In harmony with the <a href="https://www.admin.ch/opc/de/classified-compilation/20062545/index.html#a5" target="_BLANK">Constitution of the Swiss Confederation</a> (not available in English), VerbaAlpina uses the German expression 'Rätoromanisch' (Rhaeto-Romanic) for the Romance varieties of the Grisons which traditionally cannot be rated as Italian (cf. <span class="bibl" data-bibl="gross2004">Gross 2004</span> and <span class="bibl" data-bibl="liver2010">Liver 2010</span>). By using the term <i>Rätoromanisch</i>, we are by no means claiming that this Romansh of the Grisons goes together with Ladin (spoken in the Dolomite Mountains) and Friulian in the sense of a common 'language'. It was precisely for this <span class="bibl" data-bibl="krefeld2003a">concept</span> which is not longer acceptable that the term 'Rätoromanisch' initially was coined by linguistics in the 19th century. The idea as such was developed by Graziadio Isaia [[Ascoli|Bibl:Ascoli 1873] and was denoted in Italian by the term 'ladino'.<div id="gross2004" style="display: none;">Gross, Manfred (2004): Romanisch facts &amp; figures, Chur, Lia Rumantscha
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<a href="https://docplayer.org/3299260-Romanisch-facts-figures.html">Link</a></div><div id="liver2010" style="display: none;"></div><div id="krefeld2003a" style="display: none;">Krefeld, Thomas (2003): Geschichte der Reflexion über die romanischen Sprachen: Friaulisch, Ladinisch, Bündnerromanisch, Berlin/New York, in: Ernst, Gerhard (Hrsg), Romanische Sprachgeschichte, DeGruyter, 197-208</div>