Rhaeto-Romanic

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | 700+ words | Copyright

Rhaeto-Romanic , generic name for several related dialects of the Romance group of the Italic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Romance languages ). These dialects are now considered sufficiently similar to form a single unit in the Romance group. The principal Rhaeto-Romanic dialects are Romansh (or Romansch), Ladin, and Friulian. Romansh has about 70,000 speakers in SE Switzerland and is recognized in that country as a national, but "semi-official," language (German, French, and Italian are Switzerland's official languages). Ladin is the tongue of some 20,000 persons in the Italian Tyrol, and Friulian is spoken by approximately 500,000 in Friuli, a region of NE Italy.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Rhaeto-Romanic." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Rhaeto-Romanic." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-RhaetoRo.html

"Rhaeto-Romanic." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-RhaetoRo.html

Learn more about citation styles