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Aug 29, 2024 · Latin language, Indo-European language in the Italic group and ancestral to the modern Romance languages. Originally spoken by small groups of people living along the lower Tiber River , Latin spread with the increase of Roman political power, first throughout Italy and then throughout most of western and southern Europe and the central and ...
- Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, spoken form of non-Classical Latin from which...
- Latin, Development, Dialects
Latin is traditionally grouped with Faliscan among the...
- Romance Language
The Romance languages are a group of related languages all...
- Vulgar Latin
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The Romance languages, also known as the Latin [1] or Neo-Latin [2] languages, are the languages that are directly descended from Vulgar Latin. [3] They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family. The five most widely spoken Romance languages by number of native speakers are:
Latin (lingua Latina, pronounced [ˈlɪŋɡʷa ɫaˈtiːna], or Latinum [ɫaˈtiːnʊ̃]) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Classical Latin is considered a dead language as it is no longer used to produce major texts, while Vulgar Latin evolved into the Romance Languages. [ 1 ]
- Overview
- Latin and the protolanguage
Latin is traditionally grouped with Faliscan among the Italic languages, of which the other main member is the Osco-Umbrian group. Oscan was the name given by the Romans to a group of dialects spoken by Samnite tribes to the south of Rome. It is well attested in inscriptions and texts for about five centuries before the Common Era and was used in official documents until approximately 90–89 bce. The absence of great dialectal variations in the texts suggests that they are written in a standardized form, though three alphabets are evident—the local one (derived from Etruscan), the Greek (in the southern cities), and the Latin (in more-recent inscriptions). In early times, Umbrian was spoken northeast of Rome, to the east of the Etruscan region, and possibly as far west as the Adriatic Sea at one period. It is attested mainly in one series of texts, the Iguvine Tables (Tabulae Iguvinae), dated from 400 to 90 bce, and it is similar to Oscan. Probably Latin and Osco-Umbrian were not mutually intelligible; some claim they are not closely related genetically but that their common features arose from convergence as a result of contact.
The Roman dialect was originally one of a number of Latinian dialects, of which the most important was Faliscan, the language of Falerii (modern Civita Castellana), the most-important Faliscan city, located 32 miles (51 kilometres) north of Rome. The Faliscans were probably a Sabine tribe that early fell under Etruscan domination. The dialect is known mainly from short inscriptions dating to the 3rd and 2nd centuries bce and probably survived until well after the conquest of Falerii by the Romans in 241 bce.
The earliest Latinian text is an inscription on a cloak pin (fibula) of the 6th century bce, from Palestrina (Praeneste). Other Latinian inscriptions show marked differences from Roman Latin, for which there is, however, little evidence before the end of the 3rd century bce. What is certain is that the language changed so rapidly between the 5th century (the date of a mutilated inscription, probably a religious prescription, found in the Roman Forum and of the Twelve Tables, the contents of which are known from later evidence) and the 3rd century bce that older texts were no longer intelligible.
During that period the Romans subjugated their Latin neighbours (by 335 bce), and their language began to establish itself as a standard form, absorbing features from other dialects. The first author of any note was the comic dramatist Plautus (c. 254–184 bce), whose language is thought to reflect a spoken idiom, some features of which appear to have survived into Romance.
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Languages & Alphabets
Latin is traditionally grouped with Faliscan among the Italic languages, of which the other main member is the Osco-Umbrian group. Oscan was the name given by the Romans to a group of dialects spoken by Samnite tribes to the south of Rome. It is well attested in inscriptions and texts for about five centuries before the Common Era and was used in official documents until approximately 90–89 bce. The absence of great dialectal variations in the texts suggests that they are written in a standardized form, though three alphabets are evident—the local one (derived from Etruscan), the Greek (in the southern cities), and the Latin (in more-recent inscriptions). In early times, Umbrian was spoken northeast of Rome, to the east of the Etruscan region, and possibly as far west as the Adriatic Sea at one period. It is attested mainly in one series of texts, the Iguvine Tables (Tabulae Iguvinae), dated from 400 to 90 bce, and it is similar to Oscan. Probably Latin and Osco-Umbrian were not mutually intelligible; some claim they are not closely related genetically but that their common features arose from convergence as a result of contact.
The Roman dialect was originally one of a number of Latinian dialects, of which the most important was Faliscan, the language of Falerii (modern Civita Castellana), the most-important Faliscan city, located 32 miles (51 kilometres) north of Rome. The Faliscans were probably a Sabine tribe that early fell under Etruscan domination. The dialect is known mainly from short inscriptions dating to the 3rd and 2nd centuries bce and probably survived until well after the conquest of Falerii by the Romans in 241 bce.
The earliest Latinian text is an inscription on a cloak pin (fibula) of the 6th century bce, from Palestrina (Praeneste). Other Latinian inscriptions show marked differences from Roman Latin, for which there is, however, little evidence before the end of the 3rd century bce. What is certain is that the language changed so rapidly between the 5th century (the date of a mutilated inscription, probably a religious prescription, found in the Roman Forum and of the Twelve Tables, the contents of which are known from later evidence) and the 3rd century bce that older texts were no longer intelligible.
During that period the Romans subjugated their Latin neighbours (by 335 bce), and their language began to establish itself as a standard form, absorbing features from other dialects. The first author of any note was the comic dramatist Plautus (c. 254–184 bce), whose language is thought to reflect a spoken idiom, some features of which appear to have survived into Romance.
Britannica Quiz
Languages & Alphabets
Latin language (Lingua Latina) In the 5th century BC, Latin was just one of many Italic languages spoken in central Italy. Latin was the language of the area known as Latium (modern Lazio), and Rome was one of the towns of Latium.
Jul 24, 2024 · The Romance languages are a group of related languages all derived from Vulgar Latin within historical times and forming a subgroup of the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family. The major languages of the family include French , Italian , Spanish , Portuguese , and Romanian .
The Romance languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family, comprise all languages that descended from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. The Romance languages have more than 700 million native speakers worldwide, mainly in the Americas , Europe , and Africa , as well as in many smaller regions scattered through the world.
