Romance languages
| Romance | |
|---|---|
| Latinic/Latin/Neo-Latin | |
| Geographic distribution | Originated in Old Latium on the Italian peninsula, now spoken in Latin Europe (parts of Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and Western Europe) and Latin America (a majority of the countries of Central America and South America), as well as parts of Africa (Latin Africa), parts of the United States of America, Asia, and Oceania. |
Native speakers | c. 900 million[1] |
| Linguistic classification | Indo-European
|
Early forms | Old Latin
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Romance |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 / 5 | roa |
| Linguasphere | 51- (phylozone) |
| Glottolog | roma1334 |
Romance languages in Europe | |
Romance languages globally
Majority native language
Co-official and majority native language
Official but minority native language
Cultural or secondary language | |
| Part of a series on |
| Indo-European topics |
|---|
| Category |
The Romance languages, also known as the Latin,[2] Neo-Latin,[3] or Latinic languages, are the languages that directly descended from Vulgar Latin.[4] 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:
- Spanish (489 million): official language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and most of Central and South America, widely spoken in the United States of America
- Portuguese (240 million):[5] official in Portugal, Brazil, Portuguese-speaking Africa, Timor-Leste and Macau
- French (80 million): official in 26 countries, but majority native in far fewer
- Italian (67 million): official in Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Switzerland; minority language in Croatia; regional in Slovenia (Istria) and Brazil (Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo and Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul)[6][7]
- Romanian (25 million): official in Romania, Moldova[8] and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia; minority language in Hungary, the rest of Serbia and Ukraine.
The Romance languages spread throughout the world owing to the period of European colonialism beginning in the 15th century; there are more than 900 million native speakers of Romance languages found worldwide, mainly in the Americas, Europe, and parts of Africa. Portuguese, French and Spanish also have many non-native speakers and are in widespread use as lingua francas.[1] There are also numerous regional Romance languages and dialects. All of the five most widely spoken Romance languages are also official languages of the European Union (with France, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain being part of it).
- ^ a b Lewis, M. Paul, ed. (30 May 2009). "Summary by language size". Ethnologue : Languages of the World (16 ed.). Ethnologue. p. 1248. ISBN 978-1556712166. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013.
- ^ "Latin". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ "Neo-Latin". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- ^ Herman, József; Wright, Roger (2000). Vulgar Latin. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 96–115. ISBN 0-271-02001-6.
- ^ "The World Factbook World". The World Factbook. CIA (US). Retrieved 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Lei n. 5.048/2023 - Do Município de Encantado / RS". Archived from the original on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Lei n. 2.812/2021 - Do Município de Santa Teresa / ES". Archived from the original on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ Moldovan is a language very similar to Romanian, usually combined with Romanian