Montafon linguistic roots: Gortipohl, Garfrescha, Versettla – what sounds exotic at first are old Montafon place and field names. The Montafon dialect is considered one of the most difficult to understand dialects of Vorarlberg and dates back to the Rhaeto-Romance people who settled Montafon around the 9th century AD. They came from the Swiss Graubünden, where Rhaeto-Romance dialects are still maintained today. The Montafon dialect also shows influences from the Walser people, who came from the Valais to Vorarlberg in the 13th and 14th centuries. Accordingly, today’s Montafon vernacular contains many old expressions and idioms whose meanings cannot be directly derived from Standard German. Examples are “Hees” (clothing), “Ehni” (grandfather), “Ahna” (grandmother), and “mara” (tomorrow), while “Fazanedli” (handkerchief) strongly resembles the Italian “fazzoletto.” The name “Montafon” itself is of Rhaeto-Romance origin. With references to the mining tradition and the rich water resources of the valley, it is most plausible that it is composed of “munt” (Latin mons = mountain), the Romance term for an alpine area, and “tovone,” the term for a ravine (from “tovo” meaning channel or ditch). Montafon can therefore also be translated as “alpine area with ravines.”
