Table of Contents
- 1 How did Romanian evolve from Latin?
- 2 What happened to the Dalmatian language?
- 3 How is Romanian related to Latin?
- 4 What is the role of language in the Balkans?
- 5 Why do people in the Balkans mock census questions about language?
- 6 What is the difference between Serbo-Croatian and Old Church Slavonic?
How did Romanian evolve from Latin?
Romanian descended from the Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman provinces of Southeastern Europe. Two other languages, Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian, developed from the southern version of Common Romanian. These two languages are now spoken in lands to the south of the Jireček Line.
What happened to the Dalmatian language?
It came to the attention of modern scholars in two letters, from 1325 and 1397, and other mediaeval texts, which show a language influenced heavily by Venetian. Nevertheless, during the 16th century, the Ragusan Romance language fell out of use and became extinct.
Romanian is a Latin-derived language closely related to Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese. Despite being a Romance language, Romanian is often left out of Romance language degree programs despite its interesting history and beauty. Romanian is the only Romance language that developed in Eastern Europe.
What language is the most similar to Latin?
Italian
Italian is the closest national language to Latin, followed by Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, and the most divergent being French.
What is the difference between Balkan and South Slavic?
To summarise, the Balkan people are truly the South Slavs and this is reflected in their language. Their languages are largely mutually intelligible thanks to their very recent development and those differences that do exist are minor compared to those you’d find in other Indo-European languages.
What is the role of language in the Balkans?
For 1,500 years, language in the Balkans has been a galvanizing force, a source of political identification, a blunt tool, a rallying cry. There are languages like it, but no language is treated in quite the same way.
Why do people in the Balkans mock census questions about language?
When asked what language they speak as part of a census, some people in the Balkans simply mocked the question, writing “our language” or, its insensitivity probably owing to distance, “Eskimo.” For 1,500 years, language in the Balkans has been a galvanizing force, a source of political identification, a blunt tool, a rallying cry.
What is the difference between Serbo-Croatian and Old Church Slavonic?
Old Church Slavonic differs in that it actually developed out of the languages people spoke in the Balkans, making it both easier to learn and allowing it to serve as more of a connective tissue for the region. It wasn’t a precursor of Serbo-Croatian, exactly, but it was a factor that allowed Serbo-Croatian to be born.