Romance languages 25401 226152702 2008-07-17T01:40:08Z 143.112.144.129 /* Sample */ {{Infobox Language family |name = Romance |region = Originally [[Europe]]; now also [[Latin America]], [[Quebec]] and much of [[Western Africa]] |familycolor = Indo-European |fam1 = [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] |fam2 = [[Italic languages|Italic]] |child1 = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]] |child2 = [[Eastern Romance languages|Eastern Romance]] |child3 = [[Southern Romance languages|Southern Romance]] |iso2=roa |map=[[Image:Map-Romance Language World.png|300px]] |map_caption=Distribution of major Romance languages: {{col-start}} {{col-2}} {{legend|#00B927|Spanish}} {{legend|#0000FF|French}} {{legend|#FF8400|Portuguese}} {{col-2}} {{legend|#FFFF00|Italian}} {{legend|#FF0000|Romanian}} {{col-end}} }} {{Indo-European topics}} The '''Romance languages''' (sometimes referred to as '''Romanic languages''', or '''Neolatin languages''') are a branch of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language family]] comprising all the languages that descend from [[Latin language|Latin]], the language of [[ancient Rome]]. They have more than 700 million native speakers worldwide, mainly in the [[Americas]], [[Europe]], and [[Africa]], as well as many smaller regions scattered throughout the world. Romance languages have their roots in [[Vulgar Latin]], the popular [[sociolect]] of Latin spoken by soldiers, settlers and merchants of the Empire, as distinguished from the Classical form of the language spoken by the Roman upper classes, the form in which the language was generally written. Between 350 BC and 150 AD, [[Campaign history of the Roman military|the expansion of the Empire]], together with its administrative and educational policies, made Latin the dominant native language in continental Western Europe. Latin also exerted a strong influence in [[Roman Britain|southeastern Britain]], [[Africa (province)|the Roman province of Africa]], and the Balkans north of the [[Jireček Line]]. During the Empire's decline, and after its fragmentation and collapse in the 5th century, dialects of Latin began to diverge within each local area at an accelerated rate, and eventually evolved into languages of their own right. The overseas empires established by [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], [[Portuguese Empire|Portugal]] and [[French colonial empires|France]] from the 15th century onward spread their languages to the other continents, to such an extent that about 70% of all Romance speakers today live outside Europe. Despite influences from pre-Roman languages and from later invasions, the [[phonology]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], [[lexicon]], and [[syntax]] of all Romance languages are predominantly evolutions of [[Vulgar Latin]]. In particular, with only one or two exceptions, Romance languages have lost the [[declension]] system of Classical Latin and, as a result, have [[Subject Verb Object|SVO]] sentence structure and make extensive use of [[Adposition|prepositions]]. ==Name== The term "[[wiktionary:Romance|Romance]]" comes from the Vulgar Latin adverb ''romanice'', derived from ''Romanicus'': used, for instance, in the expression ''romanice loqui'', "to speak in Roman" (that is, the Latin [[vernacular]]), contrasted with ''latine loqui'', "to speak in Latin" ([[Medieval Latin]], the conservative version of the language used in [[Ausbausprache - Abstandsprache - Dachsprache#Dachsprache|writing and formal contexts]] or as a [[lingua franca]]), and with ''barbarice loqui'', "to speak in [[Barbarian]]" (the non-Latin languages of the peoples that conquered the [[Roman Empire]]).<ref name=Ilari>{{cite book | first=Rodolfo | last=Ilari | year=2002 | title=Lingüística Românica | pages=50 | publisher=Ática | id=ISBN 85-08-04250-7}}</ref> From this adverb the noun ''romance'' originated, which applied initially to anything written ''romanice'', or "in the Roman vernacular". The word ''romance'' with the modern sense of [[romance novel]] or love affair has the same origin. In the [[medieval literature]] of Western Europe, serious writing was usually in Latin, while popular tales, often focusing on love, were composed in the vernacular and came to be called "[[Romance (genre)|romances]]". ==Sample== Lexical and grammatical similarities among the Romance languages, and between Latin and each of them, are apparent from the following examples: :{| cellspacing="3px" |- | [[Latin language|Latin]] || ''Illa claudit semper fenestram ante quam cenat.'' |- | [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]] || ''Ella tranca/zarra siempre la finestra antis de zenar''. |- | [[Asturian language|Asturian]] || ''Ella pieslla siempre la ventana/feniestra primero de cenar.'' |- | [[Eastern Lombard language|Bergamasque]] || ''(Lé) la sèra sèmper sö la finèstra prima de senà.'' |- | [[Catalan language|Catalan]] || ''Ella tanca sempre la finestra abans de sopar.'' |- | [[French language|French]] || ''Elle ferme toujours la fenêtre avant de dîner/souper.'' |- | [[Galician language|Galician]] || ''Ela pecha sempre a fiestra (xanela) antes de cear.'' |- | [[Italian language|Italian]] || ''Lei (Ella) chiude sempre la finestra prima di cenare.'' |- | [[Milanese| Milanese (Western Lombard variant)]] || ''(Lee) la sara semper su la finestra primma de disnà.'' |- | [[Mirandese language| Mirandese]] || ''Eilha cerra siempre la bentana/jinela atrás de jantar.'' |- | [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]] || '' Chella sempre chiud' 'a fenesta prima 'e mangià.'' |- | [[Occitan language|Occitan]] || ''Ela barra sempre la fenèstra abans de sopar.'' |- | [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]] || ''Chila a sara sèmper la fnestra dnans da fé sin-a.'' |- | [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] || ''Ela fecha sempre a janela antes de jantar.'' |- | [[Romanian language|Romanian]] || ''Ea închide totdeauna fereastra înainte de a cina.'' |- | [[Romansh language|Romansh]] || ''Ella clauda/serra adina la fanestra avant ch'ella tschainia.'' |- | [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] || ''Issa semper serrat su balcone antes de chena.'' |- | [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] || ''Idda chjùi sempri a finestra avànti chi mmància.'' |- | [[Spanish language|Spanish]] || ''Ella siempre cierra la ventana antes de cenar.'' |- | [[Venetian language|Venetian]] || ''Ła sera sempre ła finestra prima de senar.'' |- | [[Walloon language|Walloon]] || ''Ele sere todis li finiesse divant di soper.'' |- | Translation || She always closes the window before dining. |} As an alternative to ''lei'' (originally the accusative form), Italian has the pronoun ''ella'', a cognate of the other words for "she", but it has become disused in most dialects. Note that some of the lexical divergence above comes from different Romance languages using the same root word with different meanings ([[semantic change]]). Portuguese, for example, has the word ''fresta'', which is a cognate of French ''fenêtre'', Italian ''finestra'', Romanian ''fereastra'' and so on, but now means "slit" as opposed to "window." Likewise, Portuguese also has the word ''cear'', a cognate of Italian ''cenare'' and Spanish ''cenar'', but uses it in the sense of "to have a late supper" in most dialects, while the preferred word for "to dine" is actually ''jantar'' (related to archaic Spanish ''yantar'') because of semantic changes in the 19th century. Galician has both ''fiestra'' (from medieval ''fẽestra'' which is the ultimate origin of standard Portuguese ''fresta''), and the less frequently used ''ventá'' and ''xanela''. ==History== ===Vulgar Latin=== {{main|Vulgar Latin}} There is a lack of documentary evidence about Vulgar Latin for the purposes of comprehensive research, and the literature is often hard to interpret or generalise upon. Many of its speakers were soldiers, slaves, displaced peoples and forced resettlers, more likely to be natives of conquered lands than natives of Rome. It is believed that Vulgar Latin already had most of the features that are shared by all Romance languages, which distinguish them from Classical Latin, such as the almost complete loss of the Latin [[Grammatical case|case system]] and its replacement by [[preposition]]s; the loss of the [[neuter]] gender, [[Latin declension|comparative inflections]], and many verbal tenses; the use of [[article (grammar)|articles]]; and the initial stages of the [[palatalization]] of the plosives ''c'', ''g'', and ''t''. There are some modern languages, such as [[Finnish language#Formal and informal Finnish|Finnish]], which have similar, quite sharp, differences between their printed and spoken form. This perhaps suggests that the form of Vulgar Latin that evolved into the Romance languages was around during the time of the empire, and was spoken alongside the written Classical Latin, reserved for official and formal occasions. ===Fall of the Roman Empire=== During the political [[decline of the Roman Empire]] in the fifth century, there were large-scale [[Migration Period|migrations]] into the empire, and the Latin-speaking world was fragmented into several independent states. Central Europe and the [[Balkans]] were occupied by the Germanic and [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] tribes, as well as by the [[Huns]], which isolated the [[Vlachs]] from the rest of Latin Europe. Latin disappeared completely from [[Roman Britain|southeastern Britain]] and [[Africa (Roman province)|the Roman province of Africa]], where it had been spoken by much of the urban population. But the Germanic tribes that had penetrated [[Italia (Roman Empire)|Italy]], [[Gaul]], and [[Hispania]] eventually adopted Latin and the remnants of [[Roman culture]], and so Latin remained the dominant language there. ===Latent incubation=== Between the fifth and [[10th century|tenth]] centuries, the dialects of spoken Vulgar Latin diverged in various parts of their domain, eventually becoming distinct languages. This evolution is poorly documented because the [[literary language]], [[Medieval Latin]], remained close to the older Classical Latin. ===Recognition of the vernaculars=== Between the 10th and 13th centuries, some local [[vernacular]]s developed a written form and began to supplant Latin in many of its roles. In some countries, such as [[Portugal]], this transition was expedited by force of law; whereas in others, such as [[Italy]], many prominent poets and writers used the vernacular of their own accord. ===Uniformization and standardization=== The invention of the [[printing press|press]] apparently slowed down the evolution of Romance languages from the 16th century on{{fact|date=May 2008}}, and brought a tendency towards greater uniformity of [[standard language]]s within political boundaries, at the expense of other Romance languages and [[dialect]]s less favored politically. In France, for instance, the dialect spoken in the region of Paris gradually spread to the entire country, and the [[Occitan language|Occitan]] of the south lost ground. ==Current status== [[Image:Romance 20c en.png|thumb|300px|Romance languages, 20th century]] The Romance language most widely spoken natively today is [[Spanish language|Spanish]], followed by [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]] and [[Catalan language|Catalan]], all of which are [[official language]]s in at least one country. A few other languages have official status on a regional or otherwise limited level, for instance [[Friulian]], [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] and [[Franco-Provençal language|Valdôtain]] in Italy; [[Romansh language|Romansh]] in Switzerland; and [[Galician language|Galician]] in Spain. French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian are also official languages of the [[European Union]]. Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, and Catalan are the official languages of the [[Latin Union]]; and French and Spanish are two of the six official languages of the [[United Nations]]. Outside Europe, [[French language|French]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] are spoken and enjoy official status in various countries that emerged from their respective [[colonial empire]]s. French is an official language of [[Canada]], [[Haiti]], many countries in Africa, and some in the [[Indian Ocean|Indian]] and [[Pacific Ocean]]s, as well as France's current overseas possessions. Spanish is an official language of [[Mexico]], much of [[South America]], [[Central America]] and the [[Caribbean]], and of [[Equatorial Guinea]] in Africa. Portuguese is the official language of [[Brazil]], being the most spoken language in South America, and official in six African countries. Although [[Italy]] also had some colonial possessions, its language did not remain official after the end of the colonial domination, resulting in [[Italian language|Italian]] being spoken only as a minority or secondary language by immigrant communities in [[North America|North]] and [[South America]] and [[Australia]] or African countries like [[Libya]], [[Eritrea]] and [[Somalia]]. [[Romania]] did not establish a colonial empire, but the language spread outside of Europe through emigration, notably in Western Asia; [[Romanian language|Romanian]] has flourished in [[Israel]], where it is spoken by some 5% of the total population as mother tongue,<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ron 1993 Statistical Abstract] of Israel reports 250,000 speakers of Romanian in Israel, while the 1995 census puts the total figure of the Israeli population at 5,548,523</ref> and by many more as a secondary language, considering the large population of Romanian-born [[Jews]] who moved to Israel after [[World War II]].<ref>[http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110 Reports of about 300,000 Jews who left the country after WW2]</ref> [[Image:Romance-procents.png|thumb|300px|Proportion of the 690 million native Romance language speakers of each language]] The total native speakers of Romance languages are divided as follows (with their ranking within the languages of the world in brackets):<ref>Source: [http://encarta.msn.com/media_701500404/Languages_Spoken_by_More_Than_10_Million_People.html MSN Encarta - Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People] (number of Romance speakers estimated at 690 million speakers, number of Catalan language speakers estimated at 9.1 million) </ref> *[[Spanish language|Spanish]] 47% (2nd) *[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] 26% (6th) *[[French language|French]] 11% (11th) *[[Italian language|Italian]] 9% (18th) *[[Romanian language|Romanian]] 4% (34th) *[[Catalan language|Catalan]] 1% (93rd) *Others 2% The remaining Romance languages survive mostly as spoken languages for informal contact. National governments have historically viewed linguistic diversity as an economic, administrative or military liability, as well a potential source of [[separatism|separatist]] movements; therefore, they have generally fought to eliminate it, by extensively promoting the use of the official language, restricting the use of the "other" languages in the media, characterizing them as mere "dialects", or even persecuting them. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, however, increased sensitivity to the rights of minorities have allowed some of these languages to start recovering their prestige and lost rights. Yet it is unclear whether these political changes will be enough to reverse the decline of minority Romance languages. ==Classification and related languages== {{main|Classification of Romance languages|List of Romance languages}} The classification of the Romance languages is inherently difficult, since most of the linguistic area can be considered a [[dialect continuum]], and in some cases political biases can come into play. Nevertheless, according to [[SIL International|SIL]] counts, 47 Romance languages and dialects are spoken in [[Europe]]. Along with Latin (which is not included among the Romance languages) and a few extinct languages of ancient Italy, they make up the [[Italic languages|Italic branch]] of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European family]]. [[Image:Romance languages improved.PNG|The Romance language family (simplified) - click to enlarge]] Note that [[Dalmatian language|Dalmatian]] is now generally grouped under Proto-Italian rather than Eastern Romance. ===Proposed subfamilies=== The main subfamiles that have been proposed by [[Ethnologue]] within the various classification schemes for Romance languages are: *[[Italo-Western]], the largest group which includes languages such as Italian, Spanish, and French. *[[Eastern Romance]], which includes the Romance languages of Eastern Europe, such as Romanian. *[[Southern Romance languages|Southern Romance]], which includes a few languages with particularly archaic features, such as [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] and [[Corsican language|Corsican]]. ===Pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages=== Some languages have developed from mixtures of a Romance language with another language. It is not always clear whether they should be classified as [[pidgin]]s, [[creole language]]s, or [[mixed language]]s. ===Auxiliary and constructed languages=== {{main|Constructed language|International auxiliary language}} Latin and the Romance languages have also served as the inspiration and basis of numerous auxiliary and constructed languages, such as [[Interlingua]], its reformed version Modern Latin,<ref>[http://www.langmaker.com/db/Modern_latin Modern Latin]</ref> [[Latino sine flexione]], [[Occidental language|Occidental]], [[Lingua Franca Nova]], [[Ido]] and [[Esperanto]], as well as languages created for artistic purposes only, such as [[Brithenig]], [[Wenedyk]] and [[Talossan language|Talossan]]. ==Linguistic features== ===Common Indo-European features=== As members of the Indo-European family, Romance languages have a number of features that are shared with other members of this family, and in particular with [[English language|English]]; but which set them apart from languages of other families, including: *Almost all their words are classified into four major classes — [[noun]]s, [[verb]]s, [[adjective]]s, and [[adverb]]s — each with a specific set of possible syntactic roles. * Nouns, adjectives, [[determiner (class)|determiner]]s and some [[pronoun]]s inflect according to [[grammatical gender]] and [[grammatical number]]. * [[Inflection]] is normally marked with [[suffix]]es. * A variety of [[grammatical category|grammatical distinctions]] are expressed on verbs (either through inflection or [[periphrasis|compounding]]), such as: ** [[grammatical person|Person]] and number; ** [[grammatical tense|Tense]], [[grammatical mood|mood]], and [[grammatical aspect|aspect]]. ** [[grammatical voice|Voice]].<!--EMBEDDING, WHAT ELSE?--> * They are verb-centered; meaning that the basic [[clause]] structure consists of a verb, expressing an action involving one or more nouns — the [[verb argument|arguments of the verb]] — that play specific semantic roles in the action and specific syntactic roles in the clause. * They are [[fusional language|fusional]], [[morphosyntactic alignment|nominative-accusative]] languages. ===Features inherited from Classical Latin=== The Romance languages share a number of features that were inherited from Classical Latin, and collectively set them apart from most other Indo-European languages: * [[stress (linguistics)|Word stress]] remains predominantly on the [[penult]]imate syllable in most languages, although there have been significant changes with respect to classical Latin. An exception is French, whose stress is fixed, falling predictably on the last syllable that does not contain a [[schwa]]. Stress patterns of similar languages usually match each other perfectly. French is the noticeable exception, as stress almost always falls on the last syllable. * They have two grammatical numbers, singular and plural (no [[Dual (grammatical number)|dual]]). * In most languages, [[personal pronoun]]s have different forms according to their grammatical function in a sentence, a remnant of the Latin case system; there is usually a form for the [[subjective (grammar)|subject]] (inherited from the Latin nominative) another for the [[objective (grammar)|object]] (from the accusative or the dative), and a third set of personal pronouns used after prepositions or in stressed positions (see [[Prepositional pronoun]] and [[Disjunctive pronoun]], for further information). Third person pronouns often have different forms for the direct object (accusative), the indirect object (dative), and the [[reflexive pronoun|reflexive]]. * Most are [[null-subject language]]s. French is a notable exception. * Verbs have many [[grammatical conjugation|conjugations]], including in most languages: ** A [[present tense]], a [[preterite]], an [[imperfect tense|imperfect]], a [[pluperfect]] and a [[future tense]] in the indicative mood, for statements of fact. ** Present and preterite [[subjunctive]] tenses, for hypothetical or uncertain conditions. Several languages (for example, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) have also imperfect and pluperfect subjunctives. ** An imperative mood, for direct commands. ** Three [[non-finite verb|non-finite forms]]: infinitive, gerund, and past participle. ** Distinct active and passive voices, as well as an [[impersonal passive voice]]. * Several tenses, especially of the indicative mood, have been preserved with little change in most languages, as shown in the following table for the Latin verb ''dīcere'' (to say), and its descendants. <!--Please complete with the missing verbs. Also, 2nd. person singular examples would be more interesting.--> :{| class="wikitable" ! rowspan=2 | !! rowspan=2 | Infinitive !! colspan=3 | Indicative !! Subjunctive !! Imperative |- ! Present !! Preterite !! Imperfect !! Present !! Present |- | align=left | '''Latin''' | dīcere || dīcit || dīxit || dicēbat || dīcat/dīcet || dīc |- | align=left | '''Aragonese''' | dizir || diz || dizié|| deziba ||diga || diz |- | align=left | '''Asturian''' | dicir || diz || dixo || dicía || diga ||di |- | align=left | '''Catalan''' | dir || diu || digué|| deia ||digui || digues |- | align=left | '''French''' | dire || il dit || il dit || il disait || il dise || dis |- | align=left | '''Galician''' | dicir || di || dixo || dicía || diga || di |- | align=left | '''Italian''' | dire || dice || disse || diceva || dica || dì |- | align=left | '''Milanese''' | dì || el dis || l'ha dit || el diseva || el diga || dì |- | align=left | '''Neapolitan''' | dicere || dice || dicette || diceva || || |- | align=left | '''Occitan''' | dire<sup>1</sup> || ditz || diguèt || disiá || diga || diga |- | align=left | '''Piedmontese''' | dì || a dis || a dìsser<sup>2</sup>|| a disìa || a disa || dis |- | align=left | '''Portuguese''' | dizer || diz || disse || dizia || diga || diz<sup>3</sup> |- | align=left | '''Romanian''' | a zice || zice || zise || zicea || zică || zi |- | align=left | '''Romansh''' | dir || el di || (el ha ditg) || el scheva<sup>4</sup> || ch'el dia || di <!-- |- | align=left | '''Sardinian''' | narrere || narred || narat || ha nadu || nariat || nara -->|- | align=left | '''Sicilian''' |diri || dici || dissi || dicìa || dici || dica |- | align=left | '''Spanish''' | decir || dice || dijo || decía || diga || di |- | align=left | '''Venetian''' | dir || dixe || dise || dixea || diga || dì |- ! Basic meaning | to say || he says || he has said || he used to say || [that] he may say || say! [you] |} <small> :<sup>1</sup>With the variant ''díser''. :<sup>2</sup>Until the 18th century. :<sup>3</sup>With the disused variant ''dize''. :<sup>4</sup>From a form like ''discheva''. </small> * The main tense and mood distinctions that were made in classical Latin are generally still present in the modern Romance languages, though many are now expressed through [[periphrasis|compound]] rather than simple verbs. The passive voice, which was mostly synthetic in classical Latin, has been completely replaced with compound forms. ===Features inherited from Vulgar Latin=== {{Main|Vulgar Latin}} Romance languages also have a number of features that are not shared with Classical Latin. Most of these are thought to have been inherited from [[Vulgar Latin]]. Even though the Romance languages are all derived from Latin, they are arguably much closer to each other than to their common ancestor, owing to a core of common developments. The main difference is the loss of the case system of Classical Latin, an essential feature which allowed great freedom of word order, and has no counterpart in any Romance language except Romanian. In this regard, the distance between any modern Romance language and Latin is comparable to that between [[English language|Modern English]] and [[Old English]]. While speakers of French, Italian or Spanish, for example, can quickly learn to see through the phonological changes reflected in spelling differences, and thus recognize many Latin words, they will often fail to understand the meaning of Latin sentences. *Vulgar Latin borrowed many words, often from [[Germanic languages]] that replaced words from Classical Latin during the [[Migration Period]], including some basic vocabulary. Notable examples are ''*blancus'' (white), which replaced Classical Latin ''albus'' in most major languages; ''*guerra'' (war), which replaced ''bellum''; and the words for the [[cardinal directions]], where [[cognate]]s of English "north", "south", "east" and "west" replaced the Classical Latin words ''borealis'' (or ''septentrionalis''), ''australis'' (or ''meridionalis''), ''orientalis'', and ''occidentalis'', respectively, in the [[vernacular]]. (See [[History of French#The Franks|History of French - The Franks]].) *There are definite and indefinite [[article (grammar)|article]]s, derived from Latin [[demonstrative]]s and the numeral ''unus'' (one). *Nouns have only two [[grammatical gender]]s, masculine and feminine. Most Latin neuter nouns became masculine nouns in Romance. However, in [[Romanian language|Romanian]], one class of nouns—including the descendants of many Latin neuter nouns—behave like masculines in the singular and feminines in the plural (e.g. ''un deget'' "one finger" vs ''două degete'' "two fingers", cf. Latin ''digitum'', pl. ''digita''). The same phenomenon is observed non-productively in Italian (e.g. ''il dito'' "the finger" vs ''le dita'' "the fingers"). *Apart from gender and number, nouns, adjectives and [[determiner]]s are not inflected. [[grammatical case|Cases]] have generally been lost, though a trace of them survives in the [[personal pronoun]]s. An exception is [[Romanian language|Romanian]], which retains a combined [[genitive]]-[[dative]] case. *Adjectives generally follow the noun they modify. *Many Latin combining prefixes were incorporated in the lexicon as new roots and verb stems, e.g. Italian ''estrarre'' (to extract) from Latin ''ex-'' (out of) and ''trahere'' (to drag). *Many Latin constructions involving nominalized verbal forms (e.g. the use of accusative plus infinitive in [[free indirect speech|indirect discourse]] and the use of the [[Latin grammar|ablative absolute]]) were dropped in favor of constructions with subordinate clause. Exceptions can be found in Italian, for example, Latin ''tempore permittente'' > Italian ''tempo permettendo''; L. ''hoc facto'' > I. ''fatto ciò''. *The normal clause structure is [[subject verb object|SVO]], rather than [[subject object verb|SOV]], and is much less flexible than in Latin. * Owing to sound changes which made it [[homonym|homophonous]] with the preterite, the Latin future indicative tense was dropped, and replaced with a periphrasis of the form [[infinitive]] + present tense of ''habēre'' (to have). Eventually, this structure was [[grammaticalisation|reanalysed]] as a new [[future tense]]. * In a similar process, an entirely new [[conditional mood#Conditional forms in Romance|conditional form]] was created. * While the synthetic [[grammatical voice|passive voice]] of classical Latin was abandoned in favour of [[periphrasis|periphrastic]] constructions, most of the active voice remained in use. However, several tenses have changed meaning, especially subjunctives. For example: ** The Latin pluperfect indicative became a [[conditional mood|conditional]] in Catalan and Sicilian, and an imperfect [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]] in Spanish. ** The Latin pluperfect subjunctive developed into an imperfect subjunctive in all languages except [[Romansh]], where it became a conditional, and Romanian, where it became a [[pluperfect tense|pluperfect indicative]]. ** The Latin preterite subjunctive, together with the future perfect indicative, became a future subjunctive in Old Spanish, Portuguese, and [[Galician language|Galician]]. ** The Latin imperfect subjunctive became a personal [[infinitive]] in Portuguese and Galician. * Many Romance languages have two [[copula|verbs "to be"]], derived from the Latin ''stare'' (mostly used for temporary states) and ''esse'' (mostly used for essential attributes). In French, however, ''stare'' and ''esse'' had become ''ester'' and ''estre'' by the late Middle Ages. Owing to phonetic developments, there were the forms ''êter'' and ''être'', which eventually merged to ''être'', and the distinction was lost. In Italian, the two verbs share the same past participle, ''stato''. See [[Romance copula]], for further information. For a more detailed illustration of how the verbs have changed with respect to classical Latin, see [[Romance verbs]]. ====Sound changes==== {{IPA notice}} The vocabularies of Romance languages have undergone considerable change since their birth, by various phonological processes that were characteristic of each language. Those changes applied more or less systematically to all words, but were often conditioned by the sound context, morphological structure, or regularizing tendencies. Most languages have lost sounds from the original Latin words. French, in particular, [[elision]] progressed more than in any other of the languages (although its conservative [[etymology|etymological]] spelling does not always make this apparent). In general, all final vowels were dropped, and sometimes also the preceding consonant: thus Latin ''lupus'' and ''luna'' became Italian ''lupo'' and ''luna'' but French ''loup'' {{IPA|[lu]}} and ''lune'' {{IPA|[lyn]}}. (See also [[Use of the circumflex in French]].) Catalan, Occitan, many Northern Italian dialects, and Romanian ([[Daco-Romanian]]) lost the final vowels in most masculine nouns and adjectives, but retained them in the feminine. Other languages, including Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Galician and Romanian have retained those vowels. Some languages have lost the final vowel ''-e'' from verbal infinitives, e.g. ''dīcere'' → Portuguese ''dizer'' (to say). Other common cases of [[apocope]] are the verbal endings, e.g. Latin ''amāt'' → Italian ''ama'' (he loves), ''amābam'' → ''amavo'' (I loved), ''amābat'' → ''amava'' (he loved), ''amābatis'' → ''amavate'' (you loved), etc.<!--WE COULD PUT A SMALL TABLE HERE, WITH 2-3 OTHER LANGUAGES--> Sounds were often lost in the middle of words, too; e.g. Latin ''Luna'' → Galician and Portuguese ''Lua'' (Moon), ''crēdere'' → Spanish ''creer'' (to believe). On the other hand, some languages have added [[epenthesis|epenthetic vowel]]s to words in certain contexts. Characteristic of the Iberian Romance languages is the insertion of a [[Prosthesis (linguistics)|prosthetic]] ''e'' at the start of Latin words that began with ''s'' + consonant, such as ''sperō'' → ''espero'' (I hope). French originally did the same, but later dropped the ''s'': ''spatula'' → arch. ''espaule'' → ''épaule'' (shoulder). In the case of Italian, a special article, ''lo'' for the definite and ''uno'' for the indefinite, is used for masculine words that begin with ''s'' + consonant words (''sbaglio'', "mistake" → ''lo sbaglio'', "the mistake"), as well as all masculine words beginning with ''z'' (i.e. clusters /ts/ or /dz/) ''zaino'', "backpack" → ''lo zaino'', "the backpack". A characteristic feature of the writing systems of almost all Romance languages is that the Latin letters ''c'' and ''g'' — which originally always represented the "hard" consonants {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/g/}} respectively — now represent "soft" consonants when they come before ''e'', ''i'', or ''y''. This is due to a general [[palatalization]] of {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} that occurred in the transition to Vulgar Latin. Since the written form of all the affected words was tied to the classical language, the shift was accommodated by a change in the pronunciation rules. The soft sounds of ''c'' and ''g'' vary from language to language. The consonant ''t'', which was also palatalized, changes pronunciation in French (and English) orthography, but in the other Romance languages the spelling was altered to match the new sound. An exception is [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]], whose plosives remained hard before ''e'' and ''i'' in many words. The distinctions of [[vowel length]] present in Classical Latin were lost in most Romance languages (an exception is [[Friulian language|Friulian]]), and partly replaced with qualitative contrasts such as [[monophthong]] versus [[diphthong]] (Italian, Spanish; French to a lesser extent), or [[close vowel]] versus [[open vowel]] (as in Portuguese, Galician, Occitan and Catalan). For most languages in this family, [[geminate consonant|consonant length]] is no longer phonemically distinctive or present. However some [[languages of Italy]] (Italian, [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] and Sicilian) do have long consonants like {{IPA|/bb/}}, {{IPA|/kk/}}, {{IPA|/dd/}}, etc., where the doubling indicates a short hold before the consonant is released, in many cases with distinctive lexical value: e.g. ''note'' {{IPA|/ˈnɔ.te/}} (notes) vs. ''notte'' {{IPA|/ˈnɔt.te/}} (night), ''cade'' {{IPA|/ˈka.de/}} (s/he, it falls) vs. ''cadde'' {{IPA|/ˈkad.de/}} (s/he, it fell). They may even occur at the beginning of words in [[Romanesco]], Neapolitan and Sicilian, and are occasionally indicated in writing, e.g. Sicilian ''cchiù'' (more), and ''ccà'' (here). In general, the consonants {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/ts/}}, and {{IPA|/dz/}} are long at the start of a word, while the [[archiphoneme]] {{IPA|<nowiki>|R|</nowiki>}} is realised as a [[Trill consonant|trill]] {{IPA|/r/}} in the same position. The double consonants of [[Piedmontese]] exist only after stressed {{IPA|/ə/}}, written ''ë'', and are not etymological: ''vëdde'' (Latin ''videre'', to see), ''sëcca'' (Latin ''sicca'', dry, feminine of ''sech''). In standard Catalan and Occitan, there exists a geminate sound {{IPA|/lː/}} written ''ŀl'' (Catalan) or ''ll'' (Occitan), but it is usually pronounced as a simple sound in colloquial (and even some formal) speech in both languages. For more detailed descriptions of sound changes, see the articles [[Vulgar Latin]], [[History of French]], [[History of Portuguese]], [[Latin to Romanian sound changes]], and [[Linguistic history of Spanish]]. ====Lexical stress==== While word [[stress (linguistics)|stress]] was rigorously predictable in classical Latin, this is no longer the case in most Romance languages, and stress differences can be enough to distinguish between words. For example, Italian ''Papa'' {{IPA|[ˈpa.pa]}} (Pope) and ''papà'' {{IPA|[pa.ˈpa]}} (daddy), or the Spanish imperfect subjunctive ''cantara'' ([if he] sang) and future ''cantará'' ([he] will sing). However, the main function of Romance stress appears to be a clue for [[speech segmentation]] — namely to help the listener identify the word boundaries in normal speech, where inter-word spaces are usually absent.{{Fact|date=December 2007}} The position of the stressed [[syllable]] in a word generally varies from word to word in each Romance language. Stress usually remains fixed on its assigned syllable within any language, however, even as the word is inflected. It is usually restricted to one of the last three syllables in the word, although Italian verb forms can violate this (e.g. ''teléfonano'' 'they telephone'). The limit may be exceeded also by verbs with attached [[clitic]]s, provided the clitics are counted as part of the word; e.g. Spanish ''entregándomelo'' {{IPA|[en.tre.ˈɣan.do.me.lo]}} (delivering it to me), Italian ''mettiamocene'' {{IPA|[me.ˈtːjaː.mo.ʧe.ne]}} (let's put some of it in there), or Portuguese ''dávamo-vo-lo'' {{IPA|[ˈda.vɐ.mu.vu.lu]}} (we were giving it to you). ===Other shared features=== The Romance languages also share a number of features that were not the result of common inheritance, but rather of various cultural diffusion processes in the [[Middle Ages]] — such as literary diffusion, commercial and military interactions, political domination, influence of the Catholic Church, and (especially in later times) conscious attempts to "[[linguistic purism|purify]]" them in accordance with Classical Latin. Some of those features have in fact spread to other non-Romance (and even non-Indo-European) languages, chiefly in Europe. Some of these "late origin" shared features are: *Most Romance languages have polite forms of address that change the person and/or number of 2nd person subjects ([[T-V distinction]]), such as the ''tu''/''vous'' contrast in French, the ''tu''/''Ella'' (or more often ''Lei'') contrast in Italian, the ''tu''/''dumneavoastră'' (from ''dominus'' + ''vostre'', literally meaning "your Lordship") in Romanian or the ''tú'' (or ''vos'') /''usted'' contrast in Spanish. Italian also had another form (''Voi'') denoting more respect than a ''tu'', but of a lesser degree than ''Ella''; the use of ''Voi'' has been discontinued because it was strongly supported by [[Fascism|fascists]]. *They all have a large collection of learned [[Hellenism (neoclassicism)|hellenism]]s and [[latinism]]s, with prefixes, stems, and suffixes retained or reintroduced from Greek and Latin, and used to coin new words. Most of these are also used in English, e.g. ''tele-'', ''poly-'', ''meta-'', ''pseudo-'', ''dis-'', ''ex-'', ''post-'', ''-scope'', ''-logy'', ''-tion'', though their spelling may differ slightly; for example, ''poly-'' becomes ''poli-'' in Romanian, Italian and Spanish. *During the [[Renaissance]], Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and a few other Romance languages developed a [[progressive aspect]] which did not exist in Latin. In French, progressive constructions remain very limited, the [[imperfective|imperfect aspect]] generally being preferred, as in Latin. *Many Romance languages now have a verbal construction analogous to the [[present perfect tense]] of English. In some, it has taken the place of the old [[preterite]] (at least in the vernacular); in others, the two coexist with somewhat different meanings (cf. English ''I did'' vs. ''I have done''). A few examples: ** preterite only: Galician, Sicilian, some dialects of Spanish; ** preterite and present perfect: Occitan, Portuguese, standard Spanish; ** present perfect predominant, preterite now literary: French, several dialects of Italian and Spanish. ** present perfect only: Romansh ==Writing systems== {{Main|Latin Alphabet}} The Romance languages have kept the writing system of Latin, adapting it to their evolution. One exception was Romanian before the 19th century, where, after the Roman retreat, literacy was reintroduced through the [[Romanian Cyrillic alphabet]] by Slavic influences. Also the non-Christian populations of Spain used the systems of their culture languages ([[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]]) to write Romance languages such as [[Ladino]] and [[Mozarabic language|Mozarabic]] in ''[[aljamiado]]''. ===Letters=== The Romance languages are written with the classical [[Latin alphabet]] of 22 letters — ''A'', ''B'', ''C'', ''D'', ''E'', ''F'', ''G'', ''H'', ''I'', ''L'', ''M'', ''N'', ''O'', ''P'', ''Q'', ''R'', ''S'', ''T'', ''V'', ''X'', ''Y'', ''Z'' — subsequently [[alphabets derived from the Latin|modified and augmented]] in various ways. In particular, the letters ''K'' and ''W'' are seldom used in most Romance languages, only for unassimilated foreign names and words. While most of the 22 basic Latin letters have maintained their phonetic value, for some of them it has diverged considerably; and the new letters added since the Middle Ages have been put to different uses in different scripts. Some letters, notably ''H'' and ''Q'', have been variously combined in [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]]s or [[trigraph (orthography)|trigraph]]s (see below) to represent phonetic phenomena not recorded in Latin, or to get around previously established spelling conventions. The spelling rules of most Romance languages are fairly simple, but subject to considerable regional variation. To a first approximation, the phonetic values of the letters can be summarized as follows: :'''C''': Generally a "hard" {{IPA|[k]}}, but "soft" ([[fricative consonant|fricative]] or [[affricate consonant|affricate]]) before ''e'', ''i'', or ''y''. :'''G''': Generally a "hard" {{IPA|[ɡ]}}, but "soft" (fricative or affricate) before ''e'', ''i'', or ''y''. In some languages, like Spanish, the hard ''g'' is pronounced as a fricative {{IPA|[ɣ]}} after vowels. In Romansch, the soft ''g'' is a [[voiced palatal plosive]] {{IPA|[ɟ]}} or a voiced [[Alveolo-palatal consonant|alveolo-palatal]] affricate {{IPA|[dʑ]}}. :'''H''': [[Silent letter|Silent]] in most languages; used to form various [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]]. But represents {{IPA|[h]}} in Romanian and Gascon Occitan. :'''J''': Represents a fricative in most languages, or the [[palatal approximant]] {{IPA|[j]}} in Romansh and in several of the languages of Italy. Italian does not use this letter in native words. Usually pronounced like the soft ''g'' (except in Romansch and the languages of Italy). :'''Q''': As in Latin, its phonetic value is that of a hard ''c'', and in native words it is always followed by a (sometimes silent) ''u''. Romanian does not use this letter in native words. :'''S''': Generally [[Voice (phonetics)|voiceless]] {{IPA|[s]}}, but voiced {{IPA|[z]}} between vowels in most languages. In Spanish, Romanian, Galician and several varieties of Italian, however, it is always pronounced voiceless. At the end of syllables, it may represent special [[allophone|allophonic]] pronunciations. In Romansh, it also stands for a voiceless or voiced fricative, {{IPA|[ʃ]}} or {{IPA|[ʒ]}}, before certain consonants. :'''W''': No Romance language uses this letter in native words, with the exception of [[Walloon language|Walloon]]. :'''X''': Its pronunciation is rather variable, both between and within languages. In the Middle Ages, the [[Iberian languages|languages of Iberia]] used this letter to denote the [[voiceless postalveolar fricative]] {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, which is still the case in Modern [[Catalan]]. With the Renaissance the classical pronunciation {{IPA|[ks]}} — or similar [[consonant cluster]]s, such as {{IPA|[ɡz]}}, {{IPA|[ɡs]}}, or {{IPA|[kθ]}} — were frequently reintroduced in [[latinism]]s and hellenisms. In [[Venetian language|Venetian]] it represents {{IPA|[z]}}, and in [[Ligurian language (Romance)|Ligurian]] the [[voiced postalveolar fricative]] {{IPA|[ʒ]}}. Italian does not use this letter in native words. :'''Y''': This letter is not used in most languages, with the prominent exceptions of French and Spanish, where it represents {{IPA|[j]}} before vowels (or various similar fricatives such as the [[Voiced palatal fricative|palatal fricative]] {{IPA|[ʝ]}}, in Spanish), and the vowel or [[semivowel]] {{IPA|[i]}} elsewhere. :'''Z''': In most languages it represents the sound {{IPA|[z]}}, but in Italian it denotes the affricates {{IPA|[ʣ]}} and {{IPA|[ʦ]}} (which, although not normally in contrast, are usually strictly assigned lexically in any single variety: Standard Italian ''gazza'' 'magpie' always with {{IPA|[ddz]}}, ''mazza'' 'club, mace' only with {{IPA|[tts]}}), in Romansh the voiceless affricate {{IPA|[ʦ]}}, and in Galician and Spanish it denotes either the [[voiceless dental fricative]] {{IPA|[θ]}} or {{IPA|[s]}}. Otherwise, letters that are not combined as digraphs generally have the same sounds as in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA), whose design was, in fact, greatly influenced by the Romance spelling systems. ===Digraphs and trigraphs=== Since most Romance languages have more sounds than can be accommodated in the Roman Latin alphabet they all resort to the use of digraphs and trigraphs — combinations of two or three letters with a single sound value. The concept (but not the actual combinations) derives from Classical Latin; which used, for example, ''TH'', ''PH'', and ''CH'' when transliterating the Greek letters "θ", "ϕ" (later "φ"), and "χ" (These were once [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] sounds in Greek before changing to corresponding fricatives and the <H> represented what sounded to the Romans like an {{IPA|/ʰ/}} following {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/p/}}, and {{IPA|/k/}} respectively. Some of the digraphs used in modern scripts are:<!--THIS TABLE SHOULD PERHAPS BE ORGANIZED BY SOUND RATHER THAN DIGRAPH?--> :'''CI''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy and Romanian to represent {{IPA|/ʧ/}} before ''A'', ''O'', or ''U''. :'''CH''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, Romanian, Romansh and [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] to represent {{IPA|/k/}} before ''E'' or ''I''; {{IPA|/ʧ/}} in [[Occitan]], Spanish and Galician; {{IPA|[c]}} or {{IPA|[tɕ]}} in Romansh before ''A'', ''O'' or ''U''; and {{IPA|/ʃ/}} in most other languages. :'''DD''': used in [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] and [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] to represent the [[voiced retroflex plosive]] {{IPA|/ɖ/}}. In recent history more accurately transcribed as ''DDH''. :'''DJ''': used in Catalan and Walloon for {{IPA|/ʤ/}}. :'''GI''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy and Romanian to represent {{IPA|/ʤ/}} before ''A'', ''O'', or ''U'', and in Romansh to represent {{IPA|[ɟi]}} or {{IPA|/dʑi/}} or (before ''A'', ''E'', ''O'', and ''U'') {{IPA|[ɟ]}} or {{IPA|/dʑ/}} :'''GH''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, Romanian, Romansh and [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] to represent {{IPA|/ɡ/}} before ''E'' or ''I'', and in Galician for the [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]] {{IPA|/ħ/}} (not standard sound). :'''GL''': used in Romansh before consonants and ''I'' and at the end of words for {{IPA|/ʎ/}}. :'''GLI''': used in Italian and Romansh for {{IPA|/ʎ/}}. :'''GN''': used in French, Italian, Romance languages in Italy and Romansh for {{IPA|/ɲ/}}, as in ''champignon'' or ''gnocchi''. :'''GU''': used before ''E'' or ''I'' to represent {{IPA|/ɡ/}} or {{IPA|/ɣ/}} in all Romance languages except Italian, Romance languages in Italy, Romansh, and Romanian (which use '''GH''' instead). :'''IG''': used at the end of word in Catalan for {{IPA|/ʧ/}}, as in ''maig'', ''safareig'' or ''enmig''. :'''IX''': used between vowels or at the end of word in Catalan for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, as in ''caixa'' or ''calaix''. :'''LH''': used in Portuguese and Occitan {{IPA|/ʎ/}}. :'''LL''': used in Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Norman and Dgèrnésiais, originally for {{IPA|/ʎ/}} which has merged in some cases with {{IPA|/j/}}. Represents {{IPA|/l/}} in French unless it follows ''I'' (''i'') when it represents {{IPA|/j/}} (or {{IPA|/ʎ/}} in some dialects). It's used in Occitan for a [[geminate consonant|long]] {{IPA|/ll/}} :'''L·L''': used in Catalan for a geminate consonant {{IPA|/ll/}}. :'''NH''': used in Portuguese and Occitan for {{IPA|/ɲ/}}, used in official Galician for {{IPA|/ŋ/}} . :'''N-''': used in Piedmontese and Ligurian for {{IPA|/ŋ/}} between two vowels. :'''NY''': used in Catalan for {{IPA|/ɲ/}}. :'''QU''': represents {{IPA|[kw]}} in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, and Romansh; {{IPA|[k]}} in French and Spanish; {{IPA|[k]}} (before ''e'' or ''i'') or {{IPA|[kw]}} (normally before ''a'' or ''o'') in Occitan, Catalan and Portuguese. :'''RR''': used between vowels in several languages (Occitan, Catalan, Spanish...) to denote a [[Trill consonant|trilled]] {{IPA|/r/}} or a [[guttural R]], instead of the [[Flap consonant|flap]] {{IPA|/ɾ/}}. :'''SC''': used before ''E'' or ''I'' in Italian and Romance languages in Italy for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, and in French and Spanish as {{IPA|/s/}} in words of certain etymology. :'''SCH''': used in Romansh for {{IPA|[ʃ]}} or {{IPA|[ʒ]}}. :'''SCI''': used in Italian and Romance languages in Italy to represent {{IPA|/ʃ/}} before ''A'', ''O'', or ''U''. :'''SH''': used in Aranese Occitan for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}. :'''SS''': used in French, Portuguese, Piedmontese, Romansh, Occitan, and Catalan for {{IPA|/s/}} between vowels. :'''TG''': used in Romansh for {{IPA|[c]}} or {{IPA|[tɕ]}}. In Catalan is used for {{IPA|/ʤ/}} between vowels, as in ''metge'' or ''fetge''. :'''TH''': used in Jèrriais for {{IPA|/θ/}} (as in English "thick"); used in Aranese for either {{IPA|/t/}} or {{IPA|/ʧ/}}. :'''TJ''': used between vowels and before ''A'', ''O'' or ''U'', in Catalan for {{IPA|/ʤ/}}, as in ''sotjar'' or ''mitjó''. :'''TSCH''': used in Romansh for {{IPA|[ʧ]}}. :'''TX''': used at the beginnig or at the end of word or between vowels in Catalan for {{IPA|/ʧ/}}, as in ''txec'', ''esquitx'' or ''atxa''. <!--MORE...--> While the digraphs ''CH'', ''PH'', ''RH'' and ''TH'' were at one time used in many words of Greek origin, most languages have now replaced them with ''C/QU'', ''F'', ''R'' and ''T''. Only French has kept these [[etymology|etymological]] spellings, which now represent {{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, {{IPA|/f/}}, {{IPA|/ʀ/}} and {{IPA|/t/}}, respectively. ====Double consonants==== [[Geminate consonant|Gemination]], in the languages where it occurs, is usually indicated by doubling the consonant, except when it does not contrast phonemically with the corresponding short consonant, in which case gemination is not indicated. In [[Jèrriais]], long consonants are marked with an apostrophe: ''S'S'' is a long {{IPA|/zz/}}, ''SS'S'' is a long {{IPA|/ss/}}, and ''T'T'' is a long {{IPA|/tt/}}. The double consonants in French orthography, however, are merely etymological. ===Diacritics and special characters=== Romance languages use various [[diacritic]]s, especially on vowels, to mark special pronunciations, or to distinguish between [[homophone]]s. The following are the most common. <!-- This should probably be limited to the most common functions of the Romance diacritics. Rarer values can be found in the particular articles about each language. --> * '''Palatalization''': some [[Palatalization#Historical (diachronic) palatalization|historical palatalization]]s are indicated with the [[cedilla]] (''ç'') in French, Catalan, and Portuguese. Romanian uses a [[Comma (punctuation)#Diacritical usage|diacritical comma]] with the same purpose (''{{unicode|ș}}'', ''{{unicode|ț}}''). In Spanish and several other world languages influenced by it, the grapheme ''[[ñ]]'' represents a [[palatal nasal]] consonant. * '''Diaeresis''': when a vowel and another letter that would normally be combined into a [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]] with a single sound are exceptionally pronounced apart, this is often indicated with a [[Umlaut (diacritic)|diaeresis mark]] on the vowel. In the Spanish word ''pingüino'' (penguin), the letter ''u'' is pronounced, although normally it is [[Silent letter|silent]] in the digraph ''gu'' when this is followed by an ''e'' or an ''i''. Other Romance languages that use the diaeresis in this fashion are French, Catalan, and (Brazilian) Portuguese. * '''Homophones''': words that are pronounced exactly or nearly the same way, but have different meanings, can be differentiated with an acute (as in Spanish, where ''si'' means "if" while ''sí'' means "yes") or with a grave accent (French -- in which ''ou'' means "or" and ''où'' means "where" -- as well as Italian, Romansh -- in which ''e'' means "and" and ''è'' means "is" --, and Catalan). The circumflex can also have this function in French, sometimes. Often, such words are [[monosyllable]]s, the accented one being phonetically [[Stress (linguistics)|stressed]], while the unaccented one is a [[clitic]]; examples are the Spanish clitics ''de'', ''se'', and ''te'' (a preposition and two personal pronouns), versus the stressed words ''dé'', ''sé'', and ''té'' (two verbs and a noun). * '''Stress''': the stressed vowel in a polysyllabic word may be indicated with the [[acute accent|acute]], ''é'' (in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan), or the [[grave accent]], ''è'' (Italian, Catalan, Romansh). The orthographies of French and Romanian do not mark stress. In Italian and Romansh orthography, indicating stress with a diacritic is only required when it falls on the last syllable of a word. * '''Vowel quality''': the system of marking [[close-mid vowel]]s with an acute, ''é'', and [[open-mid vowel]]s with a grave accent, ''è'', is widely used (in Catalan, French, Italian, etc.) Portuguese, however, uses the [[circumflex]] (''ê'') for the former, and the acute (''é''), for the latter. * '''Nasality''': Portuguese marks [[nasal vowel]]s with a [[tilde]] (''ã'') when they occur before other vowels. While not frequent among the other Romance languages, this orthographic convention has been adopted by several [[indigenous languages of the Americas]], for instance the [[Guaraní language|Guarani]]. Less widespread diacritics in the Romance languages are the [[breve]] (in Romanian, ''ă'') and the [[ring (diacritic)|ring]] (in Wallon and the Bolognese dialect of [[Emiliano-Romagnolo]], ''å''). The French orthography includes the etymological [[Ligature (typography)|ligatures]] ''œ'' and (more rarely) ''æ''. The circumflex frequently has an etymological value in this language, as well; see [[Use of the circumflex in French]], for further information. ===Upper and lower case=== Most languages are written with a mixture of two distinct but phonetically identical variants or "[[Letter case|cases]]" of the alphabet: [[majuscule]] ("uppercase" or "capital letters"), derived from Roman stone-carved letter shapes, and [[Lower case|minuscule]] ("lowercase"), derived from [[Carolingian minuscule|Carolingian writing]] and Medieval [[quill pen]] handwriting which were later adapted by printers in the 15th and 16th centuries. In particular, all Romance languages presently capitalize (use uppercase for the first letter of) the following words: the first word of each complete [[Sentence (linguistics)|sentence]], most words in names of people, places, and organizations, and most words in titles of books. The Romance languages do not follow the German practice of capitalizing all nouns including common ones. Unlike English, the names of months (except in European Portuguese), days of the weeks, and derivatives of proper nouns are usually not capitalized: thus, in Italian one capitalizes ''Francia'' ("France") and ''Francesco'' ("Francis"), but not ''francese'' ("French") or ''francescano'' ("Franciscan"). However, each language has some exceptions to this general rule. ==Vocabulary comparison== The table below provides a vocabulary comparison that illustrates a number of examples of sound shifts that have occurred between Latin and the main Romance languages, along with a selection of minority languages. <small> {|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%" |- !width="75"|[[English language|English]] ! [[Latin language|Latin]] ! [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ! [[French language|French]] ! [[Galician language|Galician]] ! [[Italian language|Italian]] ! [[Norman language|Norman]] [[Jèrriais]] ! [[Venetian language|Venetian]] ! [[Lombard language|Lombard]] (literary [[Milanese]]) ! [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]] (West-[[Piedmont]]) |- |Apple || [Mattiana] Mala; Pomum (''fruit'') || Poma || Pomme || Mazá || Mela || Poumme || Pomo || Pomm || Pom |- |Arm || Bracchium || Braç || Bras || Brazo || Braccio || Bras || Bras || Brasc || Brass |- |Arrow || Sagitta; [[Old Frankish|Frankish]] Fleuka || Fletxa / Sageta || Flèche || Frecha / Seta || Freccia / Saetta || Èrchelle || Frecia || Frecia || Flecia |- |Bed || Lectus || Llit || Lit || Leito / Cama || Letto || Liet || Lett / Branda || Lett || Let |- |Black || Niger || Negre || Noir || Negro || Nero || Nièr || Nero || Negher || Nèir |- |Book || Liber || Llibre || Livre / Bouquin || Libro || Libro || Livre || Libro || Liber ||Lìber |- |Breast || Pectus || Pit || Poitrine || Peito || Petto || Estonma || Pett /Peto || Stòmi || Stòmi |- |Cat || Feles; V.L. Cattus<ref>unknown origin</ref> || Gat || Chat (''kat'', ''khat'', ''cat'') || Gato || Gatto || Cat || Gatt /Gato || Gatt ||Gat |- |Chair || Sella; [[Greek language|Greek]]'' Kathedra || Cadira || Chaise || Cadeira || Sedia || Tchaîse || Carega || Cadrega || Cadrega / Carea |- |Cold (adj.) || Frigidus || Fred || Froid || Frío || Freddo || Fraid || Fredo || Frecc || Frèid |- |Cow || Vacca || Vaca || Vache || Vaca || Vacca / Mucca<ref>from either ''muggire'' (to moo) or, more likely, ''mungere'' (to milk)</ref> || Vaque || Vaca || Vaca || Vaca |- |Day || Dies (''adj.'' Diurnus)|| Dia / Jorn || Jour || Día ||Giorno / Dì || Jour || Dì || Dì ||Di |- |Dead || Mortuus || Mort || Mort || Morto || Morto || Mort || Mort || Mort || Mòrt |- |Die || Mori || Morir || Mourir || Morrer || Morire || Mouothi || Morir || Morì || Meuire/Murì |- |Family || Familia || Família || Famille || Familia || Famiglia || Famil'ye || Faméia || Familia ||Famija |- |Finger || Digitus || Dit || Doigt || Dedo || Dito || Dé || Déo / Dièl || Did || Dil |- |Flower || Flos || Flor || Fleur || Flor || Fiore || Flieur || Fior || Fiôr || Fior |- |Give || Dare / Donare<ref name=donar>meaning "to donate"</ref> || Donar || Donner || Dar || Dare || Donner / Bailli || Dar || Dà || Dé |- |Go || Ire; Ambulare (''to walk''); V.L. Ambitare || Anar || Aller || Ir || Andare || Aller || Andar / Ndar || Andà || Andé |- |Gold || Aurum || Or || Or || Ouro || Oro || Or || Oro || Or || Òr |- |Hand || Manus || Mà || Main || Man || Mano || Main || Man || Man || Man |- |High || Altus || Alt || Haut || Alto || Alto || Haut || Alt || Alt || Àut |- |House || Domus; Casa (''hut'') || Casa || Maison<ref name=mans><''mansio''</ref> || Casa || Casa || Maîson<ref name=mans/> || Caxa / Cà || Cà || Ca |- |I || Ego || Jo || Je || Eu || Io || || Mi || Mi || Mi / I |- |Ink || Atramentum; Tincta (''dye'') || Tinta || Encre || Tinta || Inchiostro || Encre || Inciostro || Inciòster || Anciòst |- |January || Januarius || Gener || Janvier || Xaneiro || Gennaio || Janvyi || Genàr || Genar || Gené |- |Juice || Sucus || Suc || Jus || Zume || Succo || Jus || Suk /Suco || Sugh || Gius / Bagna |- |Key || Clavis || Clau || Clé || Chave || Chiave || Clié || Ciave || Ciav || Ciav |- |Language || Lingua || Llengua || Langue || Lingua || Lingua || Langue || Lengua || Lengua || Lenga |- |Man || Homo || Home || Homme || Home || Uomo || Houmme || Omm /Omo || Omm || Òmo / Òm |- |Moon || Luna || Lluna || Lune || Lúa || Luna || Leune || Luna || Luna || Lun-a |- !width="75"|[[English language|English]] ! [[Latin language|Latin]] ! [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ! [[French language|French]] ! [[Galician language|Galician]] ! [[Italian language|Italian]] ! [[Norman language|Norman]] [[Jèrriais]] ! [[Venetian language|Venetian]] ! [[Lombard language|Lombard]] (literary [[Milanese]]) ! [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]] (West-[[Piedmont]]) |- |Night || Nox || Nit || Nuit || Noite || Notte || Niet || Nott /Note || Nott ||Neuit |- |Old || Vetus || Vell || Vieux<ref><diminutive ''vetulus''</ref> || Vello<ref name=vel>arch. also ''vedro''</ref> || Vecchio || Vyi || Véj /Vecio || Vècc || Vej |- |One || Unus || Un || Un || Un || Uno || Ieune || Un || Vun || Un |- |Pear || Pirum || Pera || Poire || Pera || Pera || Paithe || Péra || Per || Pruss |- |Play || Ludere; Jocare (''to joke'') || Jugar || Jouer || Xogar || Giocare || Jouer || Xugàr || Giogà || Gieughe/Giughé |- |Ring || Anellus || Anell || Anneau || Anel || Anello || Anné / Bague || Anel / Aneło || Anèll || Anel |- |River || Flumen; Rivus (''small river'') || Riu || Rivière / Fleuve || Río<ref name=rio>arch. also ''frume''</ref> || Fium || Riviéthe || Fiume / Rio || Fiumm || Fium / Ri |- |Sew || Consuere || Cosir || Coudre || Coser || Cucire || Couôtre || Cuxir || Cusì || Cuse / Cusì |- |Snow || Nix || Neu || Neige || Neve || Neve || Né || Néve || Nev (verb:Fiocà) || Fiòca |- |Take || Capio; Prehendere (''to seize'') || Agafar / Prendre || Prendre || Prender<ref name=prend>meaning "to arrest", "to catch", or "to hold"</ref> || Prendere || Prendre || Tor /Tchor / Ciapàr || Ciapà / Toeu ||Pijé |- |That || Ille; V.L. Eccu + Ille || Aquell || Quel || Aquel || Quello || Chu || Quel || Quèll || Col |- |The || Ille || el/la/lo<br/>els/les/los<br />''[[Balearic]]'': es/sa/so<br />ets/ses/sos<ref name=ipsu><''ipsu/ipsa''</ref> || le/la<br/>les || o/a<br/>os/as || il/lo/la<br/>i/gli/le || lé/la || el/la<br/>i / le || el/la<br/>i || ël/la<br/>ij/le |- |Throw || Jacere; V.L. Lanceare (''to throw a weapon''); Adtirare || Llençar / Tirar || Lancer / Tirer || Lanzar / Guindar || Lanciare || Pitchi || Tiràr || Tirà/Trà<ref><''trahere''</ref> || Tiré/Campé |- |Thursday || dies Jovis || Dijous || Jeudi || Xoves || Giovedì || Jeudi || Zioba / Jioba || Gioedì || Giòbia |- |Tree || Arbor || Arbre || Arbre || Árbore || Albero || Bouais || Àlbaro || Pianta<ref><''planta''</ref>/Alber || Pianta / Erbo |- |Two || Duo || Dos / Dues || Deux || Dous / Dúas || Due || Deux || Dó /Du || Duu || Doi / Doe |- |Urn || Urna || Urna || Urne || Urna || Urna || Vas || Urna || Urna |- |Voice || Vox || Veu || Voix || Voz || Voce || Vouaix || Voz || Vôs || Vos |- |Where || Ubi; Unde (''where from'') || On || Où || Onde / U || Dove || Ioù / Où'est || Ndó / Ndóe || Indoa || Andoa / Anté |- |White || Albus; [[Old Frankish|Frankish]] Blank || Blanc || Blanc || Branco || Bianco || Blianc || Biank || Bianch || Bianch |- |Who || Quis || Qui || Qui || Quen || Chi || Tchi || Chi / Ci || Chi || Chi |- |World || Mundus || Món || Monde || Mundo || Mondo || Monde || Mond || Mond || Mond |- |Yellow || Flavus; Galbinus; Amarus (''bitter'') || Groc <ref>from latin ''[[crocus]]'' ([[saffron]])</ref> || Jaune || Amarelo || Giallo || Jaune || Gial || Giald || Giàun |- !width="75"|[[English language|English]] ! [[Latin language|Latin]] ! [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ! [[French language|French]] ! [[Galician language|Galician]] ! [[Italian language|Italian]] ! [[Norman language|Norman]] [[Jèrriais]] ! [[Venetian language|Venetian]] ! [[Lombard language|Lombard]] (literary [[Milanese]]) ! [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]] (West-[[Piedmont]]) |- |} {|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%" |- !width="75"|[[English language|English]] ! [[Latin language|Latin]] ! [[Occitan language|Occitan]] ! [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ! [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ! [[Romansh language|Romansh]] ! [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] ! [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] ! [[Spanish language|Spanish]] |- |Apple || [Mattiana] Mala; Pomum (''fruit'') || Poma || Maçã || Măr; Poamă (fruit) || Mail || Mela || Pumu || Manzana / Poma |- |Arm || Bracchium ||Braç ||Braço || Bra{{unicode|ț}} || Bratsch || Bratzu || Vrazzu || Brazo |- |Arrow || Sagitta; [[Old Frankish|Frankish]] Fleuka || Sageta / Flècha || Seta / Flecha || Săgeată || Frizza || Fretza || Fileccia || Flecha / Saeta |- |Bed || Lectus || Lièch (lièit) || Cama / Leito || Pat<ref><Greek πάτος</ref> || Letg || Lettu || Lettu || Cama / Lecho |- |Black || Niger || Negre || Preto<ref><''appectoratum''</ref> / Negro || Negru || Nair || Nieddu / Nigru || Nìguru / Nìuru || Negro / Prieto |- |Book || Liber || Libre || Livro || Carte<ref><''carta''</ref> || Cudesch<ref><''codex''</ref> || Libru / Lìburu || Libbru || Libro |- |Breast || Pectus || Pièch (pièit) || Peito || Piept || Pèz || Pettus || Pettu || Pecho |- |Cat || Feles; V.L. Cattus<ref>unknown origin</ref> ||Cat (gat, chat (''kat'', ''khat'', ''cat'')) || Gato || Pisică<ref>[[Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]]</ref> || Giat || Gattu / Battu || Gattu / Jattu || Gato |- |Chair || Sella; Cathedra || Cadièra (chadiera, chadèira) || Cadeira<ref>also ''sela'' (saddle)</ref> || Scaun<ref><''scamnum''</ref> || Sutga || Cadira / Cadrea || Seggia || Silla |- |Cold (adj.) || Frigidus || Freg (freid, hred) || Frio || Frig || Fraid || Friu || Friddu || Frío |- |Cow || Vacca || Vaca (vacha) || Vaca || Vacă || Vatga || Bacca || Vacca || Vaca |- |Day || Dies (''adj.'' Diurnus)|| Jorn / Dia || Dia || Zi || Di || Die || Jornu || Día |- |Dead || Mortuus || Mòrt || Morto || Mort || Mort || Mortu / Mottu || Mortu || Muerto |- |Die || Mori || Morir || Morrer || (a) Muri || Murir || Morrer || Muriri / Mòriri || Morir |- |Family || Familia || Familha || Família || Familie<ref>Initially ''femeie''; the meaning of the word shifted to "woman". Later, the word ''familie'' was reintroduced from Latin.</ref> || Famiglia || Famìlia || Famigghia || Familia |- |Finger || Digitus || Det || Dedo || Deget || Det || Didu || Jìditu || Dedo |- |Flower || Flos || Flor || Flor || Floare || Flur || Frore || (S)Ciuri / Hjuri || Flor |- |Give || Dare / Donare<ref name=donar>meaning "to donate"</ref> || Donar / Dar || Doar<ref name=donar>meaning "to donate"</ref> / Dar || (a) Da || Dar || Dare || Dari / Dunari || Donar<ref name=donar/> / Dar |- |Go || Ire; Ambulare (''to walk''); V.L. Ambitare || Anar || Ir / Andar<ref name=andar>meaning "to walk"</ref> || (a) Umbla / (a) Merge<ref><''mergere''</ref> || Ir || Andare || Jiri || Ir / Andar<ref name=andar/> |- |Gold || Aurum || Aur || Ouro, Oiro || Aur || Aur || Oru || Oru || Oro |- |Hand || Manus || Man || Mão || Mână || Maun || Manu || Manu || Mano |- |High || Altus || Aut / Naut || Alto<ref>arch. ''outo''</ref> || Înalt || Aut || Artu / Attu || Àutu || Alto |- |House || Domus; Casa (''hut'') || Ostal (ostau) / Maison / Casa || Casa || Casă || Chasa || Domu || Casa || Casa |- |I || Ego || Ieu / Jo || Eu || Eu || Jau || Deu || Iu / Jo / Ju / Eu / Jia || Yo |- |Ink || Atramentum; Tincta (''dye'') || Tencha (tinta) / Encra || Tinta || Cerneală<ref>from Slavic ''*črъniti''</ref> || Tinta || Tinta || Inga<ref> Old Fr. ''enque''</ref>|| Tinta |- |January || Januarius || Genièr (girvèir) || Janeiro || Ianuarie || Schaner || Ghennarzu / Bennarzu || Jinnaru || Enero |- |Juice || Sucus || Suc || Suco / Sumo || Suc || Suc || Sutzu || Sucu || Jugo / Zumo |- |Key || Clavis || Clau || Chave || Cheie || Clav || Crae || Chiavi / Ciavi || Llave / Clave |- |Language || Lingua || Lenga || Língua || Limbă || Lingua || Lingua || Lingua || Lengua |- |Man || Homo || Òme || Homem<ref>arch. ''home''</ref> || Om<ref>[[human|human being]] (generic meaning), also human male (rarely)</ref> / Bărbat<ref>human male, <''[[barbatus]]'' "bearded (man)"</ref> || Um || Homine || Omu / Òminu || Hombre |- |Moon || Luna || Luna (lua) || Lua || Lună || Glina || Luna || Luna || Luna |- !width="75"|[[English language|English]] ! [[Latin language|Latin]] ! [[Occitan language|Occitan]] ! [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ! [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ! [[Romansh language|Romansh]] ! [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] ! [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] ! [[Spanish language|Spanish]] |- |Night || Nox || Nuèch (nuèit) || Noite || Noapte || Notg || Notte || Notti || Noche |- |Old || Vetus || Vièlh || Velho<ref name=vel/> || Vechi<ref>objects, temporal</ref> / Bătrân<ref>people, <''veteranus''</ref> || Vegl || Betzu / Sèneghe / Vedústus<ref><''vetustus''</ref> || Vecchiu / Vecciu || Viejo |- |One || Unus || Un || Um || Unu || In || Unu || Unu || Un / Uno |- |Pear || Pirum || Pera || Pêra || Pară || Pair || Pira || Piru || Pera |- |Play || Ludere; Jocare (''to joke'') || Jogar (jugar, joar) || Jogar || (a se) Juca || Giugar || Zogare || Jucari || Jugar |- |Ring || Anellus || Anèl (anèth, anèu) || Anel || Inel || Anè || Aneddu || Aneddu || Anillo |- |River || Flumen; Rivus (''small river'') || Riu / Flume || Rio<ref name=rio/> / Flúvio || Fluviu; Râu<ref>according to the 1993 orthographic rules</ref>/ Rîu<ref>according to the 1953 orthographic rules</ref> || Flum || Riu / Frùmine || (S)Ciumi / Hjumi || Río |- |Sew || Consuere || Cóser || Coser || (a) Coase || Cuser || Cosire || Cùsiri || Coser |- |Snow || Nix || Nèu || Neve || Nea / Zăpadă<ref>from Slavic ''*zapadati''</ref> || Naiv || Nie || Nivi || Nieve |- |Take || Capio; Prehendere (''to seize'') || Prene / Pilhar<ref name=pigghiari/> || Prender<ref name=prend/> / Pegar / Levar<ref name=lev><''levare''</ref>/ Tomar || (a) Prinde<ref>to catch/grip/grasp</ref> / Lua<ref name=lev/> || Prender || Pigare<ref><''captiare''</ref> || Pigghiari<ref name=pigghiari><Lat. ''pilare'' / *''pileare''</ref>|| Tomar / Prender<ref name=prend/> / Llevar<ref name=lev/> |- |That || Ille; V.L. Eccu + Ille || Aquel (aqueth, aqueu) || Aquele || Acel/Acela || Quel || Kudhu / Kussu<ref name=chissu/> || Chiddu / Chissu<ref name=chissu><Lat. ''eccu + istud''</ref> || Aquel |- |The || Ille || lo/la<br/>los/las (lei[s], lu/li) || o/a<br/>os/as || -ul/-a<br/>-i/-le || il/la<br/>ils/las || su/sa<br/>sos/sas (is)<ref name=ipsu/> || lu ('u) / la ('a)<br/>li ('i) || el/la/lo<br/>los/las |- |Throw || Jacere; V.L. Lanceare (''to throw a weapon''); Adtirare || Lançar || Lançar / Atirar / Deitar || (a) Arunca<ref><''eruncare''</ref> || Trair<ref><''trahere'' "pull"</ref> || Ghettare / Bettare || Lanzari / Jittari || Lanzar / Tirar / Echar |- |Thursday || dies Jovis || Dijòus (dijaus) || Quinta-feira<ref><''quinta feria''</ref> || Joi || Gievgia || Zobia || Jovi / Juvidìa || Jueves |- |Tree || Arbor || Arbre (aubre) || Árvore || Arbore / Pom<ref>from ''poamă'', "fruit" (<''poma'')</ref>/ Copac<ref>part of the [[Eastern Romance substratum]]</ref> || Planta || Àrvore || Àrvuru || Árbol |- |Two || Duo || Dos / Doas (dus, duas) || Dois<ref>arch. ''dous''</ref> / Duas || Doi || Dua || Duos, Duas || Dui || Dos |- |Urn || Urna || Urna || Urna || Urnă || Urna || Urna || Urna || Urna |- |Voice || Vox || Votz || Voz || Voce, Glas<ref>from Slavic ''*gols''</ref> || Vusch || Boghe || Vuci || Voz |- |Where || Ubi; Unde (''where from'') || Ont (dont) || Onde<ref>arch. also ''u''</ref> || Unde || Nua || Ue/Aundi || Unni || Donde<ref><''de'' + ''onde''; arch. also ''onde''</ref> |- |White || Albus ([[Old Frankish|Frankish]] Blank)|| Blanc || Branco<ref>also literary ''alvo''</ref> || Alb || Alv || Àbru || Biancu / Vrancu / Jancu || Blanco |- |Who || Quis || Qual (quau), Qui, Cu || Quem || Cine || Tgi || Kini/Ki/Chie || Cui (cu') || Quien |- |World || Mundus || Mond || Mundo || Lume<ref><''lumen''</ref> || Mund || Mundu || Munnu || Mundo |- |Yellow || Flavus; Galbinus; Amarus (''bitter'') || Jaune || Amarelo || Galben || Mellen || Grogu || Giarnu<ref>Old Norm. ''jauln'' or Old Fr. ''jalne''</ref> || Amarillo |- !width="75"|[[English language|English]] ! [[Latin language|Latin]] ! [[Occitan language|Occitan]] ! [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ! [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ! [[Romansh language|Romansh]] ! [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] ! [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] ! [[Spanish language|Spanish]] |- |} </small> ==See also== *[[Interlingua]] *[[Latin America]] *[[Latin Europe]] *[[Latin (demonym)]] *[[Latin Union]] *[[Romance copula]] *[[Romance verbs]] *[[Subjunctive]] *[[Vulgar Latin]] {{Romance languages}} ==Footnotes== <small> {{reflist|colwidth=20em}} </small> ==External links== *[http://www.orbilat.com/ Orbis Latinus, site on Romance languages] [[Category:Lists of languages|Romanic]] [[Category:Romance languages| ]] {{Link FA|hu}} [[af:Romaanse tale]] [[als:Romanische Sprachen]] [[ar:لغات رومانية]] [[an:Luengas romanzes]] [[frp:Lengoues romanes]] [[ast:Llingües romániques]] [[az:Roman qrupu]] [[bn:রোমান্স ভাষাসমূহ]] [[zh-min-nan:Romance gí-giân]] [[be-x-old:Раманскія мовы]] [[bcl:Mga Latin]] [[bs:Romanski jezici]] [[bg:Романски езици]] [[ca:Llengües romàniques]] [[cs:Románské jazyky]] [[co:Lingue rumaniche]] [[cy:Ieithoedd Romáwns]] [[da:Romanske sprog]] [[de:Romanische Sprachen]] [[et:Romaani keeled]] [[el:Ρομανικές γλώσσες]] [[es:Lenguas romances]] [[eo:Latinida lingvo]] [[ext:Luenga romanci]] [[eu:Erromantze hizkuntzak]] [[fa:زبان‌های رومی]] [[fr:Langues romanes]] [[fur:Lenghis romanzis]] [[gv:Çhengaghyn Romanagh]] [[gl:Linguas románicas]] [[ko:로망스어군]] [[hsb:Romaniske rěče]] [[hr:Romanski jezici]] [[io:Latinida linguo]] [[id:Bahasa Roman]] [[ia:Linguas romanic]] [[is:Rómönsk tungumál]] [[it:Lingue romanze]] [[he:שפות רומאניות]] [[kw:Romanek]] [[sw:Lugha za Kirumi]] [[ht:Lang roman]] [[ku:Zimanên romanî]] [[la:Linguae Romanicae]] [[lt:Romanų kalbos]] [[li:Roemaanse tale]] [[lmo:Lenguf rumaanz]] [[hu:Újlatin nyelvek]] [[mk:Романски јазици]] [[mt:Lingwi Romaniċi]] [[ms:Bahasa-bahasa Romawi]] [[nl:Romaanse talen]] [[ja:ロマンス諸語]] [[no:Romanske språk]] [[nn:Romanske språk]] [[nrm:Laungue romanne]] [[nov:Latinidi lingues]] [[pms:Lenghe romanze]] [[pl:Języki romańskie]] [[pt:Línguas românicas]] [[ro:Limbi romanice]] [[rmy:Romanikane chhiba]] [[rm:Linguas romanas]] [[ru:Романские языки]] [[se:Románalaš gielat]] [[sc:Limbas romanzas]] [[sco:Romance leids]] [[scn:Lingui rumanzi]] [[simple:Romance languages]] [[sk:Románske jazyky]] [[sl:Romanski jeziki]] [[sr:Романски језици]] [[sh:Romanski jezici]] [[fi:Romaaniset kielet]] [[sv:Romanska språk]] [[ta:ரோமானிய மொழிகள்]] [[th:ภาษากลุ่มโรมานซ์]] [[vi:Nhóm ngôn ngữ Rôman]] [[tr:Roman Dilleri]] [[uk:Романські мови]] [[wa:Lingaedjes romans]] [[zh-yue:羅曼語族]] [[zh:罗曼语族]]