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Romance language

Romance language

3 4.5
A language that comes from Latin, like French or Spanish
  • noun
  • /roʊˈmæns ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
translation icon : lengua romance
  • "The hardest thing for people who have grown up speaking English or one of the Romance languages is to grasp the fact that Latin does not depend on word order," Foster explains.
  • other Romance languages
  • modern Romance languages

And then they are appropriated by people in the Romance language tradition.

Examples

  • What are the Romance languages that interest you?

  • Today, we are talking about Portuguese and why it sounds so different from the other Romance languages.

  • I suspect that you will continue to involve yourself with the Romance languages in some manner.

    Academic text (1999)
  • In the Romance languages, it would sound ugly and harsh.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Many students in Europe choose to study a Romance language such as Spanish or Italian.

  • French and Italian are two popular examples of Romance languages spoken worldwide.

  • Understanding the roots of a Romance language can greatly enhance your appreciation of its literature.

Synonyms

Latinian language
vsRomance language
  • Specialized
9.5

A language that comes from Latin, like French or Spanish

has identical meaning but uses a different name for the same group

Surface Forms

Morphology

Romance + language

The meaning 'languages derived from Latin' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'Romance' (languages descended from Latin) with 'language' (a named spoken or written system). This is a regular noun + noun/phrase composition following expected patterns and is cross-linguistically obvious, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will understand the MWE.

Etymology

The name Romance language comes from the word Roman, which meant 'of the Romans'. When the Romans spread Latin, people in different places changed that Latin into new languages like French and Spanish, so we call them 'Romance languages'.