The dialect situation differs considerably betwen the three Latin based languages of Switzerland - French, Italian and Rumantsch.

French

In French-speaking Switzerland, the local patois have largely died out, although efforts are being made both to study them and to keep them alive. The patois exist in a range of local variations, which are sometimes mutually almost unintelligible. These patois are not dialects of French but of the structurally separate language Franco-Provençal. Dialects of Franco-Provençal are (or were) also spoken in parts of eastern France and northern Italy.

Nowadays French-speaking Swiss write and speak the same French as the French themselves, although some regional words and expressions have survived, and some specifically Swiss words have appeared reflecting Swiss realities.

Italian

In Italian-speaking Switzerland dialects are part of the citizens' linguistic repertoire. The standard language is used in writing and in public, while the dialect is mainly reserved for the private sphere.

Rumantsch

Although Rumantsch is only spoken by very few Swiss, it has five distinct forms, known as "idioms", each with its own written tradition - and each with several dialects. An artificial standard language, "Rumantsch Grischun", was created in 1982, as a compromise between the existing idioms. It is used mainly for administrative purposes. However, in the media and for literary works, most speakers prefer to use their own idiom.

In 2001 a cantonal referendum in Graubünden approved Rumantsch Grischun as the form to be used in official election material and the legal code. The standard language made another gain in 2005, when Microsoft announced that it was to be added to its range of desktop languages.

The interests of the language as a whole are overseen by the umbrella organisation, the Lia Rumantscha.