Classification and Related 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. Along with Latin (which is not included among the Romance languages) and a few extinct languages of ancient Italy, they make up the Italic branch of the Indo-European family.
| Latin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classical Latin | Vulgar Latin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Continental Romance | Sardinian languages | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Italo-Western Romance | Eastern Romance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Romance | Proto-Italian | Balkan Romance | Dalmatian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ibero-Romance | Gallo-Romance | Italian | Proto-Romanian | Albanian words | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portuguese | Spanish | Occitano-Romance | French | Romanian | Aromanian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Catalan | Occitan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note that Dalmatian is now generally grouped under Proto-Italian rather than Eastern Romance.
Read more about this topic: Romance Languages
Famous quotes containing the words related and/or languages:
“Women stand related to beautiful nature around us, and the enamoured youth mixes their form with moon and stars, with woods and waters, and the pomp of summer. They heal us of awkwardness by their words and looks. We observe their intellectual influence on the most serious student. They refine and clear his mind: teach him to put a pleasing method into what is dry and difficult.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.”
—Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1934)