Bun di
Romansh
Said in the canton of Grisons
Hello
Buna saira — in the evening
Bun di
Where it comes from
Bun di almost needs no translation: bun means “good”, di “day”. When evening comes, it turns into buna saira. Both are written here in Rumantsch Grischun, the common written language presented in 1982 by Heinrich Schmid, wanted by the Lia Rumantscha and used by the canton of Graubünden as the official form of Romansh since 2001.
Spoken Romansh has five idioms, each with its own written language, and each greets in its own way. According to the Pledari Grond, the online dictionary of the Lia Rumantscha, people say bien di in Sursilvan, bun de in Surmiran and, in the morning, bùn gi in Sutsilvan. Evening starts early in some valleys: in Sursilvan as in Sutsilvan, buna sera is said as soon as lunch is over.
Chur itself speaks mostly German. Yet in the Middle Ages German speakers called Romansh Churwalsch, the Romance language of Chur. According to Wikipedia, after the great fire of 1464, German-speaking craftsmen came to rebuild the town and stayed; by the 16th century German had become the everyday language. Romansh did not vanish for all that: in the 2000 census, just over 5 % of the inhabitants gave it as their main language, and the great dictionary of every variety of Romansh has been published in Chur since 1938.
In use
In Rumantsch Grischun, checked against the Pledari Grond:
- “Bun di, co vai?” – Hello, how are you?
- “Buna saira a tuts ensemen!” – Good evening, everyone!
Sources: Pledari Grond (Lia Rumantscha), “bun di”, “buna saira” and their equivalents in Sursilvan, Sutsilvan and Surmiran; German Wikipedia, “Chur”, “Rumantsch Grischun” and “Bündnerromanisch”.