The relationships between the neo-Latin languages
"Well I don't speak Romanian, but I find it to be rather distant as far as Romance tounges go. "
Yes, but Im sure that most romanians would think, because their reference of what is a romance language is mainly Romanian and Italian, that it is Spanish wich seems to be more distant from the other romance languages; Everything is a question of point of view and to what do you compare. Some languages evoluated on one way, others to another. anyway Spanish canno't be considerd to be the "reference" of what a romance language should look, becaus it evoluated too under diverse influences.
"The closest language to Latin is "interlingua", haha"
interlingua is so easy to understand !
What is Italian to you? Italian has many dialects that are not alike. And the most conservatives are the ones not very popular, like the southern ones. The southern Italian idioms and Romanian are indeed more "Latin" than Portuguese, or even Spanish, Catalan, etc.
Why? Because the Eastern Romance (Southern Italian + Balkan) were the first languages to develop from Latin, maintaining to this day some old fashion Latin archetypes, that were replaced by medieval Latin in other Romance tongues.
"It is funny because it is the opinion of most romance speaker that their language has italian as closest neighbour among main latin languages."
I have noticed this. I find it truly ironic in many cases, especially that one time I had a Brazilian tell me that "Brazilian" is closer to Italian than Spanish OR Portuguese. I truly did not know how to answer with a straight face.
A Brazilian is indeed closer to Italian than Portuguese. That's why artists like Laura Pausini are huge success in Brazil while Portuguese artists are never heard of. Laura makes her understood in Brazil by speaking Italian, and for understanding Portuguese people we need a translation/subtitles.
Spanish is the closest to Logudorese in terms of phonology and some of it's vocabulary. Thus, Spanish, Logudorese & Italian are the closest to Latin.
Fab,
I agree. But I would like to clarify to all that when I speak of the major Romance languages, I'm referring to the national standard. So the Italian dialect of Rome, the French dialect of Paris, and Castillian. I don't live in Europe, and I know very little of the minor languages like Galician, or Sardinian or Corsican, or Occitan.
But Fab, I guess you could say that I use Italian as my reference point for Romance languages.
A Brazilian is indeed closer to Italian than Portuguese
Buon giorno Bom dia
Buona sera Boa tarde
Arrivederci Adeus
A domani Ate amanha
Prego Nao tem de que
A presto Ate mais
Di dov'è? De onde eh vc?
Tell me and explain me where are the similarities between both languages, and why is it similar to italian but completely different from portuguese
I think its still called Brazilian Portuguese not brazilian italian,hahaha
Maybe just another Italian wanna-be
"for portuguese, we need a translation/subtitles "
As a Brazilian, i feel ashamed of this statement
"A Brazilian is indeed closer to Italian than Portuguese. That's why artists like Laura Pausini are huge success in Brazil while Portuguese artists are never heard of. Laura makes her understood in Brazil by speaking Italian, and for understanding Portuguese people we need a translation/subtitles. "
This statement reflects the BRAZILIAN xenophobia and the cultural denial of PORTUGUESE CULTURE and language ancestry.
WHY? Because the poor Brazilians were enslaved by the Portuguese and exploited, and this hatred is manifested nowadays culturally BEING IN DENIAL ! And creating such ABSURD statements about Brazilian being strongly similar with Italian.
How ridiculous and pathetic is that !
Shame on you Jacyra! don't renegade your culture and language! You speak Portuguese. Brazilian does not exist.
@Brennus
"However many younger students studying Romanian today probably don't know that at one time there was a near-void, a Dark Ages in that area."
That's why I post on this forum. Romanian history school manuals have a huge black hole beginning with Aurelianus administration retrieval and ending at Slavo-Romanian political entities forming.
I find the official theory of Romanians descending from a Daco-Roman population as being controversial. Even I don't fully agree with the theory that all Romanians migrated from Balkans, somewhere arround 800, I guess it might be some true in it.
Anyway, congratulations, Brennus, very few foreigners are interested in Romanian culture, a people which is having an incredible history, so complex, that even Romanians are not very sure about it and which is still having quite a few puzzles to put together.
In response to Guesto, a.k.a. Sorin, those Italian dialects that are so distant from oneanother no longer have the importance that they used to. Standard Italian, which is based on the Tuscan dialect, is replacing most, if not all, of those dialects.
"This statement reflects the BRAZILIAN xenophobia and the cultural denial of PORTUGUESE CULTURE and language ancestry.
WHY? Because the poor Brazilians were enslaved by the Portuguese and exploited, and this hatred is manifested nowadays culturally BEING IN DENIAL ! And creating such ABSURD statements about Brazilian being strongly similar with Italian."
I agree that this is absurd. Many Mexicans do the same thing with their culture. Some still hold a grudge against the Spanish for "raping our women, and slaughtering our men", etc. But it's been nearly 500 years! When are people going to let it go? It's as ludicrous as a Frenchman having animosity toward Romans/Italians for killing or enslaving 2 million of his Gallic forefathers, over 2,000 years ago! Since then, Gaul was Latinized, and became Romans themselves. Today, no one in their right mind could say that France was a Celtic country, outside of Brittany.
The same concept applies to Mexico. Very little remains of the indigenous culture, outside of certain regions with Native cultural enclaves. Most Mexicans are not "Indians" but have since assimilated the Spanish, and are now a mix of Spaniard and Native. Mexicans no longer speak Nahuatl, nor do they practice a pagan religion which features human sacrifice atop towering pyramids, but they are Roman Catholic and speak Spanish. I would say that a good 90% of our culture is a direct result of Spain's transfer of culture to Mexico/New Spain. What's even more silly, is that there are members of my own family, who regard themselves as "Mexica" natives, and who despise Spain, when they are almost entirely of Spanish ancestry! Their nicknames are "guero" for God's sake!