The name of the dialect is derived from a nickname based on the personal pronoun jau [ˈjaw] 'I', and can be translated as 'the jau-sayers',[4] as this contrasts with Vallader eu, pronounced [ˈɛː], [ˈɛw], [ˈjɛ], [ˈjɐ], or [ˈjow] in the Lower Engadine.

In 2007, the valley was one of the first municipalities of the canton to introduce the pan-regional Romansh variety Rumantsch Grischun as the language of schooling and official use.

Additionally, many people in Val Müstair also speak Bavarian German as a second language due to contacts with neighboring South Tyrol.

[9] The fable The Fox and the Crow by Aesop, translated into Jauer, the neighboring Romansh dialects Vallader and Putèr, as well as Rumantsch Grischun.

Quai am gustess, ha'la pensà, ed ha clomà al corv: «Che bel cha tü est!

Que am gustess, ho'la penso, ed ho clamo al corv: «Che bel cha tü est!

Qua ha ella vis sin in pign in corv che tegneva in toc chaschiel en ses pichel.