About this book
Account of the Romansh Language in a Letter to Sir John Pringle, Bart. P. R. S., by Joseph Planta is a compelling 18th-century philological dispatch that introduces English readers to the little-known Romansh tongue of the Swiss Alps. Planta’s letter, presented to the Royal Society in 1775, combines careful observation with Enlightenment curiosity as he maps the language’s geography, history, and social life in the mountainous Grisons (Graubünden) near the sources of the Rhine and the Inn. He describes two principal varieties—Ladin of the Engadine and the Cialovêr of the Grey or Upper League—notes the surprising number of village dialects, and highlights a recent Romansh Bible that spurred his inquiry. The account illuminates themes of linguistic diversity, dialectal fragmentation, print culture, and cultural survival in a multilingual Europe, framed by early modern scholarly methods. As a work of historical linguistics and philology, it offers a rare contemporary snapshot of a Romance language at the margins. Ideal for linguists, historians, and curious listeners drawn to language preservation, Swiss cultural history, or Royal Society correspondence, this audiobook brings a foundational, readable study of Romansh to life.
