Romansh Greetings: Hello, Thank You and Goodbye in Sursilvan

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The first Romansh most visitors to Graubünden hear is a single cheerful word at a hotel desk or a hiking hut: Allegra! It is a good word to know, and it is not the only one. In the Surselva, the upper Rhine valley where the Allegra app takes you, people greet each other in a handful of other ways, depending on the hour and on how well they know you.

This post covers the greetings and polite phrases you need for a first visit, in Sursilvan, the Romansh of the Surselva: hello, good morning, how are you, please, thank you, goodbye, and when to say ti or Vus. If you want the history first — the five written idioms and the 1938 vote — start with The Language Switzerland Voted to Keep.

Hello, by the time of day

Like German and Italian, Sursilvan has a greeting for each part of the day. These are the ones the app teaches in its first lesson:

In practice a greeting is usually followed by a name or a question. A doctor greets a patient with Bien di, Signur Caduff. (“Good morning, Mr Caduff.”). A couple walking into a restaurant says Buna sera! Haveis Vus ina meisa per duas persunas? (“Good evening! Do you have a table for two people?”). One spelling to learn early: the app’s pronunciation hints write tg as tch, roughly as in “match”.

The story of Allegra

The app is named after this word, so here is what it actually says. Allegra is related to allegria, “joy”, and both go back to the Latin alacer, “lively, cheerful”. As a greeting it is less “hello” than “be glad”: you wish the other person joy as you meet them. It is usually explained as the short remainder of an older, longer blessing, roughly “may God make us glad”, of which only the last word survived.

Its home is the Engadine and the Val Müstair, in the southeast of the canton, and from there it has been spreading across Graubünden. You will even see it on the Rhaetian Railway, which since 2009 has run trains called Allegra. In the Surselva you will still hear bien di far more often, and between friends, tgau. Still, the app’s own Sursilvan conversations use Allegra often: at the dentist’s reception (Allegra, Signura Derungs! Haveis Vus in termin oz? — “Hello, Mrs Derungs! Do you have an appointment today?”) and on the phone (Allegra, cheu ei la famiglia Giger. — “Hello, this is the Giger family.”).

How are you?

The short exchange from the app’s first lesson:

Allegra, co vai? — “Hello, how are you?”
I va bein, engraziel. — “I’m fine, thank you.”

Please, thank you and sorry

Per plascher goes at either end of a request: Il quen, per plascher. is “The bill, please.”

Sursilvan has two words for thanks. Engraziel is the one the first lesson teaches, but grazia is good Sursilvan too, and it is the standard form in Rumantsch Grischun. In the app’s conversations, people at the station, the hotel and the doctor’s say grazia and grazia fetg all the time. Being thanked yourself, you can answer Anzi, or hand the thanks back: Grazia a Vus!

Ti or Vus: formal and informal

Like German du and Sie, Romansh has two ways to say “you”. Ti is for one person you know well. Vus, written with a capital letter, is the polite form, for one person or several. Written in lower case, vus is simply “you” to a group of friends.

The verb changes with it, and the polite form borrows the plural verb. Compare these two questions, both built on the verb for “to have”:

Co haveis Vus num? — “What’s your name?” (formal)
Has ti durmiu bein? — “Did you sleep well?” (informal)

Use Vus with older people and in anything professional: shops, the bank, the doctor, the teacher at a parents’ evening. A pharmacist will ask Co sai jeu gidar Vus oz? (“How can I help you today?”), and a hotel guest thanks the receptionist in the same register with Grazia fetg per Vies agid! (“Thank you very much for your help!”). Among friends, and among young people, it is ti. If you are not sure, start with Vus. Being offered ti is friendlier than having to step back from it.

Goodbye

Tgau (said roughly “tchow”) works as both hello and goodbye among friends. It is also the Sursilvan word for “head”; context keeps the two apart. At the end of a purchase, the app’s traveller buying a train ticket closes with Grazia fetg! Adia! (“Thank you very much! Goodbye!”), and a customer leaves the bakery with Grazia fetg! Buna sera ed a damaun! (“Thank you very much! Good evening and see you tomorrow!”).

Where Allegra comes in

All of the phrases above come from Allegra, and the first lesson, called Allegra!, teaches the greetings, the thank-yous and the two kinds of goodbye. It is part of the Basics chapter, which is free, together with the first two conversations, at a restaurant and at a train station, where you can see these phrases used in context.

The course’s vocabulary is checked against the Pledari Grond, the Romansh dictionary of the Lia Rumantscha, and comes with a spelled-out pronunciation hint, with the stressed syllable in capitals. The explanations read in English, German, Italian or French.

So next time someone greets you with Bien di, you can answer in kind. Engraziel for reading, and a pli tard.