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diff --git a/10069-0.txt b/10069-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a53c9da --- /dev/null +++ b/10069-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,946 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10069 *** + +[Handwriting: F. Druce, the gift of the author.] + +_An Account of the Romansh Language._ + +_By Joseph Planta, Esq. F. R. S._ + +_In a Letter to Sir John Pringle, Bart. P. R. S._ + +[Handwriting: Phil. Trans. vol LXVI. A.D. 1776] + + British Museum, + June 30, 1775. + +SIR, + +The Bible lately presented to the Royal Society by Count de Salis, being +a version into a language as little attended to in this country, as it +may appear curious to those who take pleasure in philological inquiries; +I embrace this opportunity to communicate to you, and, with your +approbation, to the Society, all that I have been able to collect +concerning its history and present state. + +This language is called _Romansh_, and is now spoken in the most +mountainous parts of the country of the Grisons, near the sources of the +Rhine and the Inn. It consists of two main dialects; which, though +partaking both of the above general name, differ however so widely as to +constitute in a manner two distinct languages. Books are printed in both +of them; and each, though it be universally understood in its respective +district, is yet sub-divided into almost as many secondary dialects as +there are villages in which it is spoken; which differ, however, but +little except in the pronunciation. One of the main dialects, which is +spoken in the Engadine, a valley extending from the source of the Inn to +the frontiers of the Tyrolese, is by the inhabitants called _Ladin_. It +admits of some variation, even in the books, according as they are +printed either in the upper or the lower part of this province. The +abovementioned Bible is in the dialect of the lower Engadine; which, +however, is perfectly understood in the upper part of that province, +where they use no other version. The other dialect, which is the +language of the Grey, or Upper. League, is distinguished from the former +by the name of _Cialover_:[A] and I must here observe, that in the very +centre, and most inaccessible parts of this latter district, there are +some villages situated in the narrow valleys, called Rheinwald, +Cepina,[B] &c. in which a third language is spoken, more similar to the +German than to either of the above idioms, although they be neither +contiguous, nor have any great intercourse with the parts where the +German is used. + +It being impossible to form any idea of the origin and progress of a +language, without attending to the revolutions that may have contributed +to its formation and subsequent variations; and this being particularly +the case in the present instance, wherein no series of documents is +extant to guide us in our researches; I shall briefly recapitulate the +principal events which may have affected the language of the Grisons, as +I find them related by authors of approved veracity.[C] + +Ambigatus, the first king of the Celtic Gaul upon record, who[D] about +400[E] years before Christ, governed all the country situated between +the Alps and the Pyrenaean mountains, sent out two formidable armies +under the command of one of his nephews; one of whom, named Segovisius, +forced his way into the heart of Germany: and the other, Bellovisius, +having passed the Alps, penetrated into Italy as far as the settlements +of the Tuscans, which at that time extended over the greatest part of +the country now called Lombardy. These, and several other swarms of +invaders whom the successes of the former soon after attracted, having +totally subdued that country, built Milan, Verona, Brescia, and several +other considerable towns, and governed with such tyrannic sway, +especially over the nobility, whose riches they coveted and sought by +every means to extort from them, that most of the principal families, +joining under the conduct of Rhætus[F], one of the most distinguished +personages among them, retired with the best part of their effects and +attendants among the steepest mountains of the Alps, near the sources of +the Rhine, into the district which is now called the Grey League. + +The motive of their flight, their civil deportment, and perhaps more so, +the wealth they brought with them, procured them a favourable reception +from the original inhabitants of that inhospitable region, who are +mentioned by authors[G] as being a Celtic nation, fabulously conjectured +from their name [Greek: leipontio][H] to have been left there by +Hercules in his expedition into Spain. + +The new adventurers had no sooner climbed over the highest precipices, +but thinking themselves secure from the pursuits of their rapacious +enemies, they fixed in a valley which, from its great fertility in +comparison of the country they had just passed, they called +Domestica[I]. They intermixed with the old inhabitants, and built some +towns and many castles, whose present names manifestly bespeak their +origin.[J] They soon after spread all over the country, which took the +name of Rhaetia from that of their leader; and introduced a form of +government similar to their own, of which there are evident traces at +this day, especially in the administration of justice; in which a +_Laertes_ or president, now called landamman or ministral, together with +twelve _Lucumones_[K] or jurors, determine all causes, both civil and +criminal:[L] and Livy,[M] although he erroneously pretends that they +retained none of their ancient customs, yet allows that they continued +the use of their language, though somewhat adulterated by a mixture with +that of the Aborigines. + +I must here interrupt the thread of this narration by observing, that +the only way to account for the present use of a different language in +the centre and most craggy parts of the Grey League, is by allowing that +the Tuscans, who, from the delicacy of their constitutions and habits, +were little able, and less inclined, to encounter the hardships of so +severe a climate and so barren a soil, never attempted to mix with the +original and more sturdy inhabitants of that unfavoured spot; but left +them and their language, which could only be a Celtic idiom, in the +primitive state in which they found them.[N] + +But to proceed;--several Roman families, dreading the fury of the +Carthaginians under Hannibal, and perhaps, since during the rage of the +civil wars, and the subsequent oppressive reigns, interior commotions +and foreign invasions, forsook the Latium and Campania, and resorted for +a peaceful enjoyment of their liberty, some into the islands where +Venice now stands, and many into the mountains of the Grisons, where +they chiefly fixed their residence in the Engadine,[O] as appears not +only from the testimonies of authors,[P] but also from the names of +several places and families which are evidently of Roman derivation.[Q] + +The inhabitants these emigrants found in that place of refuge could not +but be a mixture of the Tuscans and original Lepontii; and the two +languages which met upon this occasion must, at the very first, have had +some affinity; as the Tuscan, which derived immediately from the Greek, +is known to have had a great share in the formation of the Roman. But as +it is generally observed, that the more polished people introduce their +native tongue wherever they go to reside in any considerable numbers, +the arrival of these successive colonies must gradually have produced a +considerable change in the language of the country in which they +settled;[R] and this change gave rise to the dialect since called Ladin, +probably from the name of the mother country of its principal +authors.[S] + +Although the name of _Romansh_, which the whole language bears, seems to +be a badge of Roman servitude, yet the conquest of that nation, if ever +effected, could not have produced a great alteration in a language which +must already have been so similar to their own; and its general name may +as well be attributed to the pacific as to the hostile Romans. But when +we consider that a coalition of the two main dialects, which differ so +far as not to be reciprocally understood, must have been the inevitable +consequence of a total reduction; and that such a coalition is known +never to have taken place, we may lay the greater stress upon the many +passages of ancient authors,[T] in which it is implied that the boasted +victories of the Romans over the Rhaeti, for which public honours had +been decreed to L. Munatus, M. Anthony, Drusus, and Augustus, amounted +to no more than frequent repulses of those hardy people into their +mountains; out of which their want of sufficient room and sustenance, +(which in our days drives considerable numbers into the services of +foreign powers) compelled them at times to make desperate excursions in +quest of necessaries. And we may also from these collected authorities +be induced to give the greater credit to the commentator of Lucan,[U] +and to the modern historians,[V] who positively assert, that the people +living near the sources of the Rhine and the Inn were never totally +subdued by the Roman arms; but only repelled in their attempts to harass +their neighbours. + +This whole country, however, from its central situation, could not but +be annumerated to one of the provinces of the empire; and accordingly we +find that Rhaetia itself (which by the accounts of ancient +geographers[W] appears to have extended its limits beyond the lake of +Constance, Augsburg, and Trent, towards Germany, and to Como and Verona +towards Italy) was formed into a Roman province, governed by a +pro-consul or procurator, who resided at Augsburg; and that when in the +year 119, the Emperor Adrian divided it into Rhaetia _prima_ and +_secunda_, the governor of the former, in which the country I am now +speaking of must have been comprized, took up his residence in two +castles situated where Coire now stands, whilst the other continued his +seat at Augsburg. But notwithstanding these appearances, no trace or +monument of Roman servitude is to be met with in this district, except +the ambiguous name of one mountain,[X] situated on the skirts of these +highlands, and generally thought to have been the _non plus ultra_ of +the Roman arms on the Italian side. + +From the difficulty those persevering veterans experienced in keeping +this stubborn people in awe, I mean to infer that such strenuous +asserters of their independence, whom the flattering pens of Ovid and +Horace represent as formidable even to Augustus, and preferring death to +the loss of their liberties,[Y] favoured by the natural strength and +indigence of their country, were not very likely to be so far subdued by +any foreign power inferior to the Roman, as to suffer any considerable +revolution in their customs and language: for as to the irruptions of +the Goths, Vandals, and Lombards, in the fifth and sixth centuries, +besides a profound silence in history concerning any successful attempt +of those barbarians upon this spot, it is scarce credible, that any of +them should have either wished or endeavoured to settle in a country, +perhaps far less hospitable than that which they had just forsaken, +especially after they had opened to themselves a way into the fertile +plains of Lombardy. + +Some stress must be laid upon this inference, as the history of what +befel this country after the decline of the Roman empire is so +intimately blended with that of Suabia, the Tyrolese, and the lower +parts of the Grisons, which are known to have fallen to the share of the +rising power of the Franks, that nothing positive can be drawn from +authors as to the interior state of this small tract. The victory gained +in the year 496 near Cologn, by Clovis I. king of the Franks, over the +Alemanni, who had wrested from the Romans all the dominions on the +northern side of the Alps; and the defeat of both Romans and Goths in +Italy, in the year 549, by the treacherous arms of Theodebert king of +Austrasia, whose dominions soon after devolved to the crown of France, +necessarily gave the aspiring Merovingian race a great ascendency over +all the countries surrounding the Grisons; and accordingly we find, that +this district also was soon after, without any military effort, +considered as part of the dominions of the reviving western empire. But +it does not appear that those monarchs ever made any other use of their +supremacy in these parts than, agreeably to the feudal system which they +introduced, to constitute dukes, earls, presidents, and bailiffs, over +Rhaetia; to grant out tenures upon the usual feudal terms; and +consequently to levy forces in most of their military expeditions. + +It must, however, be observed, that these feudal substitutes were +seldom, if ever, strangers: those who are upon record to the latter end +of the eighth century, having all been chosen from among the nobility of +the country.[Z] And that no foreign garrisons were ever maintained for +any continuance of time in these parts, appears from a circumstance +related by their annalists;[AA] who say, that an inroad of the Huns in +670, when external forces would probably have been very acceptable to +the natives, was repulsed merely by a concourse of the inhabitants. + +History continues to furnish us with proofs of the little connexion this +people had with other nations in their domestic affairs, notwithstanding +their dependance upon a foreign power. In the year 780, the Bishop of +Coire, who by the constitution of that see can only be a native,[AB] +obtained from Charlemain, besides many considerable honours and +privileges in the empire, a grant of the supreme authority in this +country, by the investiture of the office of hereditary president or +bailiff over all Rhaetia. His successors not only enjoyed this +prerogative to the extinction of the Carlovingian race of emperors in +911; but received accumulated favours from other succeeding monarchs, as +the bigoted devotion of those times or motives of interest prompted +them. And so far did their munificence gradually extend, that the sole +property of one of the three leagues[AC] was at one time vested in the +hands of the bishop. + +This prelate and the nobles, the greatest part of whom became his +retainers, availed themselves, like all the German princes, of the +confusion, divisions, and interreigns which frequently distracted the +empire in the succeeding centuries, in order to establish a firm and +unlimited authority of their own. Henceforth the annals of this country +furnish us with little more than catalogues of the bishops and dukes, +who were still, at times, nominated by the emperors; and of the domains +granted out by them to different indigenate families; with accounts of +the atrocious cruelties exercised by these lords over their vassals; and +with anecdotes of the prowess of the natives in several expeditions into +Italy and Palestine, in which they still voluntarily accompanied the +emperors. + +The repeated acts of tyranny exercised by those arbitrary despots, who +had now shaken off all manner of restraint, at length exasperated the +people into a general revolt, and brought on the confederacy; in which +the bishop and most of the nobles were glad to join, in order to screen +themselves from the fury of the insurgents. + +The first step towards this happy revolution was made by some _venerable +old men dressed in the coarse grey cloth_ of the country, who in the +year 1424 met privately in a wood near a place called Truns, in the +Upper League; where, _impressed with a sense of their former +liberties_,[AD] they determined to remonstrate against, and oppose, the +violent proceedings of their oppressors. The abbot Dissentis was the +first who countenanced their measures; their joint influence gradually +prevailed over several of the most moderate among the nobles; and hence +arose the league which, from the colour of its first promoters, was ever +called the Grey League; which, from its being the first in the bold +attempt to shake off the yoke of wanton tyranny, has ever since retained +the pre-eminence in rank before the two other leagues; and which has +even given its name to the whole country, whose inhabitants, from the +circumstances of their deliverance, pride themselves in the appellation +of _Grisones_, or the _grey-ones_.[AE] From this period nothing has ever +affected their freedom and absolute independence, which they now enjoy +in the most unlimited sense, in spite of the repeated efforts of the +house of Austria to recover some degree of ascendency over them. + +From this concise view of the history of the Grisons, in which I have +carefully guarded against favouring any particular hypothesis, it +appears, that as no foreign nation ever gained any permanent footing in +the most mountainous parts of this country since the establishment of +the Tuscans and Romans, the language now spoken could never have +suffered any considerable alterations from extraneous mixtures of modern +languages. And to those who may object, that languages like all other +human institutions will, though left to themselves, be inevitably +affected by the common revolutions of time, I shall observe, that a +language, in which no books are written, but which is only spoken by a +people chiefly devoted to arms and agriculture, and consequently not +cultivated by the criticisms of men of taste and learning, is by no +means exposed to the vicissitudes of those that are polished by refined +nations;[AF] and that, however paradoxical it may appear, it is +nevertheless true, that the degeneracy of a language is more frequently +to be attributed to an extravagant refinement than to the neglect of an +illiterate people, unless indeed external causes interfere. May we not +hence conclude, that as the Romansh has never been used in any regular +composition in writing till the sixteenth century, nor affected by any +foreign invasion or intimate connexion, it is not likely to have +received any material change before the period of its being written? And +we have the authority of the books since printed to prove, that it is at +present the identical language that was spoken two hundred years ago. +These arguments will receive additional weight from the proofs I shall +hereafter give of the great affinity there is between the language as it +is now spoken, and the Romance that was used in France nine centuries +ago. + +When we further consider the facts I have above briefly related, the +wonder will cease, that in a cluster of mountains, situated in the +centre of Europe, a distinct language (not a dialect or jargon of those +spoken by the contiguous nations, as has been generally imagined) should +have maintained itself through a series of ages, in spite of the many +revolutions which frequently changed the whole face of the adjacent +countries. And indeed, so obstinately tenacious are these people of +their independency, laws, customs, and consequently of their very +language, that, as has been already observed, their form of government, +especially in judicial matters, still bears evident marks of the ancient +Tuscan constitution; and that, although they be frequently exposed to +inconveniences from their stubbornness in this respect, they have not +yet been prevailed upon to adopt the Gregorian reformation of the +calendar. + +As to the nature of this language, it may now be advanced, with some +degree of confidence, that the _Cialover_ owes it origin to a mixture of +the Tuscan and of the dialect of the Celtic spoken by the Lepontii; and +that the introduction of the vulgar Roman affected it in some degree, +but particularly gave rise to the _Ladin_; the vocabulary of which, as +any one may be convinced by inspecting a few lines of the bible, has a +great affinity with that of the Latin tongue. But these assertions rest +merely upon historical evidence; for as to the _Cialover_, all that it +may have retained of the Tuscan or Roman, is so much disfigured by an +uncouth pronunciation and a vague orthography, that all etymological +inquiries are thereby rendered intricate and unsatisfactory. And as to +the _Ladin_, although its derivation be more manifest, yet we are +equally at a loss from what period or branch of the Latin tongue to +trace its real origin; for I have found, after many tedious experiments, +that even the vocabulary, in which the resemblance is most evident, +differs equally from the classical purity of Tully, Caesar, and Sallust, +as it does from the primitive Latin of the twelve tables, of Ennius, and +the _columna rostralis_ of Duillius, which has generally been thought +the parent of the Gallic Romance; as also from the trivial language of +Varro, Vegetius, and Columella. May we not from this circumstance infer, +that, as is the case in all vernacular tongues, the vulgar dialect of +the Romans, the _sermo usualis, rusticus, pedestris_,[AG] of which there +are no monuments extant, differed very widely both in pronunciation and +construction from that which has at any time been used either in writing +or in the senate? + +The grammatical variations, the syntax, and the genius of the language, +must in this, as well as in several other modern European tongues, have +been derived from the Celtic; it being well known, that the frequent use +of articles, the distinction of cases by prepositions, the application +of two auxiliaries in the conjugations, do by no means agree with the +Latin turn of expression; although a late French academician[AH] who has +taken great pains to prove that the Gallic Romance was solely derived +from the Roman, quotes several instances in which even the most +classical writers have in this respect offended the purity of that +refined language. It cannot here be denied, that as new ideas always +require new signs to express them, some foreign words, and perhaps +phrases, must necessarily, from time to time, have insinuated themselves +into the Romansh, by the military and some commercial intercourse of the +Grisons with other nations; and this accounts for several modern German +words which are now incorporated into the language of the Engadine.[AI] + +The little connexion there is in mountainous countries between the +inhabitants of the different valleys, and the absolute independence of +each jurisdiction in this district, which still lessens the frequency of +their intercourse, also accounts, in a great measure, for the variety of +secondary dialects subsisting in almost every different community or +even village. + +The oldest specimens of writing in this language are some dramatical +performances in verse upon scriptural subjects, which are extant only in +manuscript. The Histories of Susanna, of the Prodigal Son, of Judith and +Holofernes, and of Esther, are among the first; and are said to have +been composed about the year 1560. The books that have since been +printed are chiefly upon religious subjects; and among those that are +not so, the only I have ever heard of are a small code of the laws of +the country in the Cialover dialect, and an epitome of Sprecher's +Chronicle, by Da Porta, in the Ladin. + + * * * * * + +The language spoken in Gaul from the fifth to the twelfth centuries +being evidently a mixture of the same Roman and Celtic ingredients, and +partaking of the same name with those of the Grisons; it will, I hope, +not be thought foreign to the subject of this letter, if I enter into a +few particulars concerning it, as it seems to have been an essential +part, or rather the trunk, of the language, the history of which I am +endeavouring to elucidate. + +One of the many instances how little the laboured researches of +philologists into the origin of languages are to be depended upon, is +the variety of opinions entertained by French authors concerning the +formation of the Gallic Romance. A learned Benedictine[AJ] first starts +the conjecture, and then maintains it against the attacks of an +anonymous writer, that the vulgar Latin became the universal language of +Gaul immediately after Caesar's conquest, and that its corruption, with +very little mixture of the original language of the country, gradually +produced the Romance towards the eighth century. Bonamy,[AK] on the +other hand, is of opinion, that soon after that conquest, a corruption +of vulgar Latin by the Celtic formed the Romance, which he takes to be +the language always meant by authors when they speak of the _Lingua +Romana_ used in Gaul. The author of the Celtic Dictionary[AL] tells us, +that the Romance is derived from the _Latin_, the _Celtic_, which he +more frequently calls Gallic, and the _Teutonic_; in admitting of which +latter he deviates from most other authors,[AM] who deny that the +Teutonic had any share in the composition of the Romance, since the +Franks found it already established when they entered Gaul, and were +long before they could prevail upon their new subjects to adopt any part +of their own mother tongue, which however appears to have been +afterwards instrumental in the formation of the modern French. +Duclos,[AN] guided, I imagine, by du Cange,[AO] whose opinion appears to +be the most sober and best authenticated, maintains that the vulgar +Latin was undoubtedly the foundation of the Romance; but that much of +the Celtic gradually insinuated itself in spite of the policy of the +Romans, who never failed to use all their endeavours in order to +establish their language wherever they spread their arms. + +Among this variety of conjectures and acute controversies, I find it +however agreed on all hands, that the vocabulary of the Roman, and the +idiom of the Celtic, have chiefly contributed to the formation of the +Gallic, Romance, which is sufficient to prove that it partakes of a +common origin with that of the Grisons. + +There are incontestable proofs that this language was once universal all +over France; and that this, and not immediately the Latin, has been the +parent of the Provençal, and afterwards of the modern French, the +Italian, and the Spanish. The oath taken by Lewis the Germanic, in the +year 842, in confirmation of an alliance between him and Charles the +Bald his brother, is a decisive proof of the general use of the Romance +by the whole French nation at that time, and of their little knowledge +of the Teutonic, which being the native tongue of Lewis, would certainly +have been used by him, in this oath, had it been understood by the +French to whom he addressed himself. But Nithardus,[AP] a contemporary +writer and near relation to the contracting parties, informs us, that +Lewis took the oath in the Romance language, in order that it might be +understood by the French nobility who were the subjects of Charles; and +that they, in their turn, entered into reciprocal engagements in _their +own language_, which the same author again declares to have been the +Romance, and not the Teutonic; although one would imagine that, had they +at all understood this latter tongue, they could not but have used it +upon this occasion, in return for the condescension of Lewis. + +As a comparison between this language and the Romansh of the Grisons +cannot be considered as a mere object of curiosity, but may also serve +to corroborate the proofs I have above alleged of the antiquity of the +latter, I have annexed in the appendix,[AQ] a translation of this oath +into the language of Engadine, which approaches nearest to it; although +I must observe, that there are in the other dialect some words which +have a still greater affinity with the language of the oath, as appears +by another translation I have procured, in which both dialects are +indifferently used. To prevent any doubts concerning the veracity of +these translations, I must here declare, that I am indebted for them, +and for several anecdotes concerning that language, to a man of letters, +who is a native and has long been an inhabitant of the Grisons, and is +lately come to reside in London. I have added to this comparative view +of those two languages, the Latin words from which both seem to have +been derived; and, as a proof of the existence of the Gallic Romance in +France down to the twelfth century, I have also subjoined the words used +in that kingdom at that period, as they are given us by the author of +the article _(Langue) Romane_, in the French Encyclopedie. + +To the comparison of the two Romances, and the similarity of their +origin, I may now with confidence add the authority of Fontanini[AR] to +prove, that they are one and the same language. This author, speaking of +the ancient Gallic Romance, asserts that it is now spoken in the country +of the Grisons; though, not attending to the variety of dialects, some +of which have certainly nothing of the Italian, he supposes it to have +been altogether adulterated by a mixture of that modern tongue. + +Whilst the Grisons neglected to improve their language, and rejected, or +indeed were out of the reach of every refinement it might have derived +from polished strangers, the taste and fertile genius of the +Troubadours, fostered by the countenance and elegance of the brilliant +courts and splendid nobility of Provence, did not long leave theirs in +the rough state in which we find it in the ninth century. But the change +having been gradual and almost imperceptible, the French historians have +fixed no epocha for the transition of the Romance into the Provençal. +That the former language had not received any considerable alteration in +the twelfth Century may be gathered from the comparison in the appendix: +and, that it still bore the same name, appears from the titles of +several books which are said to have been written in, or translated +into, the Romance. But though mention is made of that name even after +this aera, yet upon examining impartially what is given us for that +language in this period, it will be found so different from the Romance +of the ninth century, that to trace it any further would be both a vain +and an extravagant pursuit. + +Admitting, however, the universal use of the Romance all over France +down to the twelfth century, which no French author has yet doubted or +denied; and allowing that what the writers of those times say of the +Gallic is to be understood of the Romance, as appears from chronological +proofs, and the expressions of several authors prior to the fifth +century;[AS] who, by distinguishing the _Gallic_ both from the _Latin_ +and the _Celtic_, plainly indicate that they thereby mean the Romance, +those being the only three languages which, before the invasion of the +Franks, could possibly have been spoken, or even understood in Gaul: +admitting these premises, I say, it necessarily follows, that the +language introduced into England under Alfred, and afterwards more +universally established by Edward the Confessor, and William the +Conqueror, must have been an emanation of the Romance, very near akin to +that of the abovementioned oath, and consequently to that which is now +spoken in the Alps. + +The intercourse between Britain and Gaul is known to have been of a very +early date; for even in the first century we find, that the British +lawyers derived the greatest part of their knowledge from those of the +continent;[AT] while on the other hand, the Gallic Druids are known to +have resorted to Britain for instruction in their mysterious rites. The +Britons, therefore, could not be totally ignorant of the Gallic +language. And hence it will appear, that Grimbald, John, and the other +doctors introduced by Alfred,[AU] could find no great difficulty in +propagating their native tongue in this island; which tongue, at that +interval of time, could only be the true Romance, since they were +contemporaries with Lewis the Germanic. + +That the Romance was almost universally understood in this kingdom under +Edward the Confessor, it being not only used at court, but frequently at +the bar, and even sometimes in the pulpit, is a fact too well known and +attested[AV] to need my further authenticating it with superfluous +arguments and testimonies. + +Duclos, in his History of the Gallic' Romance,[AW] gives the +abovementioned oath of Lewis as the first monument of that language. The +second he mentions is the code of laws of William the Conqueror,[AX] +whom the least proficient in the English history knows to have rendered +his language almost universal in this kingdom. How little progress it +had yet made towards the modern French; and how great an affinity it +still bore with the present Romansh of the Grisons, will appear from the +annexed translation of the first paragraph of these laws into the latter +tongue.[AY] + +If we may credit Du Cange,[AZ] who grounds his assertion upon various +instruments of the kings of Scotland during the twelfth century, the +Romance had also penetrated into that kingdom before that period. + +The same corruption, or coalescence, which gave rise to the Gallic +Romance, and to that of the Grisons, must also have produced in Italy a +language, if not perfectly similar, at least greatly approaching to +those two idioms. Nor did it want its northern nations to contribute +what the two other branches derived from that source.[BA] But be the +origin what it will, certain it is, that a jargon very different from +either the Latin or the Italian was spoken in Italy from the time of the +irruptions of the barbarians to the successful labours of Dante and +Petrarca; that this jargon was usually called the _vulgar idiom_; but +that Speroni,[BB] the father of an Italian literature, and others, +frequently call it the _common Italian Romance_. And if Fontanini's[BC] +authorities be sufficient, it appears that even the Gallic Romance, by +the residence of the papal court at Avignon, and from other causes, made +its way into Italy before it was polished into the Provençal. + +As to Naples and Sicily, the expulsion of the Saracens by the Normans, +under Robert Guiscard in 1059, must have produced in that country nearly +the same effect, a similar event soon after brought about in England. +And in fact we have the authority of William of Apulia[BD] to prove, +that the conquerors used all their efforts to propagate their language +and manners among the natives, that they might ever after be considered +only as one people. And Hugo Falcland[BE] relates, that in the year +1150, Count Henry refused to take upon him the management of public +affairs, under pretence of not knowing the language of the French; +which, he adds, was absolutely necessary at court. + +That the language of the Romans penetrated very early into Spain, +appears most evidently from a passage in Strabo,[BF] who asserts that +the Turditani inhabiting the banks of the Boetis, now the Guadalquivir, +forgot their original tongue, and adopted that of the conquerors. That +the Romance was used there in the fourteenth century appears from a +correspondence between St. Vincent of Ferrieres and Don Martin, son of +Peter the IVth of Arragon;[BG] and that this language must once have +been common in that kingdom appears manifestly from the present name of +the Spanish, which is still usually called Romance.[BH] These +circumstances considered, I am not so much inclined to discredit a fact +related by Mabillon,[BI] who says, that in the eighth century a +paralytic Spaniard, on paying his devotions at the tomb of a saint in +the church of Fulda, conversed with a monk of that abbey, who, _because +he was an Italian_, understood the language of the Spaniard. Neither +does an oral tradition I heard some times ago appear so absurd to me, as +it did when it was first related to me, which says, that two Catalonians +travelling over the Alps, were not a little surprized when they came +into the Grison country, to find that their native tongue was understood +by the inhabitants, and that they could comprehend most of the language +of that district. + +This universality of the Romance in the French dominions during the +eleventh century, also accounts for its introduction in Palestine and +many other parts of the Levant by Godfrey de Bouillon, and the multitude +of adventurers who engaged under him in the Crusade. The assizes of +Jerusalem, and those of Cyprus, are standing monuments of the footing +that language had obtained in those parts; and if we may trust a Spanish +historian of some reputation[BJ] who resided in Greece in the thirteenth +century, the Athenians and the inhabitants of Morea spoke at that time +the same language that was used in France. And there is great reason to +imagine, that the affinity the _Lingua Franca_ bears to the French and +Italian is intirely to be derived from the Romance, which was once +commonly used in the ports of the Levant. The heroic atchievements and +gallantry of the knights of the cross also gave rise to the swarm of +fabulous narratives; which, though not an invention of those days, were +yet, from the name of the language in which they were written, ever +after distinguished by the appellation of _Romances_.[BK] + +I shall now conclude this letter by observing, that far from presuming +that the Romance has been preserved so near its primitive state only in +the country of the Grisons, there is great reason to suppose that it +still exists in several other remote and unfrequented parts. When +Fontanini informs us[BL] that the ancient Romance is now spoken in the +country of the Grisons, he adds, that it is also the common dialect of +the Friulese, and of some districts in Savoy bordering upon Dauphiné. +And Rivet[BM] seriously undertakes to prove, that the Patois of several +parts of the Limousin, Quercy, and Auvergne (which in fact agrees +singularly with the _Romansh_ of the Grisons) is the very Romance of +eight centuries ago. Neither do I doubt, but what some inquisitive +traveller might still meet with manifest traces of it in many parts of +the Pyrenaeans and other mountainous regions of Spain, where the Moors +and other invaders have never penetrated. + +I have the honour to be, &c. + + + * * * * * + + +# No. I. Oath of Lewis the Germanic. # + + +1. Latin from which the Romances are derived. +2. Gallic Romance in which the oath was taken. +3. French of the twelfth century. +4. Romansh of Engadine, called Ladin. +5. Romansh of both dialects. + + +1. Pro Dei amore, et pro Christiano populo, et nostro +2. _Pro Deu amur, et pro Christian poblo, et nostro_ +3. Por Deu amor, et por Christian people, et nostre +4. _Per amur da Dieu, et per il Christian poevel, et noss_ +5. Pro l'amur da Deus, et pro il Christian pobel, et nost + +1. communi salvamento, de ista die in abante, in quan- +2. _commun salvament, d'ist di en avant, in quant_ +3. commun salvament, de ste di en avant, en quant +4. _commun salvament, da quist di in avant, in quant_ +5. commun salvament, d'ist di en avant, in quant + +1.tum Deus sapere et posse mihi donat, sic salvabo ego +2. _Deus savir et podir me dunat, si salvarai io_ +3. Deu saveir et poïr me donne, si salvarai je +4. _Dieu savair et podair m'duna, shi salvaro ei_ +5. Deus savir et podir m'dunat, shi salvaro io + +1. eccistum meum fratrem Karlum, et in adjutum ero +2. _cist meon fradre Karlo, et in adjudab er_ +3. cist mon frere Karle, et en adjude serai +4. _quist mieu frær Carlo, et in adgiud li saro_ +5. quist meu frad'r Carl, et in adjudh saro + +1. in quaque una causa, sic quomodo homo per directum +2. _in cadhuna cosa, si cum on per dreit_ +3. en cascune cose, si cum on per dreict +4. _in chiaduna chiossa, shi seho l'hom per drett_ +5. in caduna cosa, si com om per drett + +1. suum fratrem salvare debet, in hoc quod ille mihi +2. _son fardre salvar dist, in o quid il me_ +3. son frere salver dist, en o qui il me +4. _sieu frær salvar d'uess, in que chél a mi_ +5. seu frad'r salvar dess, in que chél me + +1. alterum sic faceret; et ab Lothario nullum placitum +2. _altresi fazet; et ab Laudher nul plaid_ +3. altresi fascet; et a Lothaire nul plaid +4. _altresi fadschess; et da Lothar mai non paendrò io un_ +5. altresi fazess; et da Lothar nul plaid mai + +1. nunquam prehendam quod meo volle eccisti meo fratri +2. _nunquam prindrai qui meon vol cist meon fradre_ +3. nonques prendrai qui par mon voil a cist mon frere +4. _plæd che con mieu volair a quist mieu frær_ +5. non prendro che con meu voler a quist meu frad'r + +1. Karlo in damno sit. +2. _Karle in domno sit._ +3. Karle en dam seit. +4. _Carlo sai in damn._ +5. Carl in damn sia. + + + * * * * * + + +# No. II. The first Paragraph of the Laws of William the Conqueror. # + + +1. The Latin translation. +2. The French original. +3. A translation into the Romansh of both dialects. + + +1. Hae sunt Leges et Consuetudines quas Willelmus Rex +2. _Ce sont les Leis et les Custumes que li Reis William grantut_ +3. Que sun las Leias e'ls Custums que il Rei Willelm ga- + +1. concessit toto populo Angliæ post subactam terram +2. _a tut le peuple de Engleterre aprés le conquest de la terre_ +3. rantit a tut il poevel d'Engelterra dapo il conquist della + +1. Eædem sut quas Edwardus Rex Cognatus ejus obser- +2. _Ice les meismes que la Reis Edward sun Cosin tint_ +3. terra. E sun las medemas que il Rei Edward su cusrin + +1. vavit ante eum. Scilicet: Pax Sanctæ Ecclesiæ, +2. _devant lui. Co est a saveir: Pais a Sainte Eglise_, +3. tenet avant el. Co es da savir: Pæsh alla Sainta Ba- + +1. cujuscunque forisfacturae quis reus sit hoc tempore, et +2. _de quel forfait que home out fait en cel tens, et_ +3. selg.[BN] da quel sfarfatt que om a fatt en que tem, et + +1. venire potest ad sanctum: Ecclesiam, pacem habeat vitae +2. _il pout venir a sainte Eglise, out pais de vie_ +3. il pout venir alla Sainta Baselga, haun pæsh da vitta + +1. et membri. Et si quis injecerit manum in eum qui +2. _et de membre. E se alquons meist main en celui qui_ +3. et da members. E si alcun metta man a quel que la + +1. matrem Ecclesiam quaesierit, sive sit Abbatia sive +2. _la mere Eglise requireit, se ceo fust u Abbeie u_ +3. mamma Baselga requira, qu'ella fuss Abbatia u + +1. Ecclesia religionis, reddat eum quem abstulerit et +2. _Eglise de religion, rendist ce que il javereit pris_ +3. Baselga da religiun, renda que qu'el savares prais, et + +1. centum solides nomine forisfacturae, et matri Ecclesiae +2. _e cent sols de forfait, e de Mer Eglise de_ +3. cent solds da sfarfatt, et alla mamma Baselga da + +1. parochiali 20 solidos, et capellae 10 solidos: Et qui fregerit +2. _paroisse 20 solds, e de Chapelle 10 solds; E que enfraiant_ +3. parochia 20 solds, e da capella 10 solds: E que in frignand + +1. pacem Regis in Merchenelega 100 solidis emendet; +2. _la pais le Rei en Merchenelae 100 solds les amendes;_ +3. la pæsh del Rei in Merchenelae 100 solds d'amenda; + +1. similiter de compensatione homicidii et de insidiis +2. _altresi de Heinfare e de aweit_ +3. altresi della compensatiun del omicidi et insidias + +1. præcogitatis. +2. _purpensed_. +4. perpensadas. + + + * * * * * + + +[Footnote A: This is rather a trivial name; but the dialect has no other +distinctive appellation.] + +[Footnote B: Tschudi, Rhæt. Descrip. p. 43, MERIN Topogr. Helvet. p. +64.] + +[Footnote C: Sprecher, Simler, Tschudi, Scheuchzer. Campell's Chronicle +is looked upon as the most authentic and circumstantial; but there being +only a few manuscript copies of it extant in the hands of private +persons in the Grisons, I have not been able to avail myself of his +researches. Guller and Stumpfius might also have furnished some material +information; but neither of them have I had an opportunity of +inspecting.] + +[Footnote D: Liv. lib. v. c. 34.] + +[Footnote E: Other authors place the reign of this king 180 years +earlier.] + +[Footnote F: Plin. lib. iii. c. 5. Justin. lib. xx. c. 5.] + +[Footnote G: Cluver, Ital. Antiq. lib. i. c. 14.] + +[Footnote H: A spurious derivation from the verb [Greek: leipo].] + +[Footnote I: Probably by them pronounced _Tomiliasca_, the name it now +bears.] + +[Footnote J: _Tusis_ (Tuscia) and in Italian _Tosana_, the principal +place; _Rhealta_ (Rhetia alta); _Rheambs_ (Rhetia ampla); _Rhazunz_ +(Rhetia ima); and above twelve other castles, the remains of which are +now to be seen in the valley _Tomiliasca_.] + +[Footnote K: In some communities there are fourteen jurors besides the +Landamman.] + +[Footnote L: Serv. in Æneid. lib. viii. 65. lib. x. 202. Sprech. Pall. +Rhæt p. 9. Siml. Rep. Helv. p. 281. ed. 1735.] + +[Footnote M: Liv. lib. v. c. 33.] + +[Footnote N: Sprech. p. 214. Mer. l. c.] + +[Footnote O: _En Code Ino_, perhaps the vulgar Roman phrase expressing +_In Capite Oeni_. There are other etymologies, but all equally +uncertain.] + +[Footnote P: Sprech. p. 10.] + +[Footnote Q: _Lavin_ (Lavinium), _Sus_ (Susa), _Zernetz_ (Cerneto), +_Ardetz_ (Ardea), &c.] + +[Footnote R: Sprech. p. 10.] + +[Footnote S: A parallel instance of the formation of a language by Roman +colonies is the idiom of Moldavia; which, according to Prince Cantemir's +account of that country, has still many traces of its Latin origin, and +which, though engrafted upon the Dacian, and since upon the Sclavonian +dialects of the Celtic, may still be considered as a sister language to +that I am, here treating of.] + +[Footnote T: Videre Rhaeti bella _sub_ Alpibus +Drusum gerentem et Vindelici. HOR. lib. 4. Od. iv. +------------- immanesque Rhaetos +Auspiciis _repulit_ secundis. Ibid. Od. xiv. +Fundat ab extremo flavos aquilone Suevos +Albis, et _indomitum Rheni Caput_. Luc. lib. ii. 52. +------------- Rhenumque minacem +_Cornibus infractis_. CLAUD. Laud. Stilich. lib. i. 220.] + +[Footnote U: Horten. in Lucan, p. 163. edit. 1578. fol.] + +[Footnote V: Sprech. p. 18. &c.] + +[Footnote W: Strabo, lib. IV, sub. fin. Cluver. Ital. vet. lib. I. c. +16.] + +[Footnote X: _Julius Mons_, Scheuchzer Iter. Alp. p. 114.] + +[Footnote Y: +Rhaetica nunc praebent Thraciaque arma metum. + OVID. Trist. +lib. ii. 226. Devota morti pectora liberae. + HOR. 4. lib. Od. xiv.] + +[Footnote Z: Sprech. p. 52-55.] + +[Footnote AA: Sprech. p. 58.] + +[Footnote AB: This privilege has at times been waved; but never without +some plausible pretence, and a formal rescript acknowledging the +exclusive right.] + +[Footnote AC: The League _Cadéa_, or of the _House of God_, so called +from the cathedral of the bishopric of Coire, which is situated in its +capital.] + +[Footnote AD: Canitie griseoque amictu venerandi.--Memores adhuc antiquae +libertatis. Sprech. p. 189.] + +[Footnote AE: The following barbarous distich is sometimes inscribed on +the arms of the three leagues. Foedera sunt cana, cana fides, cana +libertas: Haec tria sub uno continentur corpore Rhaeto.] + +[Footnote AF: See Dr. Percy's preface to his translation of Mallet's +Northern Antiquities, p. xxii. where this question is more amply +discussed.] + +[Footnote AG: Conf. Mem. des Inscrip. tom. xxiv. p. 608.] + +[Footnote AH: Bonamy, v. Mem. des Inscrip. l. c.] + +[Footnote AI: _Tapferdà_, Trapferkeit, Bravery; _Nardà_, Narheit, Folly; +_Klinot_, Kleinod, a Jewel; _Graf_, Graf, a Count; _Baur_, Baur, a +Peasant, &c.] + +[Footnote AJ: Rivet, Hist. Litt. de la France, tom. vii. p. 1. et seq.] + +[Footnote AK: Mem. des Inscrip. tom. xxiv. p. 594.] + +[Footnote AL: Bullet, Mem. de la Langue Celtique, tom. i. p. 23.] + +[Footnote AM: Mem. des Inscrip. tom. xxiv. p. 603.] + +[Footnote AN: Mem. des. Inscrip. tom. xv. p. 575. et seq.] + +[Footnote AO: Praef. Gloss. n. xiii.] + +[Footnote AP: Du Chesne, Hist. Franc. tom. ii. p. 374.] + +[Footnote AQ: No. I.] + +[Footnote AR: Eloq. Ital. p. 44.] + +[Footnote AS: Fidei commissa quocunque Sermone relinqui possunt, non +solum _Latino_ vel Graeco, sed etiam Punico vel _Gallicano_. Digest. l. +xxii. tit. 1. sec. 11. + +Tu autem vel _Celtice_, vel si mavis _Gallice_, loquere. Sulp. Sev. +Dial, i, sec. 6. sub sin.] + +[Footnote AT: Gallia Causidicos docuit facunda Britannos. Juv. Sat. xv. +111.] + +[Footnote AU: William of Malmsb. l. ii. c. 4.] + +[Footnote AV: Ingulph. passim. Du Chesne, tom. iii.] + +[Footnote AW: Mem. des Inscrip. tom. xvii. p. 179.] + +[Footnote AX: Wilkins, Leges Anglo-Sax.] + +[Footnote AY: Append. No, II.] + +[Footnote AZ: Praef. Gloss, n. xxi.] + +[Footnote BA: Fontanini, p. 4.] + +[Footnote BB: Speron. Dial, passim.--Conf. Menage, Orig. della Ling +Ital. voce Romanza.] + +[Footnote BC: Font. p. 17.] + +[Footnote BD: Murat. Scrip. Ital. tom. v. p. 255.] + +[Footnote BE: Ibid. tom. vii. p. 322.] + +[Footnote BF: Lib. iii.] + +[Footnote BG: Mabil. an. l. 64, n. 124.] + +[Footnote BH: Orozco, Tes. Castill. voce Romance--Conf. Crescimb. Volg. +Poes. l. v. c. 1.] + +[Footnote BI: Act. Ben. Saec. 3. p. 2. p. 258.] + +[Footnote BJ: Raym. Montanero Chronica de Juan I.] + +[Footnote BK: Huet, Orig. des Rom. p. 126. ed. 1678.] + +[Footnote BL: P. 43, 44.] + +[Footnote BM: Hist. Litt. de la Fr. tom. vii. p. 22.] + +[Footnote BN: The word _Ecclesia_ being more modern in the Latin tongue +than _Basilica_, the Romansh word _Baselga_ derived from the latter is +an additional proof of the antiquity of this language.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Account of the Romansh Language +by Joseph Planta, Esq. F. R. S. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10069 *** |