Western Romance languages

Subdivision of the Romance languages

Western Romance

Geographic
distribution| France, Iberia, Northern Italy, and Switzerland
Linguistic classification| Indo-European

* Italic
* Latino-Faliscan
* Latinic
* Romance
* Italo-Western
* Western Romance

Early forms

Old Latin

* Vulgar Latin
* Proto-Romance
* Proto-Italo-Western Romance[1]
* Proto-Western Romance[1]

Subdivisions|

• Ibero-Romance
• Gallo-Romance

Language codes
Glottolog| `west2813`

Classification of Romance languages.

The Romance language family (simplified).

Western Romance languages are one of the two subdivisions of a proposed subdivision of the Romance languages based on the La Spezia–Rimini Line. They include the Ibero-Romance and Gallo-Romance. Gallo-Italic may also be included. The subdivision is based mainly on the use of the "s" for pluralization, the weakening of some consonants and the pronunciation of "Soft C" as /t͡s/ (often later /s/) rather than /t͡ʃ/ as in Italian and Romanian.

Based on mutual intelligibility, Dalby counts thirteen languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Asturleonese, Aragonese, Catalan, Gascon, Provençal, Gallo-Wallon, French, Franco-Provençal, Romansh, Ladin and Friulian.[2]

Some classifications include Italo-Dalmatian; the resulting clade is generally called Italo-Western Romance. Other classifications place Italo-Dalmatian with Eastern Romance.

Sardinian does not fit into either Western or Eastern Romance, having split off earlier than the two.

Today the four most widely spoken standardized Western Romance languages are Spanish (c. 486 million native speakers, around 125 million second-language speakers), Portuguese (c. 220 million native, another 45 million or so second-language speakers, mainly in Lusophone Africa), French (c. 80 million native speakers, another 70 million or so second-language speakers, mostly in Francophone Africa), and Catalan (c. 7.2 million native). Many of these languages have large numbers of non-native speakers; this is especially the case for French, in widespread use throughout West Africa as a lingua franca.

## Gallo-Romance

[edit]

Main article: Gallo-Romance languages

Gallo-Romance includes:

* The Oïl languages. These include Standard French, Picard, Walloon, Lorrain, and Norman.[3]
* The Arpitan language, also known as Franco-Provençal. It shares features of both French and the Provençal dialect of Occitan.
* The Occitan language, or langue d'oc, has dialects such as Provençal dialect, and Gascon dialect.[4] Included also in on the Occitano-Romance.

Gallo-Romance can include:

* The Catalan language has standard forms of Central Catalan and Valencian. Can be classified as Occitano-Romance or East Iberian.
* The Rhaeto-Romance languages. They include Romansh of Switzerland, Ladin of the Dolomites area, Friulian of Friuli. Rhaeto-Romance languages can be classified as Gallo-Romance, or as an independent branch of the Western Romance languages.
* The Gallo-Italic languages. This group includes languages such as Piedmontese, Ligurian, Lombard, Emilian, Gallo-Italic of Sicily, Gallo-Italic of Basilicata.

The Oïl languages, Arpitan and Rhaeto-Romance languages are sometimes called Gallo-Rhaetian, but it is difficult to exclude from this group Gallo-Italic, which according to several linguists forms a particular unity with Rhaeto-Romance.[5]

## Iberian Romance

[edit]

Main article: Iberian Romance languages

Iberian Romance languages of the Iberian Peninsula include:[6]

* The West Iberian languages:
* The Castilian languages: includes Spanish and Judaeo-Spanish.
* The Galician-Portuguese languages: includes Portuguese, Galician and Fala.
* The Astur-Leonese languages: they are, from east to west, Cantabrian, central-eastern Asturian and Leonese proper. Going from north to south, they are Leonese proper, Mirandese, Extremaduran
* The extinct Mozarabic. Can be classified as West Iberian.
* The East Iberian language, such as the Catalan language and the Aragonese language: also classified as part of Occitano-Romance.

## Occitano-Romance

[edit]

Main article: Occitano-Romance languages

Sometimes considered a subgroup of the previous groups, it constitutes a group of languages that do not have all the Gallo-Romance traits nor the Ibero-Romance traits. The list is as follows:

* The Occitan language, or langue d'oc, has dialects such as Provençal, Lengadocian, Lemosin, Auvernhat and Gascon-Aranese dialect.[7]
* The Catalan language with two main dialectal groups, Eastern Catalan and Western Catalan, with the standard forms of Central Catalan and Valencian representing each dialect respectively.
* The Aragonese language, with three main dialectal groups Eastern, Western and Central Aragonese.[8] Sometimes it includes a southern dialect which is the former dialects with more Spanish influence

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Rebecca Posner, The Romance Languages (series: Cambridge Language Surveys), Cambridge University Press, 1996 (3rd printing 2004), p. 197
2. ^ David Dalby, 1999/2000, The Linguasphere register of the world’s languages and speech communities. Observatoire Linguistique, Linguasphere Press. Volume 2. Oxford.[1]
3. ^ Maiden, Martin; Smith, John Charles; Ledgeway, Adam (2011). The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 167\. ISBN 9780521800723.
4. ^ Maiden, Martin; Smith, John Charles; Ledgeway, Adam (2013-10-24). The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages: Volume 2, Contexts. Cambridge University Press. p. 173\. ISBN 9781316025550.
5. ^ Hull, Geoffrey, The Linguistic Unity of Northern Italy and Rhaetia: Historical Grammar of the Padanian Language, Sydney: Beta Crucis, 2017. 2 vols.
6. ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Western Romance". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
7. ^ Maiden, Martin; Smith, John Charles; Ledgeway, Adam (2013-10-24). The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages: Volume 2, Contexts. Cambridge University Press. p. 173\. ISBN 9781316025550.
8. ^ Tomas Arias, Javier (2016). Elementos de lingüística contrastiva en aragonés. Estudio de algunas afinidades con gascón, catalán y otros romances. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona.

* v
* t
* e

Romance languages (classification)

Major branches|

* Eastern
* Italo-Western
* Italo-Dalmatian
* Western
* Southern

Eastern|

* Aromanian
* Istro-Romanian
* Megleno-Romanian
* Daco-Romanian
* dialects
* Banat
* Bukovinian
* Crișana
* Maramureș
* Moldavian
* Oltenian
* Transylvanian
* Wallachian
* Common Romanian

Italo-
Dalmatian|

| Central|

* Central Italian
* Central Marchigiano
* Ancona
* Fabriano
* Macerata
* Central−Northern Latian
* Romanesco
* Sabino
* Corsican
* Gallurese
* Italian
* Italo-Australian
* Maltese Italian
* Regional Italian
* Swiss Italian
* Sassarese
* Tuscan
* Florentine

|

Southern|

* Extreme Southern Italian
* Central−Southern Calabrian
* Salentino
* Manduriano
* Sicilian
* Pantesco
* Neapolitan–Calabrese
* Neapolitan
* Barese
* Benevento
* Castelmezzano
* Cilentan
* Irpinian
* Arianese
* Molisan
* Southern Latian
* Tarantino
* Vastese
* Northern Calabrian

Others|

* Dalmatian Romance
* Dalmatian
* Istriot
* Judeo-Italian

Western|

| Gallo-Italic|

* Emilian–Romagnol
* Emilian
* Bolognese
* Parmigiano
* Romagnol
* Forlivese
* Old Romagnol
* Sammarinese
* Gallo-Italic of Basilicata
* Gallo-Italic of Sicily
* Gallo-Picene
* Ligurian
* Brigasc
* Genoese
* Intemelio
* Monégasque
* Royasc
* Tabarchino
* Judeo-Italian
* Lombard
* Eastern
* Bergamasque
* Cremish
* Western
* Brianzöö
* Canzés
* Bustocco–Legnanese
* Comasco–Lecchese
* Comasco
* Laghée
* Lecchese
* Vallassinese
* Milanese
* Ossolano
* Southwestern
* Cremunés
* Novarese
* Pavese
* Ticinese
* Varesino
* Old Lombard
* Old Romagnol
* Piedmontese
* Judeo-Piedmontese

|

Gallo-
Romance|

| Langues
d'oïl|

* Angevin
* Berrichon
* Bourbonnais
* Burgundian
* Champenois
* Ardennais
* Rémois
* Frainc-Comtou
* Gallo
* French
* Jersey Legal
* Meridional
* North American dialects
* Canadian
* Acadian
* Chiac
* St. Marys Bay French
* Brayon
* Newfoundland
* Quebec
* Joual
* Magoua
* Franco-Ontarian
* Métis
* Muskrat
* New England
* Frenchville
* Louisiana
* Houma
* Missouri
* Creoles
* Lorrain
* Gaumais
* Vosgien
* Welche
* Mayennais
* Moselle Romance
* Norman
* Anglo-Norman
* Auregnais
* Guernésiais
* Jèrriais
* Sercquiais
* Law French
* Augeron
* Cauchois
* Cotentinais
* Orléanais
* Paydret
* Picard
* Poitevin–Saintongeais
* Poitevin
* Saintongeais
* Walloon
* West Walloon
* Wisconsin Walloon

|

* Franco-Provençal/Arpitan
* Faetar
* Savoyard
* Valdôtain
* Old Gallo-Romance

Ibero-
Romance
(West
Iberian)|

| Asturleonese|

* Asturian
* Eastern
* Western
* Cantabrian
* Leonese
* Bercian
* Paḷḷuezu
* Palra
* Riberan
* Riunorese
* Mirandese
* Old Leonese

|

Galician–Portuguese|

* Fala
* Galician
* Galician–Asturian/Eonavian
* Portuguese
* dialects
* African
* Asian
* Brazilian
* Mineiro
* European
* Alentejan
* Oliventine
* Estremenho
* Minderico
* Northern
* Uruguayan
* Creoles
* Portugis
* Judeo-Portuguese

Castilian|

* Extremaduran
* Judeo-Spanish
* Haketia
* Tetuani
* Spanish
* dialects
* Equatoguinean
* Latin American
* Chilean
* Chilote
* Peruvian
* Peruvian Ribereño
* Rioplatense
* Peninsular
* Andalusian
* Llanito
* Castilian
* Castrapo
* Castúo
* Murcian
* Philippine
* Saharan
* Creoles
* Old Spanish

Pyrenean–Mozarabic|

* Andalusi Romance
* Navarro-Aragonese
* Aragonese
* Central
* Eastern
* Ribagorçan
* Benasquese
* Judeo-Aragonese
* Southern
* Somontanés
* Navalese
* Western
* Aisinian
* Ansó
* Aragüés
* Hecho
* Navarrese
* Old Navarrese

Others|

* Barranquenho (mixed Portuguese–Spanish)
* Caló (mixed Romani–Ibero- and Occitano-Romance)

Occitano-
Romance|

* Catalan
* dialects
* Eastern
* Algherese
* Balearic
* Mallorcan
* Menorcan
* Central
* Northern
* Judeo-Catalan
* Patuet
* Western
* Ribagorçan
* Valencian
* Occitan
* Auvergnat
* Gascon
* Aranese
* Béarnese
* Landese
* Judeo-Gascon
* Judeo-Provençal
* Languedocien
* Limousin
* Provençal
* Niçard
* Vivaro-Alpine
* Gardiol
* Mentonasc
* Old Occitan
* Old Catalan

Rhaeto-
Romance|

* Friulian
* Fornes
* Ladin
* Cadorino
* Nones
* Romansh
* Jauer
* Putèr
* Surmiran
* Sursilvan
* Vallader

Others|

* Franco-Italian
* Mediterranean Lingua Franca (Western Romance-based pidgin)
* Venetian (unknown further classification)
* Chipilo
* Fiuman
* Talian
* Triestine

Others|

* African Romance
* British Latin
* Pannonian Latin
* Sardinian
* Campidanese
* Logudorese

Reconstructed|

* Proto-Romance

* Italics indicate extinct languages
* Bold indicates languages with more than 5 million speakers
* Languages between parentheses are varieties of the language on their left.

Authority control databases: National |

* Germany

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