Anyone who has ever been to Switzerland knows Rösti made from grated potatoes. For a little Mediterranean flair, travel to Ticino and enjoy polenta. This article, however, is not about tasty “Härdöpfel” (potato) or cornmeal dishes, but about language and cultural borders.
Switzerland is officially quadrilingual. The majority of the population speaks German (62.6 %), followed by French (22.9 %), Italian (8.2 %) and Romansh (0.5 %). However, these regions differ not only linguistically but also culturally.
Swiss German dialects have special names for two of these linguistic borders:
The “Röstigraben” (literally Rösti-trench) divides German-speaking Switzerland (yellow in the picture) from the French-speaking Romandie (purple in the picture) while the “Polentagraben” (literally Polenta-trench) separates German-speaking Switzerland from Italian-speaking Ticino (green in the picture).