Romance language

Romance languages (IPA: /ˈroʊmæns, ˈroʊməns/), also known as Romanic languages, are a subfamily of the Indo-European languages. They are named for the Roman Empire, which spread these languages throughout much of Europe and the Mediterranean region during its reign.

Etymology

The term "Romance" comes from the Vulgar Latin adverb romanice, derived from Romanicus meaning "in the Roman style". The use of the term "Romance" to describe these languages comes from the romance vernacular literature being written in them during the Middle Ages.

Classification

Romance languages are a subfamily of the Indo-European language family. They developed from Vulgar Latin in the sixth to ninth centuries. The most widely spoken Romance languages are Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian.

Characteristics

Romance languages share several characteristics due to their common origins from Vulgar Latin. These include the use of definite articles, a preference for SVO word order, and the use of prepositions rather than case endings to indicate grammatical relationships.

Related terms

Latin: The ancient Italic language of the Roman Empire from which the Romance languages developed.
Vulgar Latin: The nonstandard form of Latin from which the Romance languages evolved.
Italic languages: A subfamily of the Indo-European languages that includes Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages.
Indo-European languages: A large language family native to western and southern Eurasia, which includes the Romance languages.

External links

Medical encyclopedia article on Romance language
Wikipedia's article - Romance language

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Romance language