Romance Languages

Maria   Monday, April 25, 2005, 00:53 GMT
Which Romance language has evolved the most from Classical and Vulgar Latin? Which has evolved the least?
Xatufan   Monday, April 25, 2005, 01:58 GMT
Most: French
Least: Sardinian
Romanian   Monday, April 25, 2005, 04:06 GMT
Most: Spanish
Least: Romanian
Travis   Monday, April 25, 2005, 04:15 GMT
I myself would definitely say that Sardinian is the most conservative of the Romance languages. French has phonologically probably changed the most of the Romance languages, even though grammatically it is closer to Italian than, say, Spanish is.
Brennus   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:25 GMT
Romanian probably has the most Classical Latin features of all the Neo-Latin languages despite its numerous Balkan and Slavic borrowings. It was isolated from the other Romance languages for a long time in much the same way Icelandic was isolated from the other Germanic languages.

Even though French "has lost its original Latin rythm" in the words of Mario Pei, its lexicon is closer to Classical Latin overall than Spanish, Portuguese, Sardinian and Italian. This is probably because in Gaul, Latin was basically the language of a ruling aristocracy and trickled down to the common people more slowly. Gaul also never had the large slave populations that Iberia and Italy had so slave lingo and slave slang never found its way into Gallic Latin to the extent of the other Neo-Latin languages.

British and North African Latin appear to have been very conservative base on what we know from inscriptions. Were it not for the Anglo-Saxon and Muslim Arab invasions they might have survived and become literally some of the most conservative Romance (or Neo-Latin) languages.
the real Romanian   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:26 GMT
The "Romanian" above it's not the real " Romanian "

It's the spammer...
the real Romanian   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:31 GMT
The spammer is back !

Brennus : Finally...I agree with you...
Enrique   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:32 GMT
Least: Spanish
Most: Catalan or portuguese
JB   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:35 GMT
Enrique, please stop. I think your comments would better be suited in an AOL or Yahoo chatroom where you can duke it out with whoever you want. This forum is for intellectuals.
Travis   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:39 GMT
Most: French
Least: Italian
Travis   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:39 GMT
Speaking of Britain, though, from what I've gathered, Latin never really caught on with the general population there, which remained Brythonic speaking, and was primarily the language of the aristocracy and the Roman soldiers there, which obviously would explain its conservatism to at least some extent.
Brennus   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:43 GMT
Travis,

Yes. Britain was boderline. Either a Romance language could have emerged or the Roman Army could have gone native and adopted Celtic. Some of the latter apparently did happen after the Jutes, Angles and Saxons arrived.
Travis   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:44 GMT
Whoever just posted above using my name shall die by my very hands; with God as my witness, I swear by it!

Okay, enough with being melodramatic over a goddamn spammer. But it was fun cooking up that line there nonetheless (of course, it does not make me religious in the least, mind you).
Travis   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:49 GMT
Brennus, mind you that the Romans pulled out of Britain even before the western Roman empire fell, and thus, with their pulling out, the aristocracy and Roman soldiers who were there were pulled out as well, clearly. Hence, as it hadn't really been established in the general population by that point, it probably never would have become established after that point.
:0   Monday, April 25, 2005, 05:49 GMT
Travis ...what a reaction !? wow! not very intellectual.