "You are so beautiful! If your singing is as beautiful as your looks, you are the most beautiful of all birds."

Literature

• Gion Tscharner: Dicziunari – Wörterbuch vallader-tudais-ch/deutsch-vallader Lehrmittelverlag Graubünden 2003. (Vallader-German dictionary)
• M. Schlatter: Ich lerne Romanisch. (Vallader), 9th edition 2003.
• G. P. Ganzoni: Grammatica ladina. Uniun dals Grischs und Lia Rumantscha 1983 (Vallader grammar written in French).

Vallader literature is published among others by the Lia Rumantscha

Lia Rumantscha

Lia Rumantscha is an organization that promotes Romansh language usage and study....

 in Chur

Chur

Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....

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