Editing Romance languages

{{Short description|Direct descendants of Vulgar Latin}}
{{Distinguish|Love Language (disambiguation)|Romance (love)|Romansh language}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Original research|date=June 2019}}
{{Cleanup lang|date=June 2020}}}}

{{Infobox language family
| name          = Romance
| altname       = Latin/Neo-Latin
| speakers      = {{c.|900 million}}<ref name="ethnologue.com">{{cite book|editor-last=Lewis|editor-first=M. Paul|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size|chapter=Summary by language size|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202224556/http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size |archive-date=2013-02-02|url-status=dead|title=Ethnologue : Languages of the World|edition=16|publisher=Ethnologue|isbn=978-1556712166|date=2009-05-30|pages=1248}}</ref>
| region        = Originated in [[Old Latium]] on the [[Italian peninsula]], now spoken in [[Languages of Europe#Romance|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]] ([[United States of Latin Africa|Latin Africa]]), parts of the [[United States of America]], [[Asia]], and [[Oceania]].
| familycolor   = Indo-European
| fam2          = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3          = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4          = [[Latin]]ic
| ancestor      = [[Old Latin]]
| ancestor2     = [[Vulgar Latin]]
| protoname     = [[Proto-Romance language|Proto-Romance]]
| child1        = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| child2        = [[Eastern Romance languages|Eastern Romance]]
| child3        = [[Southern Romance languages|Southern Romance]]
| child4        = [[Pannonian Latin|Pannonian]] †
| child5        = [[British Latin|British]] †
| iso2          = roa
| iso5          = roa
| glotto        = roma1334
| glottorefname = Romance
| lingua        = 51- (phylozone)
| map           =
| mapcaption    = Romance languages in Europe
| map2          = Detailed SVG map of the Romance-speaking world.svg
| mapcaption2   = Romance languages globally
{{legend|#045a8d|Majority native language}}
{{legend|#0674b6|Co-official and majority native language}}
{{legend|#439dd4|Official but minority native language}}
{{legend|#9bbae1|Cultural or secondary language}}
}}

{{Indo-European topics}}
{{IPA notice}}

The '''Romance languages''', also known as the '''Latin'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Latin#kidsdictionary:~:text=Latin%20grammar-,b,Latin%20languages,-2|title=Latin|website=[[Merriam-Webster|Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary]]|access-date=2023-11-03|url-status=dead<!--Technically not dead but leave it for source convenience.-->|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610084939/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Latin#kidsdictionary:~:text=Latin%20grammar-,b,Latin%20languages,-2|archive-date=2023-06-10}}</ref> or '''Neo-Latin<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Neo-Latin#:~:text=2,ROMANCE%20sense%205|title=Neo-Latin|website=[[Merriam-Webster]].com Dictionary|access-date=2023-11-03|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425224207/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Neo-Latin#:~:text=2,ROMANCE%20sense%205|archive-date=2023-04-25}}</ref> languages''', are the [[language]]s that are [[Language family|directly descended]] from [[Vulgar Latin]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Herman |first1=József |url=https://archive.org/details/vulgarlatin00herm |title=Vulgar Latin |last2=Wright |first2=Roger |publisher=[[Pennsylvania State University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=0-271-02001-6 |location=University Park |pages=[https://archive.org/details/vulgarlatin00herm/page/n111 96]–115 |url-access=limited}}</ref> They are the only extant subgroup of the [[Italic languages|Italic branch]] of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language family]].

The five [[list of languages by number of native speakers|most widely spoken Romance languages]] by number of native speakers are:
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]] (489 million): official language in [[Spain]], [[Mexico]], [[Equatorial Guinea]], the [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic|SADR]], [[Cuba]], [[Dominican Republic]], [[Puerto Rico]] and most of [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]]
* [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] (240 million):<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/world/#people-and-society |title=The World Factbook World |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=The World Factbook |publisher= CIA (US)|access-date= 14 November 2023|quote=}}</ref> official in [[Portugal]], [[Brazil]], [[Portuguese-speaking African countries|Portuguese-speaking Africa]], [[Timor-Leste]] and [[Macau]]
* [[French language|French]] (310 million): official in 26 countries
* [[Italian language|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]])<ref name="encantado">{{Cite web |url=https://direitolinguistico.com.br/repositorio/s/rbll/item/164 |title=Lei n. 5.048/2023 - Do Município de Encantado / RS |access-date=11 August 2024 |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811141927/https://direitolinguistico.com.br/repositorio/s/rbll/item/164 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://direitolinguistico.com.br/repositorio/s/rbll/item/95 |title=Lei n. 2.812/2021 - Do Município de Santa Teresa / ES |access-date=11 August 2024 |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811141902/https://direitolinguistico.com.br/repositorio/s/rbll/item/95 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Romanian language|Romanian]] (25 million): official in [[Romania]], [[Moldova]]<ref>Moldovan is a language very similar to Romanian, usually combined with Romanian</ref> and the [[Vojvodina|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 franca]]s.<ref name="ethnologue.com">{{cite book|editor-last=Lewis|editor-first=M. Paul|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size|chapter=Summary by language size|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202224556/http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size |archive-date=2013-02-02|url-status=dead|title=Ethnologue : Languages of the World|edition=16|publisher=Ethnologue|isbn=978-1556712166|date=2009-05-30|pages=1248}}</ref> There are also numerous [[regional languages|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).

== Name and languages ==
The term ''[[wikt:Romance|Romance]]'' derives from the Vulgar Latin adverb {{lang|la|romanice}}, "in [[Rome|Roman]]", derived from {{lang|la|romanicus}}: for instance, in the expression {{lang|la|romanice loqui}}, "to speak in Roman" (that is, the Latin [[vernacular]]), contrasted with {{lang|la|latine loqui}}, "to speak in Latin" (Medieval Latin, the [[linguistic conservatism|conservative]] version of the language used in [[abstand and ausbau languages#Roofing|writing and formal contexts]] or as a lingua franca), and with {{lang|la|barbarice loqui}}, "to speak in [[Barbarian]]" (the non-Latin languages of the peoples living outside the Roman Empire).<ref name="Ilari">{{Cite book |last=Ilari |first=Rodolfo |title=Lingüística Românica |publisher=Ática |year=2002 |isbn=85-08-04250-7 |page=50}}</ref> From this adverb the noun ''romance'' originated, which applied initially to anything written {{lang|la|romanice}}, or "in the Roman vernacular".<ref>{{Cite web |title=romance {{!}} Origin and meaning of romance by Online Etymology Dictionary |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/romance |access-date=2021-03-30 |website=etymonline.com |language=en |archive-date=2021-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413200952/https://www.etymonline.com/word/romance |url-status=live }}</ref>

Most of the Romance-speaking area in Europe has traditionally been a [[dialect continuum]], where the speech variety of a location differs only slightly from that of a neighboring location, but over a longer distance these differences can accumulate to the point where two remote locations speak what may be unambiguously characterized as separate languages. This makes drawing language boundaries difficult, and thus there is no unambiguous way to divide the Romance varieties into individual languages. Even the criterion of [[mutual intelligibility]] can become ambiguous when it comes to determining whether two language varieties belong to the same language or not.<ref name="Britannica Online">{{Harvp|Sala|Posner|}}</ref>

The following is a list of groupings of Romance languages, with some languages chosen to exemplify each grouping. Not all languages are listed, and the groupings should not be interpreted as well-separated [[Cladistics#In disciplines other than biology|genetic clades]] in a [[tree model]].
* '''[[Ibero-Romance languages|Ibero-Romance]]:''' [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Galician language|Galician]], [[Asturleonese language|Asturleonese]]/[[Mirandese language|Mirandese]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]], [[Judaeo-Spanish|Ladino]];
* '''[[Occitano-Romance languages|Occitano-Romance]]:''' [[Catalan language|Catalan]]/[[Valencian language|Valencian]], [[Occitan language|Occitan]]
* '''[[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]:''' [[French language|French]]/[[langues d'oïl|Oïl languages]], [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal (Arpitan)]];
* '''[[Rhaeto-Romance languages|Rhaeto-Romance]]:''' [[Romansh language|Romansh]], [[Ladin language|Ladin]], [[Friulian language|Friulian]];
* '''[[Gallo-Italic languages|Gallo-Italic]]:''' [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]], [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]], [[Lombard language|Lombard]], [[Emilian dialects|Emilian]], [[Romagnol dialects|Romagnol]];
* [[Venetian language|'''Venetian''']] (classification disputed);
* '''[[Italo-Dalmatian languages|Italo-Dalmatian]]:''' [[Italian language|Italian]] ([[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]], [[Corsican language|Corsican]], [[Sassarese language|Sassarese]], [[Central Italian]]), [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]]/[[Southern Italian languages|Extreme Southern Italian]], [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]]/[[Southern Italian languages|Southern Italian]], [[Dalmatian language|Dalmatian]] (extinct in 1898), [[Istriot language|Istriot]];
* '''[[Eastern Romance languages|Eastern Romance]]:''' [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]], [[Megleno-Romanian language|Megleno-Romanian]], [[Istro-Romanian language|Istro-Romanian]];
* '''[[Sardinian language|Sardinian]]''': [[Campidanese Sardinian|Campidanese]], [[Logudorese Sardinian|Logudorese]]

== Modern status ==
{{Main|Romance-speaking Europe|Latin America|Latin Union}}{{More citations needed section|date=March 2022}}[[File:Romance 20c en.png|thumb|upright=1.36|European extent of Romance languages in the 20th century]]
[[File:2024 Updated Total Speakers.jpg|thumb|434x434px|Proportion of speakers in the top 5 Romance languages, as of 2024]]
The Romance language [[List of languages by number of native speakers|most widely spoken natively]] today is [[Spanish language|Spanish]], followed by [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Romanian language|Romanian]], which together cover a vast territory in Europe and beyond, and work as [[official language|official]] and [[national language]]s in dozens of countries.{{sfn|Alkire|Rosen|2010|pp=1–4}}
In Europe, at least one Romance language is official in [[France]], [[Portugal]], [[Spain]], [[Italy]], [[Switzerland]], [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]],{{refn|The (Luxembourgish) Law of 24 February 1984 on the language regime<ref>
{{Cite web|title=Loi du 24 février 1984 sur le régime des langues|url=https://legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/loi/1984/02/24/n1/jo|website=legilux.public.lu|archive-date=2023-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918210227/https://legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/loi/1984/02/24/n1/jo|url-status=live|access-date=2025-01-18|date=1984-02-24|lang=fr}}</ref> designates Luxembourgish as the national language and French and German as official languages for legislation and administration.}} [[Romania]], [[Moldova]], [[Monaco]], [[Andorra]], [[San Marino]] and [[Vatican City]]. In these countries, French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, [[Romansh language|Romansh]] and [[Catalan language|Catalan]] have constitutional official status.

French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian are also official languages of the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/languages_en |title=Languages |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= |publisher=European Union |access-date=9 November 2023 |quote=}}</ref> Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, and Catalan were the official languages of the defunct [[Latin Union]];<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unilat.org/ |title=Unión Latina |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= |publisher=UNIÓN LATINA |access-date=9 November 2023 |quote=}}</ref> and French and Spanish are two of the six official languages of the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.un.org/en/our-work/official-languages|title=Official Languages |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= |publisher=United Nations |access-date=9 November 2023 |quote=}}</ref> Outside Europe, [[French language|French]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] are spoken and enjoy official status in various countries that emerged from the respective [[colonial empire]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.uottawa.ca/clmc/internationalperspective/cameroon |title=Cameroon |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=Compendium of Language Management in Canada (CLMC) |publisher=uOttawa |access-date= 9 November 2023 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/constituicao/ConstituicaoCompilado.htm |title=CONSTITUIÇÃO DA REPÚBLICA FEDERATIVA DO BRASIL DE 1988 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= gov.br|publisher= |access-date= 9 November 2023|quote=Art. 13. A língua portuguesa é o idioma oficial da República Federativa do Brasil.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://lenguasdecolombia.caroycuervo.gov.co/contenido/Espanol-de-Colombia/Articulo/contenido/162& |title=¿Por qué hablamos español en Colombia? |last= Chacón|first= Marcela Hernández |date= |website= Portal de Lenguas de Colombia|publisher= Instituto Caro y Cuervo|access-date=9 November 2023|quote=}}</ref>

With almost 500 million speakers worldwide, [[List of countries and territories where Spanish is an official language|Spanish is an official language]]<!-- The altervative to this piped link is to include all of the citations on that page into this paragraph --> in [[Spain]] and in nine countries of [[South America]], home to about half that continent's population; in six countries of [[Central America]] (all except [[Belize]]); and in [[Mexico]]. In the [[Caribbean]], it is official in [[Cuba]], the [[Dominican Republic]], and [[Puerto Rico]]. In all these countries, [[Spanish language in the Americas|American Spanish]] is the vernacular language of the majority of the population, giving Spanish the most native speakers of any Romance language. In Africa it is one of the official languages of [[Equatorial Guinea]] and the [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic|SADR]], a partially recognized state. Spanish was one of the official languages in the Philippines in Southeast Asia until 1973. In the 1987 constitution, Spanish was removed as an official language (replaced by English), and was listed as an optional/voluntary language along with Arabic. It is currently spoken by a minority and taught in the school curriculum.

Portuguese, in its original homeland, [[Portugal]], is spoken by almost  the entire population of 10 million. As the official language of [[Brazil]], it is spoken by more than 200 million people, as well as in neighboring parts of [[Brasiguayos|eastern Paraguay]] and [[Riverense Portuñol language|northern Uruguay]]. This accounts for slightly more than half the population of South America, making Portuguese the most spoken [[official language|official Romance language]] in a single country.

Portuguese is the official language of six African countries ([[Angola]], [[Cape Verde]], [[Guinea-Bissau]], [[Mozambique]], [[Equatorial Guinea]], and [[São Tomé and Príncipe]]), and is spoken as a native language by perhaps 16 million residents of that continent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.worlddata.info/languages/portuguese.php |title= Portuguese speaking countries|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=WorldData.info |publisher= |access-date= 22 November 2023|quote=}}</ref>{{rs?|certain=yes|reason=Self-published source. See Special:PermanentLink/1244711437#worlddata.info|date=September 2024}} In Asia, Portuguese is co-official with other languages in [[East Timor]] and [[Macau]], while most Portuguese-speakers in Asia—some 400,000<ref>See [[Portuguese language in Asia|Portuguese in Asia and Oceania]].</ref>—are in [[Japan#Demographics|Japan]] due to [[Dekasegi|return immigration]] of [[Japanese Brazilian]]s. In North America 1,000,000 people speak Portuguese as their home language, mainly immigrants from Brazil, Portugal, and other Portuguese-speaking countries and their descendants.<ref>See [[list of countries where Portuguese is an official language]].</ref>
In Oceania, Portuguese is the second most spoken Romance language, after French, due mainly to the number of speakers in [[East Timor]]. Its closest relative, Galician, has co-official status in the [[autonomous communities in Spain|autonomous community]] of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]] in [[Spain]], together with Spanish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Monteagudo |first=Henrique |date=2024-03-08 |title=Commentary: Language Policy in Galicia, 1980-2020. An Overview |url=https://www.ecmi.de/JEMIE/index.php/journal/article/view/96 |journal=Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe |language=en |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=2 |doi=10.53779/XPLM3788 |issn=1617-5247|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Outside Europe, French is spoken natively most in the Canadian province of [[Quebec]], and in parts of [[New Brunswick]] and [[Ontario]]. Canada is [[official bilingualism in Canada|officially bilingual]], with French and English being the official languages and government services in French theoretically mandated to be provided nationwide. In parts of the Caribbean, such as [[Haiti]], French has official status, but most people speak [[Creole language|creoles]] such as [[Haitian Creole]] as their native language. French also has official status in much of Africa, with relatively few native speakers but larger numbers of second language speakers.

Although [[Italy]] also had some colonial possessions before [[World War II]], its language did not remain official after the end of the colonial domination. As a result, [[Italian language|Italian]] outside Italy and Switzerland is now spoken only as a minority language by immigrant communities in [[North America|North]] and [[South America]] and [[Australia]]. In some former Italian colonies in Africa—namely [[Libya]], [[Eritrea]] and [[Somalia]]—it is spoken by a few educated people in commerce and government.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

[[Romania]] did not establish a colonial empire. The native range of Romanian includes not only the [[Moldova|Republic of Moldova]], where it is the dominant language and spoken by a majority of the population, but neighboring areas in Serbia ([[Vojvodina]] and the [[Bor District]]), Bulgaria, Hungary, and Ukraine ([[Bukovina]], [[Budjak]]) and in some villages between the [[Dniester]] and [[Bug River|Bug]] rivers.<ref>I.S. Nistor, "Istoria românilor din Transnistria" (The history of Romanians from Transnistria), București, 1995</ref> As with Italian, Romanian is spoken outside of its ethnic range by immigrant communities. In Europe, Romanian-speakers form about two percent of the population in [[Italy]], [[Spain]], and [[Portugal]]. Romanian is also spoken in [[Israel]] by Romanian Jews,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reports of about 300,000 Jews who left the country after WW2 |url=http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831192934/http://www.eurojewcong.org/ejc/news.php?id_article=110 |archive-date=2006-08-31 |access-date=2010-11-06 |publisher=Eurojewcong.org}}</ref> where it is the native language of five percent of the population,<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ron 1993 Statistical Abstract] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619225520/http://www.ethnologue.com/language/ron |date=2013-06-19 }} of Israel reports 250,000 speakers of Romanian in Israel, while the 1995 census puts the total figure of the Israeli population at 5,548,523</ref> and is spoken by many more as a secondary language. The [[Aromanian language]] is spoken today by [[Aromanians]] in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, and Greece.<ref>Djuvara Neagu, "La Diaspora aroumaine aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles " In: Les Aroumains, Paris : Publications Langues'O, 1989 (Cahiers du Centre d'étude des civilisations d'Europe centrale et du Sud-Est; 8). pp. 95–125.</ref>
[[Flavio Biondo]] was the first scholar to have observed (in 1435) linguistic affinities between the Romanian and [[Italian language|Italian]] languages, as well as their common Latin origin.<ref>Maiden, Martin (2010). "Italian's long-lost sister: the Romanian language and why Italianists should know about it". The Italianist. 30 (sup2): 29–43. doi:10.1080/02614340.2010.11917476. S2CID 149202032.</ref>

The total of 880 million native speakers of Romance languages (ca. 2020) are divided as follows:<ref name="ethnologue1">{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Ethnologue |url=http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size |publisher=SIL Haley |access-date=2022-02-25 |archive-date=2019-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511214408/http://www.ethnologue.org/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?by=size |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]] 54% (475 million, plus 75 million L2 for 550 million in the [[Hispanophone]]s)
* [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] 26% (230 million, plus 30 million L2 for 260 million in the [[Lusophone]]s)
* [[French language|French]] 9% (80 million, plus 230 million L2 for 310 million in the [[Francophone]]s)
* [[Italian language|Italian]] 7% (65 million, plus 3 million L2)
* [[Romanian language|Romanian]] 3% (24 million)
* [[Catalan language|Catalan]] 0.5% (4 million, plus 5 million L2)
* Others 3% (26 million, nearly all bilingual in one of the national languages)

Catalan is the official language of [[Andorra]]. In Spain, it is co-official with Spanish in [[Catalonia]], the [[Valencian Community]] (under the name [[Valencian language|Valencian]]), and the [[Balearic Islands]], and it is recognized, but not official, in an area of [[Aragon]] known as [[La Franja]]. In addition, it is spoken by many residents of [[Alghero]], on the island of [[Sardinia]], and it is co-official in that city.{{sfn|Ledgeway|Maiden|2016|p=393}} [[Galician language|Galician]], with more than three million speakers, is official together with Spanish in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], and has legal recognition in neighbouring territories in [[Castilla y León]]. A few other languages have official recognition on a regional or otherwise limited level; for instance, [[Asturian language|Asturian]] and [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]] in Spain; [[Mirandese language|Mirandese]] in Portugal; [[Friulan language|Friulian]], [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] and [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]] in Italy; and [[Romansh language|Romansh]] in Switzerland.{{Citation needed paragraph|date=March 2022}}

The remaining Romance languages survive mostly as spoken languages for informal contact. National governments have historically viewed linguistic diversity as an economic, administrative or military liability, as well as a potential source of [[separatism|separatist]] movements; therefore, they have generally fought to eliminate it, by extensively promoting the use of the official language, restricting the use of the other languages in the media, recognizing them as mere "dialects", or even persecuting them. As a result, all of these languages are considered endangered to varying degrees according to the UNESCO [[Red Book of Endangered Languages]], ranging from "vulnerable" (e.g. [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] and [[Venetian language|Venetian]]) to "severely endangered" ([[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]], most of the [[Occitan language|Occitan]] varieties). Since the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, increased sensitivity to the rights of minorities has allowed some of these languages to start recovering their prestige and lost rights. Yet it is unclear whether these political changes will be enough to reverse the decline of minority Romance languages.{{Citation needed paragraph|date=March 2022}}

== History ==
Between 350 BC and 150 AD, [[campaign history of the Roman military|the expansion of the Roman Empire]], together with its administrative and educational policies, made Latin the dominant native language in continental Western Europe. Latin also exerted a strong influence in [[Roman Britain|southeastern Britain]], [[Africa (Roman province)|the Roman province of Africa]], [[Moselle Romance|western Germany]], [[Pannonian Romance|Pannonia]] and the whole [[Balkans]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adamik |first=Béla |date=2021-01-01 |title=Romanization and Latinization of the Roman Empire in the light of data in the Computerized Historical Linguistic Database of Latin Inscriptions of the Imperial Age |url=https://www.academia.edu/50349827 |journal=Journal of Latin Linguistics 2021; 20 (1): 1–19}}</ref>

During the Empire's decline, and after its fragmentation and the collapse of its Western half in the fifth and sixth centuries, the spoken varieties of Latin became more isolated from each other, with the western dialects coming under heavy Germanic influence (the Goths and Franks in particular) and the eastern dialects coming under Slavic influence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Percy, Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/reliquesancient20percgoog |title=Reliques of Ancient English Poetry: Consisting of Old Heroic Ballads, Songs, Etc |publisher=Abe Books |year=1887 |page=[https://archive.org/details/reliquesancient20percgoog/page/n291 289]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SNgOmSoaNbgC |title=The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, and General Information |year=1957 |edition=11 |volume=28 |page=167 |access-date=2018-10-26 |archive-date=2023-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918110012/https://books.google.com/books?id=SNgOmSoaNbgC |url-status=live }}</ref> The dialects diverged from Latin at an accelerated rate and eventually evolved into a continuum of recognizably different typologies. The colonial empires established by [[Portuguese Empire|Portugal]], [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], and [[French colonial empire|France]] from the fifteenth century onward spread their languages to the other continents to such an extent that about two-thirds of all Romance language speakers today live outside Europe.

Despite other influences (e.g. ''[[stratum (linguistics)#Substratum|substratum]]'' from pre-Roman languages, especially [[Continental Celtic languages]]; and ''[[stratum (linguistics)#Superstratum|superstratum]]'' from later [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] or [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] invasions), the [[phonology]], [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]], and [[lexicon]] of all Romance languages consist mainly of evolved forms of Vulgar Latin. However, some notable differences exist between today's Romance languages and their Roman ancestor. With only one or two exceptions, Romance languages have lost the [[declension]] system of Latin and, as a result, have [[subject–verb–object|SVO]] sentence structure and make extensive use of [[prepositions]].{{sfn|Dragomirescu|Nicolae|2016|pp=911–914}}
By most measures, [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] and Italian are the least divergent languages from Latin, while French has changed the most.<ref>«if the Romance languages are compared with Latin, it is seen that by most measures Sardinian and Italian are least differentiated and French most (though in vocabulary Romanian has changed most).» {{Harvp|Sala|Posner}}</ref> However, all Romance languages are closer to each other than to [[classical Latin]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kabatek |first1=Johannes |title=The Languages and Linguistics of Europe: A Comprehensive Guide |last2=Pusch |first2=Claus D. |language=en |chapter=The Romance languages |quote=If we look at the Romance languages from a morphological, syntactic or content-oriented synchronic perspective, there are several features common to all of them that justify the assumption of a more or less coherent Romance type different from Latin.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Metzeltin |first=Miguel |title=Las Lenguas románicas estándar: historia de su formación y de su uso |page=45 |language=es |chapter=Tipología convergente de las lenguas románicas |quote=Pese a la gran variación que ofrecen los idiomas románicos, su evolución y sus estructuras presentan tantos rasgos comunes que se puede hablar de un tipo lingüístico románico.}}</ref>

=== Vulgar Latin ===
{{Main|Vulgar Latin}}
[[File:Map Length of Roman Rule Neo Latin Languages.jpg|thumb|upright=1.59|right|Duration of Roman rule and the spread of the Romance languages<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bereznay |first=András |title=Erdély történetének atlasza [Atlas of the History of Transylvania] |publisher=Méry Ratio |year=2011 |isbn=978-80-89286-45-4 |page=63}}</ref>]]
[[File:Latin Europe.png|thumb|upright=1.59|right|Romance languages in Europe]]
Documentary evidence about Vulgar Latin for the purposes of comprehensive research is limited, and the literature is often hard to interpret or generalize. Many of its speakers were soldiers, slaves, displaced peoples, and forced resettlers, and more likely to be natives of conquered lands than natives of Rome. In Western Europe, Latin gradually replaced [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] and other [[Italic languages]], which were related to it by a shared Indo-European origin. Commonalities in syntax and vocabulary facilitated the adoption of Latin.<ref>[[#Rochette|Rochette]], p. 550</ref><ref>Stefan Zimmer, "Indo-European," in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 961</ref><ref name="curchin">{{Cite journal |last=Curchin |first=Leonard A. |year=1995 |title=Literacy in the Roman Provinces: Qualitative and Quantitative Data from Central Spain |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=116 |issue=3 |pages=461–476 (464) |doi=10.2307/295333 |jstor=295333}}</ref>

To some scholars, this suggests the form of Vulgar Latin that evolved into the Romance languages was around during the time of the [[Roman Empire]] (from the end of the first century BC), and was spoken alongside the written Classical Latin which was reserved for official and formal occasions. Other scholars argue that the distinctions are more rightly viewed as indicative of sociolinguistic and register differences normally found within any language. With the rise of the Roman Empire, spoken Latin spread first throughout Italy and then through [[Southern Europe|southern]], [[Western Europe|western]], [[Central Europe|central]], and [[southeastern Europe]], and [[North Africa|northern Africa]] along parts of [[West Asia|western Asia]].<ref name="HarrisVincent2001">{{Cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Martin |title=Romance Languages |last2=Vincent |first2=Nigel |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |location=London}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

Latin reached a stage when innovations became generalised around the sixth and seventh centuries.<ref name= "Banniard">{{Cite book |last=Banniard |first=Martin |date=2013 |editor-last=Maiden |editor-first=Martin |editor2-last=Smith |editor2-first=John Charles |editor3-last=Ledgeway |editor3-first=Adam |title=The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages: Volume 2 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9781139019996 |access-date=27 March 2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press  |page=95 |doi=10.1017/CHO9781139019996 |isbn=978-1-139-01999-6 }}</ref> After that time and within two hundred years, it became a [[language death|dead language]] since "the Romanized people of Europe could no longer understand texts that were read aloud or recited to them."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Herman |first=Jozsef |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RJco4ioXigYC |title=Vulgar Latin |year=2010 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-0-271-04177-3 |access-date=16 May 2016 |archive-date=18 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918110013/https://books.google.com/books?id=RJco4ioXigYC |url-status=live }}, pp. 108–115</ref> By the eighth and ninth centuries Latin gave way to Romance.{{Sfn|Banniard|2013|p=95}}

=== Fall of the Western Roman Empire ===
During the political [[fall of the Western Roman Empire|decline of the Western Roman Empire]] in the fifth century, there were large-scale [[Migration Period|migrations]] into the empire, and the Latin-speaking world was fragmented into several independent states. Central Europe and the [[Balkans]] were occupied by Germanic and [[Slavs|Slavic]] tribes, as well as by [[Huns]].

[[British Latin|British]] and [[African Romance]]—the forms of Vulgar Latin used in [[Roman Britain|Britain]] and [[Africa (Roman province)|the Roman province of Africa]], where it had been spoken by much of the urban population—disappeared in the Middle Ages (as did [[Moselle Romance]] in Germany). But the Germanic tribes that had penetrated [[Roman Italy]], [[Gaul]], and [[Hispania]] eventually adopted Latin/Romance and the remnants of the [[culture of ancient Rome]] alongside existing inhabitants of those regions, and so Latin remained the dominant language there. In part due to regional dialects of the Latin language and local environments, several languages evolved from it.<ref name="HarrisVincent2001" />{{rp|4}}

=== Fall of the Eastern Roman Empire ===
Meanwhile, large-scale [[Migration Period|migrations]] into the Eastern [[Roman Empire]] started with the [[Goths]] and continued with [[Huns]], [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Bulgars]], [[Slavs]], [[Pechenegs]], [[Hungarians]] and [[Cumans]]. The invasions of [[Slavs]] were the most thoroughgoing, and they partially reduced the Romanic element in the [[Balkans]].<ref>Vlad Georgescu, The Romanians: A History, Ohio State University Press, Columbus, p. 12</ref> The invasion of the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] and conquest of [[Constantinople]] in 1453 marked the end of the empire.

The surviving local Romance languages were [[Dalmatian language|Dalmatian]] and [[Common Romanian]].

=== Early Romance ===
{{See also|Lexical changes from Classical Latin to Proto-Romance}}

Over the course of the fourth to eighth centuries, local changes in phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon accumulated to the point that the speech of any locale was noticeably different from that of another. In principle, differences between any two [[Variety (linguistics)|lects]] increased the more they were separated geographically, reducing easy mutual intelligibility between speakers of distant communities.<ref name="price">{{Cite book |last=Price |first=Glanville |title=The French language: past and present |publisher=Grant and Cutler Ltd |year=1984 |location=London}}</ref> Clear evidence of some levels of change is found in the ''[[Reichenau Glosses]]'', an eighth-century compilation of about 1,200 words from the fourth-century [[Vulgate]] of [[Jerome]] that had changed in phonological form or were no longer normally used, along with their eighth-century equivalents in proto-[[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Introduction |date=2010 |work=Romance Languages: A Historical Introduction |pages=1–4 |editor-last=Rosen |editor-first=Carol |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/romance-languages/introduction/C369AC07A0CCC0DDBF0ECE7769950C47 |access-date=2024-03-28 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511845192.001 |isbn=978-0-521-88915-5 |editor2-last=Alkire |editor2-first=Ti}}</ref> The following are some examples with reflexes in several modern Romance languages for comparison:{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
{{Clear}}
{|class="wikitable"
! English !! Classical / 4th cent. <br />(''Vulgate'') !! 8th cent. <br />(''Reichenau'') !! Franco-Provençal !! French !! [[Romansh language|Romansh]] !! Italian !! Spanish !! Portuguese !! Romanian !! Catalan !! Sardinian !! Occitan !! [[Ladin language|Ladin]] !! Neapolitan
|-
| once || ''semel'' || ''una vice'' || ''una vês'' / ''una fês'' || ''une fois'' || {{nowrap|(ina giada)}} || (una volta) || ''una vez'' || ''uma vez'' || (o dată) || {{nowrap|''una vegada''}}<br />{{nowrap|(un cop, <br />una volta)}} || (una borta) || {{nowrap|''una fes''}}<br />{{nowrap|(un còp)}}|| ''n iede'' || ''na vota''
|-
|children/infants || ''liberi / infantes'' || ''infantes'' || ''enfants'' || ''enfants'' || ''unfants'' || {{nowrap|(bambini) /}}<br />''infanti''|| (niños) /<br />''infantes'' || infantes (crianças) || (copii) / ''infanți'' || {{nowrap|(nens, etc.) /}}<br /> ''infants'' || (pipius) / (pitzinnos) || {{nowrap|(mainatge, dròlles) /}}''enfants'' || ''mutons'' || ''criature''
|-
| to blow || ''flare / sofflare'' || ''suflare'' || ''sofllar'' || ''souffler'' || ''suflar'' || ''soffiare'' || ''soplar'' || ''soprar'' || (a) sufla || (bufar) || ''sulai'' / ''sulare'' || ''bufar'' || ''suflé'' || ''sciuscià''
|-
| to sing || ''canere'' || ''cantare'' || ''chantar'' || ''chanter'' || ''chantar'' || ''cantare'' || ''cantar'' || ''cantar'' || (a) cânta || ''cantar'' || ''cantai'' / ''cantare'' || ''cantar'' || ''cianté'' || ''cantà''
|-
| the best (plur.) || ''optimi / meliores'' || ''meliores'' || los ''mèlyors'' || les ''meilleurs'' || {{nowrap|ils ''megliers''}} || i ''migliori'' || {{nowrap|los ''mejores''}} || {{nowrap|os ''melhores''}} || (optimi, <br />{{nowrap|cei mai buni)}} || els ''millors'' || ''is mellus'' / ''sos menzus'' || ''Los/lei melhors'' || ''i miëures'' || ''<nowiki/>'e meglie''
|-
| beautiful || ''pulchra / bella'' || ''bella'' || ''bèla'' || ''belle'' || ''bella'' || ''bella'' || {{nowrap|(hermosa, bonita, linda) /}}<br />''bella'' || ''bela'' /<br /> (formosa, bonita, linda) || frumoasă || (bonica, polida) /<br />''bella'' || ''bella'' || {{nowrap|(polida) /}}''bèla'' || ''bela'' || ''bella''
|-
| in the mouth || in ''ore'' || in ''bucca'' || {{nowrap|en la ''boche''}} || {{nowrap|dans la ''bouche''}} || {{nowrap|in la ''bucca''}} || {{nowrap|nella ''bocca''}} || en la ''boca'' || na ''boca<ref>"Na" is a [[contraction (grammar)|contraction]] of "em" (in) + "a" (the), the form "em a" is never used, it is always replaced by "na". The same happens with other prepositions: "de" (of) + o/a/os/as (singular and plural forms for "the" in masculine and feminine) = do, da, dos, das; etc.</ref>'' || (în gură) / în ''bucă''<ref>A more accurate translation for "in the mouth" would be "în gura / în buca", while "în gură / în bucă" would be "in mouth", it depends on the context / formulation. The word "bucă" is somewhat archaic, considered slightly vulgar, mostly used as a slang version of the word "mouth". The term "kitchen" translates as "bucătărie".</ref> (a îmbuca)<ref>Verb; literally means "to put in mouth"</ref> || a la ''boca'' || ''in sa buca'' || ''dins la boca'' || ''te la bocia'' || ''<nowiki/>'n bocca'' (/ˈmmokkə/)
|-
| winter || ''hiems'' || ''hibernus'' || ''hivèrn'' || ''hiver'' || ''inviern'' || ''inverno'' || ''invierno'' || ''inverno'' || ''iarnă'' || ''hivern'' || ''ierru'' / ''iberru'' || ''ivèrn'' || ''inviern'' || ''vierno''
|}

In all of the above examples, the words appearing in the fourth century Vulgate are the same words as would have been used in [[Classical Latin]] of c. 50 BC. It is likely that some of these words had already disappeared from casual speech by the time of the ''Glosses''; but if so, they may well have been still widely understood, as there is no recorded evidence that the common people of the time had difficulty understanding the language. By the 8th century, the situation was very different. During the late 8th century, [[Charlemagne]], holding that "Latin of his age was by classical standards intolerably corrupt",<ref name="price" />{{rp|6}} successfully imposed [[Classical Latin]] as an artificial written vernacular for [[Western Europe]]. Unfortunately, this meant that parishioners could no longer understand the sermons of their priests, forcing the [[Council of Tours 813|Council of Tours in 813]] to issue an edict that priests needed to translate their speeches into the {{lang|la|rustica romana lingua}}, an explicit acknowledgement of the reality of the Romance languages as separate languages from Latin.<ref name="price" />{{rp|6}}

By this time, and possibly as early as the 6th century according to Price (1984),<ref name="price" />{{rp|6}} the Romance [[variety (linguistics)|lects]] had split apart enough to be able to speak of separate [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]], [[Iberian Romance languages|Ibero-Romance]], [[Italo-Dalmatian languages|Italo-Romance]] and [[Eastern Romance languages]]. Some researchers{{who|date=June 2017}} have postulated that the major divergences in the spoken dialects began or accelerated considerably in the 5th century, as the formerly widespread and efficient communication networks of the [[Western Roman Empire]] rapidly broke down, leading to the total disappearance of the Western Roman Empire by the end of the century. During the period between the 5th–10th centuries AD Romance vernaculars documentation is scarce as the normal writing language used was [[Medieval Latin]], with vernacular writing only beginning in earnest in the 11th or 12th century. The earliest such texts are the [[Indovinello veronese|Indovinello Veronese]] from the eight century and the [[Oaths of Strasbourg]] from the second half of the ninth century.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Frank-Job |first1=Barbara |last2=Selig |first2=Maria |date=2016 |editor-last=Ledgeway |editor-first=Adam |editor2-last=Maiden |editor2-first=Martin |title=The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199677108.001.0001 |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=Oxford Academic |page=24|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199677108.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-967710-8 }}</ref>

=== Recognition of the vernaculars ===
[[File:Germanic – Romance language border map (early Middle Ages – early twentieth century).svg|thumb|upright=1.59|right|Romance – Germanic language border:<ref>{{Cite book|last=van Durme|first=Luc|url=http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~rwillemy/229_LanguageContact2002.pdf|title=Language Contact at the Romance–Germanic Language Border|publisher=Multilingual Matters|year=2002|isbn=978-1-85359-627-8|editor-last=Treffers-Daller|editor-first=Jeanine|page=13|chapter=Genesis and Evolution of the Romance-Germanic Language Border in Europe|editor-last2=Willemyns|editor-first2=Roland|access-date=2020-09-15|archive-date=2020-09-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916212242/http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~rwillemy/229_LanguageContact2002.pdf|url-status=dead }}</ref> <br /> • Early Middle Ages {{color box|Green}} <br /> • Early Twentieth Century {{color box|Red}}]]
From the 10th century onwards, some local [[vernacular]]s developed a written form and began to supplant Latin in many of its roles.<ref name= "Wright">{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Roger |date=2013 |editor-last=Maiden |editor-first=Martin |editor2-last=Smith |editor2-first=John Charles |editor3-last=Ledgeway |editor3-first=Adam |title=The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages: Volume 2 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CHO9781139019996 |access-date=27 March 2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press  |page=118 |doi=10.1017/CHO9781139019996 |isbn=978-1-139-01999-6 }}</ref> In some countries, such as [[Portugal]], this transition was expedited by force of law; whereas in others, such as [[Italy]], many prominent poets and writers used the vernacular of their own accord – some of the most famous in Italy being [[Giacomo da Lentini]] and [[Dante Alighieri]]. Well before that, the vernacular was also used for practical purposes, such as the testimonies in the [[Placiti Cassinesi]], written 960–963.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages {{!}} Historical linguistics |url=https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/european-language-and-linguistics/cambridge-history-romance-languages-volume-2,%20https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/languages-linguistics/historical-linguistics |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=Cambridge University Press |language=en}}</ref>

=== Uniformization and standardization ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2022}}
The invention of the [[printing press]] brought a tendency towards greater uniformity of [[standard language]]s within political boundaries, at the expense of other Romance languages and [[dialect]]s less favored politically. In France, for instance, the dialect spoken in the region of Paris gradually spread to the entire country, and the [[Occitan language|Occitan]] of the south lost ground.

== Samples ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2022}}
Lexical and grammatical similarities among the Romance languages, and between Latin and each of them, are apparent from the following examples in various Romance [[variety (linguistics)|lects]], all meaning 'She always closes the window before she dines/before dining'.
:{| cellspacing="3px"

| [[Latin]] || {{lang|la|(Ea) semper antequam cenat fenestram claudit.}}
|-
| [[Bari dialect|Apulian]] || <!-- code for Neapolitan -->{{lang|nap|(Ièdde) achiùde sèmbe la fenèstre prime de mangè.}}
|-
| [[Aragonese language|Aragonese]] || {{lang|an|(Ella) zarra siempre a finestra antes de cenar.}}
|-
| [[Aromanian language|Aromanian]] || {{lang|rup|(Ea/Nâsa) ãncljidi/nkidi totna firida/fireastra ninti di tsinã.}}
|-
| [[Asturian language|Asturian]] || {{lang|ast|(Ella) pieslla/ciarra siempres la ventana enantes de cenar.}}
|-
| [[Cantabrian dialect|Cantabrian]] || <!-- code for Asturian -->{{lang|ast|(Ella) tranca siempri la ventana enantis de cenar.}}
|-
| [[Catalan language|Catalan]] || {{lang|ca|(Ella) sempre/tostemps tanca la finestra abans de sopar.}}
|-
| [[Corsican language#Northern Corsican|Northern Corsican]] || {{lang|co|Ella chjode/chjude sempre lu/u purtellu avanti/nanzu di cenà}}.
|-
| [[Corsican language#Southern Corsican|Southern Corsican]] || {{lang|co|Edda/Idda sarra/serra sempri u purteddu nanzu/prima di cinà}}.
|-
| [[Dalmatian language|Dalmatian]] || Jala insiara sianpro el balkáun anínč de kenúr.
|-
| [[Eastern Lombard]] || (Le) la sàra sèmper la fenèstra prìma de diznà.
|-
| [[Emilian dialect|Emilian]] ([[Reggiano dialect|Reggiano]]) || {{lang|egl|(Lē) la sèra sèmpar sù la fnèstra prima ad snàr.}}
|-
| [[Emilian language|Emilian]] ([[Bolognese dialect|Bolognese]]) || <!-- code for Emiliano -->{{lang|egl|(Lî) la sèra sänper la fnèstra prémma ed dṡnèr.}}
|-
| [[Emilian language|Emilian]] ([[:it:Dialetto piacentino#cite note-Template ISO 639-1|Placentine]]) || Ad sira lé la sèra seimpar la finéstra prima da seina.
|-
| [[Extremaduran language|Extremaduran]] || {{lang|ext|(Ella) afecha siempri la ventana antis de cenal.}}
|-
| [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]] || {{lang|frp|(Le) sarre toltin/tojor la fenétra avan de goutâ/dinar/sopar.}}
|-
| [[French language|French]] || {{lang|fr|Elle ferme toujours la fenêtre avant de dîner/souper.}}
|-
| [[Friulian language|Friulian]] || {{lang|fur|(Jê) e siere simpri il barcon prin di cenâ.}}
|-
| [[Galician language|Galician]] || {{lang|gl|(Ela) pecha/fecha sempre a fiestra/xanela antes de cear.}}
|-
| [[Gallurese dialect|Gallurese]] || {{lang|sdn|Idda chjude sempri lu balconi primma di cinà.}}
|-
| [[Italian language|Italian]] || {{lang|it|(Ella/lei) chiude sempre la finestra prima di cenare.}}
|-
| [[Judaeo-Spanish]] || {{lang|lad-Hebr|{{script|Hebr|{{Nastaliq|אֵילייה סֵירּה שֵׂימפּרֵי לה װֵינטאנה אנטֵיז דֵי סֵינאר.}}}}}}<br />{{lang|lad-Latn|Ella cerra sempre la ventana antes de cenar.}}
|-
| [[Ladin language|Ladin]] || Badiot: {{lang|lld|Ëra stlüj dagnora la finestra impröma de cenè.}}<br />Centro Cadore: {{lang|lld|La sera sempre la fenestra gnante de disna.}}<br />Auronzo di Cadore: {{lang|lld|La sera sempro la fenestra davoi de disnà.}}<br />Gherdëina: {{lang|lld|Ëila stluj for l viere dan maië da cëina.}}
|-
| [[Leonese dialect|Leonese]] || <!-- code for Asturian -->{{lang|ast|(Eilla) pecha/zarra siempre la ventana enantias de cenare.}}
|-
| [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]] || {{lang|lij|(Le) a saera sempre u barcun primma de cenà.}}
|-
| [[Eastern Lombard dialect|Lombard (east.)<br />(Bergamasque)]] || {{lang|lmo|(Lé) la sèra sèmper sö la finèstra prima de senà.}}
|-
| [[Western Lombard dialect|Lombard (west.)]] || {{lang|lmo|(Lee) la sara sù semper la finestra primma de disnà/scenà.}}
|-
| [[Magoua dialect|Magoua]] || <!-- code for French -->{{lang|fr|(Elle) à fàrm toujour là fnèt àvan k'à manj.}}
|-
| [[Mirandese language|Mirandese]] || {{lang|mwl|(Eilha) cerra siempre la bentana/jinela atrás de cenar.}}
|-
| [[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]] || {{lang|nap|Essa 'nzerra sempe 'a fenesta primma d'a cena / 'e magnà.}}
|-
| [[Norman language|Norman]] || {{lang|nrf|Lli barre tréjous la crouésie devaunt de daîner.}}
|-
| [[Occitan language|Occitan]] || {{lang|oc|(Ela) barra/tanca sempre/totjorn la fenèstra abans de sopar.}}
|-
| [[Picard language|Picard]] || {{lang|pcd|Ale frunme toudi ch'croésèe édvint éd souper.}}
|-
| [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]] || {{lang|pms|Chila a sara sèmper la fnestra dnans ëd fé sin-a/dnans ëd siné.}}
|-
| [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] || {{lang|pt|(Ela) fecha sempre a janela antes de jantar.}}
|-
| [[Romagnol dialect|Romagnol]] || {{lang|rgn|(Lia) la ciud sëmpra la fnèstra prëma ad magnè.}}
|-
| [[Romanian language|Romanian]] || {{lang|ro|(Ea) închide întotdeauna fereastra înainte de a cina.}}
|-
| [[Romansh language|Romansh]] || {{lang|rm|Ella clauda/serra adina la fanestra avant ch'ella tschainia.}}
|-
| [[Campidanese dialect|South Sardinian (Campidanese)]] || {{lang|sro|Issa serrat semp(i)ri sa bentana in antis de cenai}}
|-
| [[Logudorese dialect|North Sardinian (Logudorese)]] || {{lang|src|Issa serrat semper sa bentana in antis de chenàre.}}
|-
| [[Sassarese language|Sassarese]] || {{lang|sdc|Edda sarra sempri lu balchoni primma di zinà.}}
|-
| [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] || {{lang|scn|Iḍḍa ncasa sempri a finesṭṛa prima 'i manciari â sira.}}
|-
| [[Spanish language|Spanish]] || {{lang|es|(Ella) siempre cierra la ventana antes de cenar/comer.}}
|-
| [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] || <!-- code for Italian -->{{lang|it|Lei chiude sempre la finestra prima di cenà.}}
|-
| [[Central Italian|Umbrian]] || <!-- code for Italian -->{{lang|it|Lia chiude sempre la finestra prima de cenà.}}
|-
| [[Venetian language|Venetian]] || {{lang|vec|(Eła) ła sara/sera senpre ła fenestra vanti de diznar.}}
|-
| [[Walloon language|Walloon]] || {{lang|wa|Èle sere todi l'fignèsse divant d'soper.}}
|}

:{| cellspacing="3px"
|+ '''Romance-based creoles and pidgins'''
|-
| [[Haitian Creole]] || {{lang|ht|Li toujou fèmen fenèt la avan li mange.}}
|-
| [[Mauritian Creole]] || {{lang|mfe|Li touzour ferm lafnet avan (li) manze.}}
|-
| [[Seychellois Creole]] || {{lang|crs|Y pou touzour ferm lafnet aven y manze.}}
|-
| [[Papiamento]] || {{lang|pap|E muhe semper ta sera e bentana promé ku e kome.}}
|-
| [[Cape Verdean Creole|Kriolu]] || {{lang|kea|Êl fechâ sempre janela antes de jantâ.}}
|-
| [[Chavacano]] || {{lang|cbk|Ta cerrá él siempre con la ventana antes de cená.}}
|-
| [[Palenquero]] || {{lang|cbk|Ele ta cerrá siempre ventana antes de cená.}}
|}

Some of the divergence comes from [[semantic change]]: where the same root words have developed different meanings. For example, the Portuguese word {{lang|pt|fresta}} is descended from Latin {{lang|la|fenestra}} "window" (and is thus [[cognate]] to French {{lang|fr|fenêtre}}, Italian {{lang|it|finestra}}, Romanian {{lang|ro|fereastră}} and so on), but now means "skylight" and "slit". Cognates may exist but have become rare, such as {{lang|es|hiniestra}} in Spanish, or dropped out of use entirely. The Spanish and Portuguese terms {{lang|es|defenestrar}} meaning "to [[defenestration|throw through a window]]" and {{lang|es|fenestrado}} meaning "replete with windows" also have the same root, but are later borrowings from Latin.

Likewise, Portuguese also has the word {{lang|pt|cear}}, a cognate of Italian {{lang|it|cenare}} and Spanish {{lang|es|cenar}}, but uses it in the sense of "to have a late supper" in most varieties, while the preferred word for "to dine" is {{lang|pt|jantar}} (related to archaic Spanish {{lang|es|yantar}} "to eat") because of semantic changes in the 19th century. Galician has both {{lang|gl|fiestra}} (from medieval ''fẽestra'', the ancestor of standard Portuguese {{lang|pt|fresta}}) and the less frequently used {{lang|gl|ventá}} and {{lang|gl|xanela}}.

As an alternative to {{lang|it|lei}} (originally the genitive form), Italian has the pronoun {{lang|it|ella}}, a cognate of the other words for "she", but it is hardly ever used in speaking.

Spanish, Asturian, and Leonese {{lang|es|ventana}} and Mirandese and Sardinian {{lang|mwl|bentana}} come from Latin {{lang|la|ventus}} "wind" (cf. English ''window'', etymologically 'wind eye'), and Portuguese {{lang|pt|janela}}, Galician {{lang|gl|xanela}}, Mirandese {{lang|mwl|jinela}} from Latin *{{lang|la|ianuella}} "small opening", a derivative of {{lang|la|ianua}} "door".

Sardinian {{lang|sc|balcone}} (alternative for {{lang|sc|ventàna}}/{{lang|sc|bentàna}}) comes from Old Italian and is similar to other Romance languages such as French {{lang|fr|balcon}} (from Italian {{lang|it|balcone}}), Portuguese {{lang|pt|balcão}}, Romanian {{lang|ro|balcon}}, Spanish {{lang|es|balcón}}, Catalan {{lang|ca|balcó}} and Corsican {{lang|co|balconi}} (alternative for {{lang|co|purtellu}}).

== Classification and related languages ==
{{Main|Classification of Romance languages}}

Along with Latin and a few extinct languages of ancient Italy, the Romance languages make up the [[Italic languages|Italic branch]] of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European family]].<ref name="Britannica Online" /> Identifying subdivisions of the Romance languages is inherently problematic, because most of the linguistic area is a [[dialect continuum]], and in some cases political biases can come into play. A tree model is often used, but the selection of criteria results in different trees. Most classification schemes are, implicitly or not, historical and geographic, resulting in groupings such as [[Iberian Romance languages|Ibero-]] and [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]. A major division can be drawn between Eastern and Western Romance, separated by the [[La Spezia–Rimini Line|La Spezia-Rimini line]].
[[File:Idiomas y dialectos romances.png|upright=1.36|thumb|Romance languages and dialects]]
The main subfamilies that have been proposed by [[Ethnologue]] within the various classification schemes for Romance languages are:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Romance {{!}} Ethnologue Free |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/259/ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=Ethnologue (Free All) |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]], the largest group, which includes languages such as Galician, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and French.
* [[Eastern Romance languages|Eastern Romance]], which includes Romanian and closely related languages.
* [[Southern Romance languages|Southern Romance]], which includes Sardinian and Corsican (even if Corsican is considered by some linguists to be a form of [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]], so Italo-Western). This family is thought to have included the now-vanished Romance languages of [[North Africa]] (or at least, they appear to have evolved some phonological features and their vowels in the same way).

=== Ranking by distance ===
Another approach involves attempts to rank the distance of Romance languages from each other or from their common ancestor (i.e. ranking languages based on how [[Conservative and innovative language|conservative or innovative]] they are, although the same language may be conservative in some respects while innovative in others). By most measures, French is the most highly differentiated Romance language, although Romanian has changed the greatest amount of its vocabulary, while Italian<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fleure |first=H. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yFfvAgAAQBAJ&dq=Italian+most+direct+descendant+of+Latin&pg=PA34 |title=The peoples of Europe |publisher=Рипол Классик |isbn=978-1-176-92698-1 |access-date=2023-08-18 |archive-date=2023-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918110057/https://books.google.com/books?id=yFfvAgAAQBAJ&dq=Italian+most+direct+descendant+of+Latin&pg=PA34 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |year=1942 |title=Hermathena |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2MUAAAAIAAJ&q=Italian+most+direct+descendant+of+Latin |access-date=2023-08-18 |archive-date=2023-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918110014/https://books.google.com/books?id=q2MUAAAAIAAJ&q=Italian+most+direct+descendant+of+Latin |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Winters |first=Margaret E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVPdDwAAQBAJ&dq=Italian+most+direct+descendant+of+Latin&pg=PA34 |title=Historical Linguistics: A cognitive grammar introduction |year=2020 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |isbn=9789027261236 |access-date=18 August 2023 |archive-date=18 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918110014/https://books.google.com/books?id=yVPdDwAAQBAJ&dq=Italian+most+direct+descendant+of+Latin&pg=PA34 |url-status=live }}</ref> and Sardinian have changed the least. Standard Italian can be considered a "central" language, which is generally somewhat easy to understand to speakers of other Romance languages, whereas French and Romanian are peripheral and quite dissimilar from the rest of Romance.<ref name="Britannica Online" />

=== Pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages ===
Some Romance languages have developed varieties which seem dramatically restructured as to their grammars or to be mixtures with other languages. There are several dozens of creoles of [[French-based creole languages|French]], [[Spanish-based creole languages|Spanish]], and [[Portuguese-based creole languages|Portuguese]] origin, some of them spoken as [[national language]]s and lingua franca in former European colonies.

'''Creoles of French:'''
* [[Antillean Creole French|Antillean]] ([[French Antilles]], [[Saint Lucian Creole French|Saint Lucia]], [[Dominican Creole French|Dominica]]; majority native language)
* [[French Guianese Creole|French Guianese]] (native language of [[French Guiana]])
* [[Haitian Creole|Haitian]] (one of [[Haiti]]'s two official languages and majority native language)
* [[Karipúna French Creole|Karipúna]] (regional language in [[Brazil]])
* [[Louisiana Creole French|Louisiana]] (US)
* [[Mauritian Creole|Mauritian]] (''[[lingua franca]]'' of [[Mauritius]])
* [[Réunion Creole|Réunion]] (native language of [[Réunion]])
* [[Seychellois Creole|Seychellois]] ([[Seychelles]]' official language)
* [[Tayo Creole|Tayo]] (regional language in [[New Caledonia]])

'''Creoles of Spanish:'''
* [[Chavacano]] (in part of the [[Philippines]])
* [[Palenquero]] (in part of [[Colombia]])

'''Creoles of Portuguese:'''
* [[Angolar Creole|Angolar]] (regional language in [[São Tomé and Príncipe]])
* [[Cape Verdean Creole|Cape Verdean]] ([[Cape Verde]]'s national language and lingua franca; includes several distinct varieties)
* [[Daman and Diu Portuguese Creole|Daman and Diu Creole]] (regional language in [[India]])
* [[Forro Creole|Forro]] (regional language in [[São Tomé and Príncipe]])
* [[Guinea-Bissau Creole]] ([[Guinea-Bissau]]'s national language and lingua franca)
* [[Kristang language|Kristang]] ([[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]])
* [[kristi language|Kristi]] (regional language in [[India]])
* [[Macanese Patois|Macanese]] ([[Macau]])
* [[Papiamento]] ([[Dutch Antilles]] official language, majority native language, and lingua franca)

=== Auxiliary and constructed languages ===
{{Main|Constructed language|International auxiliary language}}
Latin and the Romance languages have also served as the inspiration and basis of numerous auxiliary and constructed languages, so-called "Neo-Romance languages".<ref>{{Cite web |title=NEO-ROMANTICISM IN LANGUAGE PLANNING (Edo BERNASCONI) |url=http://donh.best.vwh.net/Languages/novlatin.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204020228/http://donh.best.vwh.net/Languages/novlatin.html |archive-date=2015-02-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=NEO-ROMANTICISM IN LANGUAGE PLANNING (Edo BERNASCONI) |url=http://donh.best.vwh.net/Languages/novlatin2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710083231/http://donh.best.vwh.net/Languages/novlatin2.html |archive-date=2015-07-10}}</ref>

The concept was first developed in 1903 by Italian mathematician [[Giuseppe Peano]], under the title [[Latino sine flexione]].<ref name="peano-de">Peano, Giuseppe (1903). [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35803/35803-h/35803-h.htm "De Latino Sine Flexione. Lingua Auxiliare Internationale"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504093022/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35803/35803-h/35803-h.htm |date=2021-05-04 }}, ''Revista de Mathematica'' (''Revue de Mathématiques''), Tomo VIII, pp. 74–83. Fratres Bocca Editores: Torino.</ref> He wanted to create a ''naturalistic'' international language, as opposed to an autonomous constructed language like [[Esperanto]] or [[Volapük]] which were designed for maximal simplicity of lexicon and derivation of words. Peano used Latin as the base of his language because, as he described it, Latin had been the international scientific language until the end of the 18th century.<ref name="peano-de" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peano |first=Giuseppe |author-link=Giuseppe Peano |date=1903–1904 |title=Il latino quale lingua ausiliare internazionale |url=http://mono.eik.bme.hu/~galantai/LSF/interlingua/interlingua-07.jpg |journal=Atti della Reale Accad. Delle Scienze di Torino |language=Italian |volume=39 |pages=273–283 |access-date=2022-07-03 |archive-date=2023-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407174144/http://mono.eik.bme.hu/~galantai/LSF/interlingua/interlingua-07.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref>

Other languages developed include [[Idiom Neutral]] (1902), [[Interlingue]]-Occidental (1922), [[Interlingua]] (1951) and [[Lingua Franca Nova]] (1998). The most famous and successful of these is Interlingua.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} Each of these languages has attempted to varying degrees to achieve a pseudo-Latin vocabulary as common as possible to living Romance languages. Some languages have been constructed specifically for communication among speakers of Romance languages, the [[Pan-Romance language]]s.

There are also languages created for artistic purposes only, such as [[Talossa#Talossan language|Talossan]]. Because Latin is a very well attested ancient language, some amateur linguists have even constructed Romance languages that mirror real languages that developed from other ancestral languages. These include [[Brithenig]] (which mirrors [[Welsh language|Welsh]]), Breathanach<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eall fhoil de Bhreathanach |url=http://www.cix.co.uk/~morven/lang/breath.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610171257/http://www.cix.co.uk/~morven/lang/breath.html |archive-date=June 10, 2008}}</ref> (mirrors [[Irish language|Irish]]), [[Wenedyk]] (mirrors [[Polish language|Polish]]), Þrjótrunn (mirrors [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]]),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Henrik Theiling |date=2007-10-28 |title=Þrjótrunn: A North Romance Language: History |url=http://www.kunstsprachen.de/s17/s_02.html |access-date=2010-11-06 |publisher=Kunstsprachen.de |archive-date=2011-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722104504/http://www.kunstsprachen.de/s17/s_02.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and Helvetian (mirrors [[German language|German]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-08-28 |title=Relay0/R – Jelbazech |url=http://steen.free.fr/relay10/jelbazech.html |access-date=2010-11-06 |publisher=Steen.free.fr |archive-date=2011-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516015257/http://steen.free.fr/relay10/jelbazech.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Sound changes ==
{{Main|Phonological changes from Classical Latin to Proto-Romance}}
{{See also|Vulgar Latin}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2023}}

=== Consonants ===
Significant [[sound change]]s affected the consonants of the Romance languages.

==== Apocope ====
<!-- The following could use some examples. -->
There was a tendency to eliminate final consonants in Vulgar Latin, either by dropping them ([[apocope]]) or adding a vowel after them ([[epenthesis]]).

Many final consonants were rare, occurring only in certain prepositions (e.g. {{lang|la|ad}} "towards", {{lang|la|apud}} "at, near (a person)"), conjunctions ({{lang|la|sed}} "but"), demonstratives (e.g. {{lang|la|illud}} "that (over there)", {{lang|la|hoc}} "this"), and nominative singular noun forms, especially of neuter nouns (e.g. {{lang|la|lac}} "milk", {{lang|la|mel}} "honey", {{lang|la|cor}} "heart"). Many of these prepositions and conjunctions were replaced by others, while the nouns were regularized into forms based on their oblique stems that avoided the final consonants (e.g. *{{lang|la|lacte}}, *{{lang|la|mele}}, *{{lang|la|core}}).

Final ''-m'' was dropped in Vulgar Latin.<ref name="Gabriel, Gess, Meisenburg">{{Cite book |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110550283/html |title=Manual of Romance Phonetics and Phonology |year=2021|publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-055028-3 |editor-last=Gabriel |editor-first=Christoph |page=229 |doi=10.1515/9783110550283 |hdl=1983/44e3b3cd-164e-496b-a7a6-6b3a492e4c48 |s2cid=243922354 |editor-last2=Gess |editor-first2=Randall |editor-last3=Meisenburg |editor-first3=Trudel |access-date=2023-09-06 |archive-date=2023-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906182812/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110550283/html |url-status=live }}</ref> Even in [[Classical Latin]], final {{lang|la|-am}}, {{lang|la|-em}}, {{lang|la|-um}} ([[suffix#Inflectional suffixes|inflectional suffixes]] of the [[accusative case]]) were often [[elision|elided]] in [[meter (poetry)|poetic meter]], suggesting the {{lang|la|m}} was weakly pronounced, probably marking the [[nasal vowel|nasalisation]] of the vowel before it. This nasal vowel lost its nasalization in the Romance languages except in monosyllables, where it became {{IPA|/n/}} e.g. Spanish {{lang|es|quien}} < ''quem'' "whom",<ref name="Gabriel, Gess, Meisenburg" /> French {{lang|fr|rien}} "anything" < ''rem'' "thing";{{sfn|Boyd-Bowman|1980|p= 133}} note especially French and Catalan {{lang|fr|mon}} < ''meum'' "my (m.sg.)" which are derived from monosyllabic {{IPA|/meu̯m/}} > *{{IPA|/meu̯n/, /mun/}}, whereas Spanish disyllabic {{lang|es|mío}} and Portuguese and Catalan monosyllabic {{lang|pt|meu}} are derived from disyllabic {{IPA|/ˈme.um/}} > *{{IPA|/ˈmeo/}}.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

As a result, only the following final consonants occurred in Vulgar Latin:
* Final {{lang|la|-t}} in third-person singular verb forms, and {{lang|la|-nt}} (later reduced in many languages to ''-n'') in third-person plural verb forms.{{sfn|Maiden|2016|page=500}}
* Final {{lang|la|-s}} (including {{lang|la|-x}}) in a large number of morphological endings (verb endings {{lang|la|-ās/-ēs/-īs/-is}}, {{lang|la|-mus}}, {{lang|la|-tis}}; nominative singular {{lang|la|-us/-is}}; plural {{lang|la|-ās/-ōs/-ēs}}) and certain other words ({{lang|la|trēs}} "three", {{lang|la|sex}} "six", {{lang|la|crās}} "tomorrow", etc.).
* Final {{lang|la|-n}} in some monosyllables (often from earlier {{lang|la|-m}}).
* Final {{lang|la|-r}}, {{lang|la|-d}} in some prepositions (e.g. {{lang|la|ad}}, {{lang|la|per}}), which were [[clitic]]s{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} that attached phonologically to the following word.
* Very occasionally, final {{lang|la|-c}}, e.g. [[Occitan language|Occitan]] {{lang|oc|oc}} "yes" < ''hoc'', [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|avuec}} "with" < ''apud hoc'' (although these instances were possibly protected by a final [[epenthesis|epenthetic]] vowel at one point).

Final {{lang|la|-t}} was eventually lost in many languages, although this often occurred several centuries after the Vulgar Latin period. For example, the reflex of {{lang|fro|-t}} was dropped in [[Old French]] and [[Old Spanish]] only around 1100. In Old French, this occurred only when a vowel still preceded the {{lang|fro|t}} (generally {{IPA|/ə/}} < Latin {{lang|la|a}}). Hence ''amat'' "he loves" > Old French {{lang|fro|aime}} but ''venit'' "he comes" > Old French {{lang|fro|vient}}: the {{IPA|/t/}} was never dropped and survives into Modern French in [[liaison (French)|liaison]], e.g. {{lang|fr|vient-il?}} "is he coming?" {{IPA|/vjɛ̃ti(l)/}} (the corresponding {{IPA|/t/}} in ''aime-t-il?'' is analogical, not inherited). Old French also kept the third-person plural ending {{lang|fro|-nt}} intact.

In Italo-Romance and the [[Eastern Romance languages]], eventually all final consonants were either lost or protected by an epenthetic vowel, except for some articles and a few monosyllabic prepositions ''con'', ''per'', ''in''. Modern Standard Italian still has very few consonant-final words, although Romanian has resurfaced them through later loss of final {{IPA|/u/}} and {{IPA|/i/}}. For example, ''amās'' "you love" > ''ame'' > Italian {{lang|it|ami}}; ''amant'' "they love" > *''aman'' > Ital. {{lang|it|amano}}. On the evidence of "sloppily written" [[Lombardic language]] documents, however, the loss of final {{IPA|/s/}} in northern Italy did not occur until the 7th or 8th century, after the Vulgar Latin period, and the presence of many former final consonants is betrayed by the [[syntactic gemination]] (''raddoppiamento sintattico'') that they trigger. It is also thought that after a long vowel {{IPA|/s/}} became {{IPA|/j/}} rather than simply disappearing: ''nōs'' > ''noi'' "we", ''crās'' > ''crai'' "tomorrow" (southern Italy).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sampson |first=Rodney |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/423583247 |title=Vowel prosthesis in Romance: a diachronic study |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-954115-7 |series=Oxford linguistics |location=Oxford |oclc=423583247}}</ref> In unstressed syllables, the resulting diphthongs were simplified: ''canēs'' > *{{IPA|/ˈkanej/}} > ''cani'' "dogs"; ''amīcās'' > *{{IPA|/aˈmikaj/}} > ''amiche'' {{IPA|/aˈmike/}} "(female) friends", where nominative ''amīcae'' should produce ''**amice'' rather than ''amiche'' (note masculine ''amīcī'' > ''amici'' not ''*amichi'').

Central [[Western Romance languages]] eventually regained a large number of final consonants through the general loss of final {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}}, e.g. Catalan {{lang|ca|llet}} "milk" < ''lactem'', {{lang|ca|foc}} "fire" < ''focum'', {{lang|ca|peix}} "fish" < ''piscem''. In French, most of these secondary final consonants (as well as primary ones) were lost before around 1700, but tertiary final consonants later arose through the loss of {{IPA|/ə/}} < ''-a''. Hence masculine ''frīgidum'' "cold" > Old French {{lang|fro|froit}} {{IPA|/'frwεt/}} > ''froid'' {{IPA|/fʁwa/}}, feminine ''frīgidam'' > Old French {{lang|fro|froide}} {{IPA|/'frwεdə/}} > ''froide'' {{IPA|/fʁwad/}}.

==== Palatalization ====
{{Main|Palatalization in the Romance languages}}
In Romance languages the term 'palatalization' is used to describe the phonetic evolution of velar stops preceding a front vowel and of consonant clusters involving yod or of the palatal approximant itself.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barbato |first=Marcello |date=20 June 2022 |title=The Early History of Romance Palatalizations |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.750 |access-date=11 September 2023 |website=oxfordre.com |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.750 |isbn=978-0-19-938465-5 |archive-date=18 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918110528/https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-750 |url-status=live }}</ref> The process involving gestural blending and articulatory reinforcement, starting from [[Late Latin]] and Early Romance, generated a new series of consonants in Romance languages.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Recasens |first=Daniel |date=30 July 2020 |title=Palatalizations in the Romance Languages |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.435 |access-date=11 September 2023 |website=oxfordre.com |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.435 |isbn=978-0-19-938465-5 |archive-date=18 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918110527/https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-435 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Lenition ====
<!-- The following could use some examples. -->
[[Stop consonant]]s shifted by [[lenition]] in Vulgar Latin in some areas.

The voiced [[labial consonant]]s {{IPA|/b/}} and {{IPA|/w/}} (represented by {{angbr|b}} and {{angbr|v}}, respectively) both developed a [[voiced bilabial fricative|fricative]] {{IPA|[β]}} as an intervocalic allophone.<ref>Pope (1934).</ref> This is clear from the orthography; in medieval times, the spelling of a consonantal {{angbr|v}} is often used for what had been a {{angbr|b}} in Classical Latin, or the two spellings were used interchangeably. In many Romance languages (Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, etc.), this fricative later developed into a {{IPA|/v/}}; but in others (Spanish, Galician, some Catalan and Occitan dialects, etc.) reflexes of {{IPA|/b/}} and {{IPA|/w/}} simply merged into a single phoneme.{{sfn|Alkire|Rosen|2010|pp=32–33}}

Several other consonants were "softened" in intervocalic position in Western Romance (Spanish, Portuguese, French, Northern Italian), but normally not phonemically in the rest of Italy (except some cases of "elegant" or Ecclesiastical words),{{Clarification needed|date=March 2024}} nor apparently at all in Romanian. The dividing line between the two sets of dialects is called the [[La Spezia–Rimini Line]] and is one of the most important [[isogloss]] bundles of the Romance dialects.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marotta |first=Giovanna |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-romance-linguistics/phonetics-and-phonology/31D83420153A0D7655CFE38EF54CF443 |title=The Cambridge Handbook of Romance Linguistics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-108-48579-1 |editor-last=Ledgeway |editor-first=Adam |series=Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics |pages=181–318 |chapter=Structure of the Syllable – 5.5.3 Lenition |doi=10.1017/9781108580410.006 |editor-last2=Maiden |editor-first2=Martin}}</ref> The changes (instances of diachronic lenition resulting in [[phonological change|phonological restructuring]]) are as follows:
Single voiceless plosives became [[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]: ''-p-, -t-, -c-'' > ''-b-, -d-, -g-''. Subsequently, in some languages they were further weakened, either becoming [[fricative]]s or [[approximant consonant|approximants]], {{IPA|[β̞], [ð̞], [ɣ˕]}} (as in Spanish) or disappearing entirely (such as {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/k/}} lost between vowels in French, but {{IPA|/p/}} > {{IPA|/v/}}). The following example shows progressive weakening of original /t/: e.g. ''vītam'' > Italian ''vita'' {{IPA|[ˈviːta]}}, Portuguese ''vida'' {{IPA|[ˈvidɐ]}} (European Portuguese {{IPA|[ˈviðɐ]}}), Spanish ''vida'' {{IPA|[ˈbiða]}} (Southern Peninsular Spanish {{IPA|[ˈbi.a]}}), and French ''vie'' {{IPA|[vi]}}. Some scholars have speculated that these sound changes may be due in part to the influence of [[Continental Celtic languages]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Martinet |first=André |date=1952 |title=Celtic lenition and Western Romance consonants |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/410513 |journal=Language |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=214–217 |doi=10.2307/410513 |jstor=410513 |access-date=2022-11-26 |archive-date=2022-11-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126165155/https://www.jstor.org/stable/410513 |url-status=live }}</ref> while scholarship of the past few decades has proposed internal motivations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cravens |first=Thomas D. |title=Comparative historical dialectology: Italo-Romance clues to Ibero-Romance sound change |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |year=2002}}</ref>
* The voiced plosives {{IPA|/d/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} tended to disappear.
* The plain [[sibilant consonant|sibilant]] ''-s-'' {{IPA|[s]}} was also voiced to {{IPA|[z]}} between vowels, although in many languages its spelling has not changed. (In Spanish, intervocalic {{IPA|[z]}} was later devoiced back to {{IPA|[s]}}; {{IPA|[z]}} is only found as an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/s/}} before voiced consonants in Modern Spanish.)
* The [[geminate consonant|double]] plosives became single: ''-pp-, -tt-, -cc-, -bb-, -dd-, -gg-'' > ''-p-, -t-, -c-, -b-, -d-, -g-'' in most languages. Subsequently, in some languages the voiced forms were further weakened, either becoming fricatives or approximants, {{IPA|[β̞], [ð̞], [ɣ˕]}} (as in Spanish). In French spelling, double consonants are merely etymological, except for -ll- after -i (pronounced [ij]), in most cases.
* The double sibilant ''-ss-'' {{IPA|[sː]}} also became phonetically and phonemically single {{IPA|[s]}}, although in many languages its spelling has not changed. Double sibilant remains in some [[languages of Italy]], like Italian, Sardinian, and Sicilian.

The sound /h/ was lost but later reintroduced into individual Romance languages. The so-called ''h aspiré'' "aspirated h" in French, now completely silent, was a borrowing from [[Frankish language|Frankish]]. In Spanish, word-initial /f/ changed to /h/ during its [[Old Spanish|Medieval stage]] and was lost afterwards (for example ''farina'' > ''harina'').{{sfn|Alkire|Rosen|2010|p=34}} Romanian acquired it most likely from the adstrate.<ref name="Sala">{{Cite book |last=Sala |first=Marius |title=De la Latină la Română |publisher=Editura Pro Universitaria |year=2012 |isbn=978-606-647-435-1 |page=157 |trans-title=From Latin to Romanian}}</ref>

[[Geminate consonant|Consonant length]] is no longer phonemically distinctive in most Romance languages. However some [[languages of Italy]] (Italian, [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]], Sicilian, and numerous other varieties of central and southern Italy) do have long consonants like {{IPA|/bb/, /dd/, /ɡɡ/, /pp/, /tt/, /kk/, /ll/, /mm/, /nn/, /rr/, /ss/}}, etc., where the doubling indicates either actual length or, in the case of [[plosive consonants|plosives]] and [[affricate]]s, a short hold before the consonant is released, in many cases with distinctive lexical value: e.g. ''note'' {{IPA|/ˈnɔte/}} (notes) vs. ''notte'' {{IPA|/ˈnɔtte/}} (night), ''cade'' {{IPA|/ˈkade/}} (s/he, it falls) vs. ''cadde'' {{IPA|/ˈkadde/}} (s/he, it fell), ''caro'' {{IPA|/ˈkaro/}} (dear, expensive) vs. ''carro'' {{IPA|/ˈkarro/}} (cart, car). They may even occur at the beginning of words in [[Romanesco dialect|Romanesco]], Neapolitan, Sicilian and other southern varieties, and are occasionally indicated in writing, e.g. Sicilian ''cchiù'' (more), and ''ccà'' (here). In general, the consonants {{IPA|/b/}}, {{IPA|/ts/}}, and {{IPA|/dz/}} are long at the start of a word, while the [[archiphoneme]] {{IPA|<nowiki>|R|</nowiki>}}{{dubious|date=May 2017}} is realised as a [[trill consonant|trill]] {{IPA|/r/}} in the same position. In much of central and southern Italy, the affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ weaken synchronically to fricative [ʃ] and [ʒ] between vowels, while their geminate congeners do not, e.g. ''cacio'' {{IPA|/ˈkatʃo/ → [ˈkaːʃo]}} (cheese) vs. ''caccio'' {{IPA|/ˈkattʃo/ → [ˈkattʃo]}} (I chase). In Italian the geminates /ʃʃ/, /ɲɲ/, and /ʎʎ/ are pronounced as long [ʃʃ], [ɲɲ], and [ʎʎ] between vowels, but normally reduced to short following pause: ''lasciare'' 'let, leave' or ''la sciarpa'' 'the scarf' with [ʃʃ], but post-pausal ''sciarpa'' with [ʃ].

A few languages have regained secondary geminate consonants. The double consonants of [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]] exist only after stressed {{IPA|/ə/}}, written ''ë'', and are not etymological: ''vëdde'' (Latin ''vidēre'', to see), ''sëcca'' (Latin ''sicca'', dry, feminine of ''sech''). In standard Catalan and Occitan, there exists a geminate sound {{IPA|/lː/}} written ''ŀl'' (Catalan) or ''ll'' (Occitan), but it is usually pronounced as a simple sound in colloquial (and even some formal) speech in both languages.

==== Vowel prosthesis ====
In [[Late Latin]] a [[prothesis (linguistics)|prosthetic]] vowel /i/ (lowered to /e/ in most languages) was inserted at the beginning of any word that began with {{IPA|/s/}} (referred to as ''s impura'') and a voiceless consonant (#sC- > isC-):{{sfn|Alkire|Rosen|2010|p=26}}
* ''scrībere'' 'to write' > Sardinian ''iscribere'', Spanish ''escribir'', Portuguese ''escrever'', Catalan ''escriure'', Old French ''escri(v)re'' (mod. ''écrire'');
* ''spatha'' "sword" > Sard ''ispada'', Sp/Pg ''espada'', Cat ''espasa'', OFr ''espeḍe'' (modern ''épée'');
* ''spiritus'' "spirit" > Sard ''ispìritu'', Sp ''espíritu'', Pg ''espírito'', Cat ''esperit'', French ''esprit'';
* ''Stephanum'' "Stephen" > Sard ''Istèvene'', Sp ''Esteban'', Cat ''Esteve'', Pg ''Estêvão'', OFr ''Estievne'' (mod. ''Étienne'');
* ''status'' "state" > Sard ''istadu'', Sp/Pg ''estado'', Cat ''estat'', OFr ''estat'' (mod. ''état'').
While Western Romance words fused the prosthetic vowel with the word, cognates in Eastern Romance and southern Italo-Romance did not, e.g. Italian ''scrivere'', ''spada'', ''spirito'', ''Stefano'', and ''stato'', Romanian ''scrie'', ''spată'', ''spirit'', ''Ștefan'' and ''stat''. In Italian, syllabification rules were preserved instead by vowel-final articles, thus feminine ''spada'' as ''la spada'', but instead of rendering the masculine ''*il stato'', ''lo stato'' came to be the norm. Though receding at present, Italian once had a prosthetic {{IPA|/i/}} maintaining /s/ syllable-final if a consonant preceded such clusters, so that 'in Switzerland' was ''in'' {{IPA|[i]}}''Svizzera''. Some speakers still use the prothetic {{IPA|[i]}} productively, and it is fossilized in a few set locutions such as ''in ispecie'' 'especially' or ''per iscritto'' 'in writing' (a form whose survival may have been buttressed in part by the word ''iscritto'' < Latin ''īnscrīptus'').

=== Stressed vowels ===
==== Loss of vowel length, reorientation ====
<!-- Setting the default font to Arial Unicode MS should make the IPA work out-of-the-box in IE-->
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em; text-align:center;"
|+ Evolution of stressed vowels in early Romance
|-
! colspan="3"| Classical !! Sardinian !! Eastern Romance
! colspan="2" |Proto-<br />Romance !! Western Romance!! Sicilian
|-
! Acad.<sup>1</sup> !! Roman !! [[Help:IPA|IPA]]
! colspan="2" |[[Help:IPA|IPA]]!! Acad.<sup>1</sup>
![[Help:IPA|IPA]]
! colspan="2" |IPA
|-
! ''ī''
| long ''i'' || {{IPA|/iː/}} || rowspan="4" | {{IPA|/i/}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/i/}}|| rowspan="2" | '''ị''' || rowspan="2" | *{{IPA|/i/}}|| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/i/}} || rowspan="6" | {{IPA|/i/}}
|-
! ''ȳ''
| long ''y'' || {{IPA|/yː/}}
|-
! ''i (ĭ)''
| short ''i'' || {{IPA|/ɪ/}}
| rowspan="4" |{{IPA|/e/}}|| rowspan="2" | '''į'''|| rowspan="2" | *{{IPA|/ɪ/}}|| rowspan="4" | {{IPA|/e/}}
|-
! ''y (y̆)''
| short ''y'' || {{IPA|/ʏ/}}
|-
! ''ē''
| long ''e'' || {{IPA|/eː/}}|| rowspan="4" | {{IPA|/ɛ/}}
| rowspan="2" |'''ẹ'''|| rowspan="2" | *{{IPA|/e/}}
|-
! ''oe''
| ''oe'' || {{IPA|/oj/}} > {{IPA|/eː/}}
|-
! ''e (ĕ)''
| short ''e'' || {{IPA|/ɛ/}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/ɛ/}}|| rowspan="2" | '''ę''' || rowspan="2" | *{{IPA|/ɛ/}}|| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɛ/}} || rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/ɛ/}}
|-
! ''ae''
| ''ae'' || {{IPA|/aj/}} > {{IPA|/ɛː/}}
|-
! ''ā''
| long ''a'' || {{IPA|/aː/}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/a/}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/a/}}|| rowspan="2" | '''a''' || rowspan="2" | *{{IPA|/a/}}|| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/a/}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/a/}}
|-
! ''a (ă)''
| short ''a'' || {{IPA|/a/}}
|-
! ''o (ŏ)''
| short ''o'' || {{IPA|/ɔ/}}
| rowspan="3" |{{IPA|/ɔ/}}|| rowspan="3" | {{IPA|/o/}} || '''ǫ''' || {{IPA|*/ɔ/}}|| {{IPA|/ɔ/}} || {{IPA|/ɔ/}}
|-
! ''ō''
| long ''o'' || {{IPA|/oː/}}|| rowspan="2" | '''ọ''' || rowspan="2" | *{{IPA|/o/}}|| rowspan="3" | {{IPA|/o/}} || rowspan="4" | {{IPA|/u/}}
|-
! ''au''<br />''(a few words)''
| ''au'' || {{IPA|/aw/}} > {{IPA|/ɔː/}}
|-
! ''u (ŭ)''
| short ''u'' || {{IPA|/ʊ/}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|/u/}}|| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/u/}}
|'''ų'''|| *{{IPA|/ʊ/}}
|-
! ''ū''
| long ''u'' || {{IPA|/uː/}} || '''ụ'''|| *{{IPA|/u/}}|| {{IPA|/u/}}
|-
! ''au''<br />''(most words)''
| ''au'' || {{IPA|/aw/}}
|{{IPA|/aw/}}
|{{IPA|/aw/}}
| '''au'''
|*/aw/|| {{IPA|/aw/}}
|{{IPA|/aw/}}
|-
| colspan="9" | <sup>1</sup> Traditional academic transcription in Latin and [[Romance studies]], respectively.
|}
One profound change that affected Vulgar Latin was the reorganisation of its [[vowel]] system.{{sfn|Alkire|Rosen|2010|p=8}} Classical Latin had five short vowels, ''ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ'', and five [[vowel length|long vowels]], ''ā, ē, ī, ō, ū'', each of which was an individual [[phoneme]] (see the table in the right, for their likely pronunciation in IPA), and four [[diphthong]]s, ''ae'', ''oe'', ''au'' and ''eu'' (five according to some authors, including ''ui''). There were also long and short versions of ''y'', representing the [[close front rounded vowel|rounded vowel]] {{IPA|/y(ː)/}} in Greek borrowings, which however probably came to be pronounced {{IPA|/i(ː)/}} even before Romance vowel changes started.

There is evidence that in the imperial period all the short vowels except ''a'' differed by quality as well as by length from their long counterparts.<ref>Allen (2003) states: "There appears to have been no great difference in quality between long and short ''a'', but in the case of the close and mid vowels (''i'' and ''u'', ''e'' and ''o'') the long appear to have been appreciably closer than the short." He then goes on to the historical development, quotations from various authors (from around the second century AD), as well as evidence from older inscriptions where "e" stands for normally short ''i'', and "i" for long ''e'', etc.</ref> So, for example ''ē'' was pronounced [[close-mid vowel|close-mid]] {{IPA|/eː/}} while ''ĕ'' was pronounced [[open-mid vowel|open-mid]] {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, and ''ī'' was pronounced [[close vowel|close]] {{IPA|/iː/}} while ''ĭ'' was pronounced [[near-close vowel|near-close]] {{IPA|/ɪ/}}.

During the Proto-Romance period, phonemic length distinctions were lost. Vowels came to be automatically pronounced long in stressed, [[open syllable]]s (i.e. when followed by only one consonant), and pronounced short everywhere else. This situation is still maintained in modern Italian: ''cade'' {{IPA|[ˈkaːde]}} "he falls" vs. ''cadde'' {{IPA|[ˈkadde]}} "he fell".

The Proto-Romance loss of phonemic length originally produced a system with nine different quality distinctions in monophthongs, where only original {{IPA|/a aː/}} had merged.{{sfn|Alkire|Rosen|2010|p=13}} Soon, however, many of these vowels coalesced:
* The simplest outcome was in [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]],<ref>Technically, Sardinian is one of the [[Southern Romance languages]]. The same vowel outcome occurred in a small strip running across southern Italy (the ''Lausberg Zone''), and is thought to have occurred in the Romance languages of northern Africa.</ref> where the former long and short vowels in Latin simply coalesced, e.g. {{IPA|/ɛ eː/}} > {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, {{IPA|/ɪ iː/}} > {{IPA|/i/}}: This produced a simple five-vowel system {{IPA|/a ɛ i ɔ u/}}.{{sfn|Ledgeway|Maiden|2016|p=471}}
* In most areas, however (technically, the [[Italo-Western languages]]), the near-close vowels {{IPA|/ɪ ʊ/}} lowered and merged into the high-mid vowels {{IPA|/e o/}}. As a result, Latin ''pira'' "pear" and ''vēra'' "true", came to rhyme (e.g. Italian and Spanish ''pera, vera'', and [[Old French]] ''poire, voire''). Similarly, Latin ''nucem'' (from ''nux'' "nut") and ''vōcem'' (from ''vōx'' "voice") become Italian ''noce, voce'', Portuguese ''noz, voz'', and French ''noix, voix''. This produced a seven-vowel system {{IPA|/a ɛ e i ɔ o u/}}, still maintained in conservative languages such as Italian and Portuguese, and lightly transformed in Spanish (where {{IPA|/ɛ/ > /je/, /ɔ/ > /we/}}).
* In the [[Eastern Romance languages]] (particularly, [[Romanian language|Romanian]]), the front vowels {{IPA|/ĕ ē ĭ ī/}} evolved as in the majority of languages, but the back vowels {{IPA|/ɔ oː ʊ uː/}} evolved as in Sardinian. This produced an unbalanced six-vowel system: {{IPA|/a ɛ e i o u/}}. In modern Romanian, this system has been significantly transformed, with {{IPA|/ɛ/ > /je/}} and with new vowels {{IPA|/ə ɨ/}} evolving, leading to a balanced seven-vowel system with central as well as front and back vowels: {{IPA|/a e i ə ɨ o u/}}.{{Sfn|Sala|2012|p=146}}
* [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] is sometimes described as having its own distinct vowel system. In fact, Sicilian passed through the same developments as the main bulk of Italo-Western languages. Subsequently, however, high-mid vowels (but not low-mid vowels) were raised in all syllables, stressed and unstressed; i.e. {{IPA|/e o/ > /i u/}}. The result is a five-vowel {{IPA|/a ɛ i ɔ u/}}.{{sfn|Ledgeway|Maiden|2016|p=471}}

Further variants are found in southern Italy and Corsica, which also boasts a completely distinct system.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Outcome of stressed Classical Latin vowels in dialects of southern Italy, Sardinia and Corsica{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}
!Classical Latin
!Proto-Romance
!Senisese
!Castel-mezzano
!Neapolitan
!Sicilian
!Verbi-carese
!Caro-vignese
!Nuorese Sardinian
!Southern Corsican
!Taravo Corsican
!Northern Corsican
!Cap de Corse
|-
|'''ā'''
| rowspan="2" |*{{IPA|/a/}}
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="3" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
| rowspan="2" |/a/
|-
|'''ă'''
|-
|'''au'''
|*/aw/
|/ɔ/?
|/o/?
|/ɔ/?
|/ɔ/?
|/ɔ/?
|/ɔ/?
|/ɔ/
|/o/?
|/ɔ/?
|/o/?
|-
|'''ĕ''', '''ae'''
|*{{IPA|/ɛ/}}
| rowspan="2" |/ɛ/
| rowspan="3" |/e/
|/ɛ/
|/ɛ/
|/ɛ/
| rowspan="3" |/ɛ/
| rowspan="2" |/ɛ/
| rowspan="2" |/e/
| rowspan="2" |/e/
|/ɛ/
|/e/ (/ɛ/)
|-
|'''ē''', '''oe'''
|*{{IPA|/e/}}
| rowspan="2" |/e/
| rowspan="3" |/i/
|/ɪ/ (/ɛ/)
| rowspan="2" |/e/
| rowspan="2" |/e/
|-
|'''ĭ'''
|*{{IPA|/ɪ/}}
| rowspan="2" |/i/
| rowspan="2" |/ɪ/
| rowspan="2" |/i/
| rowspan="2" |/i/
|/ɛ/
|-
|'''ī'''
|*{{IPA|/i/}}
|/i/
|/i/
|/i/
|/i/
|/i/
|/i/
|-
|'''ŏ'''
|*{{IPA|/ɔ/}}
| rowspan="2" |/ɔ/
| rowspan="2" |/o/
|/ɔ/
|/ɔ/
|/ɔ/
| rowspan="3" |/ɔ/
| rowspan="2" |/ɔ/
| rowspan="2" |/o/
| rowspan="2" |/o/
|/ɔ/
| rowspan="3" |/o/
|-
|'''ō''', ('''au)'''
|*{{IPA|/o/}}
| rowspan="2" |/o/
| rowspan="3" |/u/
|/ʊ/ (/ɔ/)
| rowspan="2" |/o/
|-
|'''ŭ'''
|*{{IPA|/ʊ/}}
| rowspan="2" |/u/
| rowspan="2" |/u/
| rowspan="2" |/ʊ/
| rowspan="2" |/u/
| rowspan="2" |/u/
|/ɔ/
|-
|'''ū'''
|*{{IPA|/u/}}
|/u/
|/u/
|/u/
|/u/
|/u/
|}

The Sardinian-type vowel system is also found in a small region belonging to the [[Lausberg area]] (also known as ''[[Heinrich Lausberg|Lausberg]] zone''; compare {{slink|Neapolitan language|Distribution}}) of southern Italy, in southern [[Basilicata]], and there is evidence that the Romanian-type "compromise" vowel system was once characteristic of most of southern Italy,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Loporcaro |first=Michele |title=The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages: Volume 1, Structures |year=2011 |editor-last=Maiden |chapter=Phonological Processes |display-editors=et al}}</ref> although it is now limited to a small area in western Basilicata centered on the [[Castelmezzano dialect]], the area being known as {{lang|de|Vorposten}}, the German word for 'outpost'. The [[Sicilian vowel system]], now generally thought to be a development based on the Italo-Western system, is also represented in southern Italy, in southern [[Cilento]], [[Calabria]] and the southern tip of [[Apulia]], and may have been more widespread in the past.{{sfn|Ledgeway|2016|page=248ff}}

The greatest variety of vowel systems outside of southern Italy is found in Corsica, where the Italo-Western type is represented in most of the north and center and the Sardinian type in the south, as well as a system resembling the Sicilian vowel system (and even more closely the Carovignese system) in the [[Cap Corse]] region; finally, in between the Italo-Western and Sardinian system is found, in the [[Taravo]] region, a unique vowel system that cannot be derived from any other system, which has reflexes like Sardinian for the most part, but the short high vowels of Latin are uniquely reflected as mid-low vowels.<ref name="corsican">{{Cite book |last=Dalbera-Stefanaggi |first=Marie-Josée |title=La langue corse |date=2002 |publisher=Presses universitaires de France |isbn=978-2-13-052946-0 |edition=1st |location=Paris}} Compare [http://languagehat.com/written-language-quiz/#comment-1722395 comment 1 at the blog Language Hat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206092334/http://languagehat.com/written-language-quiz/#comment-1722395 |date=2021-02-06 }} and [http://languagehat.com/written-language-quiz/#comment-2030506 comment 2] .</ref>

The Proto-Romance allophonic vowel-length system was phonemicized in the [[Gallo-Romance languages]] as a result of the loss of many final vowels. Some northern Italian languages (e.g. [[Friulian language|Friulian]]) still maintain this secondary phonemic length, but most languages dropped it by either diphthongizing or shortening the new long vowels.

French phonemicized a third vowel length system around AD 1300 as a result of the sound change /VsC/ > /VhC/ > {{IPA|/VːC/}} (where ''V'' is any vowel and ''C'' any consonant). This vowel length began to be lost in Early Modern French, but the long vowels are still usually marked with a circumflex (and continue to be distinguished regionally, chiefly in Belgium). A fourth vowel length system, still non-phonemic, has now arisen: All nasal vowels as well as the oral vowels {{IPA|/ɑ o ø/}} (which mostly derive from former long vowels) are pronounced long in all stressed [[closed syllable]]s, and all vowels are pronounced long in syllables closed by the voiced fricatives {{IPA|/v z ʒ ʁ vʁ/}}.

==== Latin diphthongs ====
The Latin diphthongs {{lang|la|ae}} and {{lang|la|oe}}, pronounced {{IPA|/aj/}} and {{IPA|/oj/}} in earlier Latin, were early on monophthongized.{{sfn|Clackson|2016|page=6}}

{{lang|la|ae}} became {{IPA|/ɛː/}} by{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} the 1st century {{smallcaps|a.d.}} at the latest. Although this sound was still distinct from all existing vowels, the neutralization of Latin vowel length eventually caused its merger with {{IPA|/ɛ/}} < short ''e'': e.g. ''caelum'' "sky" > French {{lang|fr|ciel}}, Spanish/Italian {{lang|es|cielo}}, Portuguese {{lang|pt|céu}} {{IPA|/sɛw/}}, with the same vowel as in ''mele'' "honey" > French/Spanish {{lang|fr|miel}}, Italian {{lang|it|miele}}, Portuguese {{lang|pt|mel}} {{IPA|/mɛl/}}. Some words show an early merger of ''ae'' with {{IPA|/eː/}}, as in ''praeda'' "booty" > *''prēda'' {{IPA|/preːda/}} > French {{lang|fr|proie}} (vs. expected **''priée''), Italian {{lang|it|preda}} (not **''prieda'') "prey"; or ''faenum'' "hay" > *''fēnum'' {{IPA|[feːnũ]}} > Spanish {{lang|es|heno}}, French {{lang|fr|foin}} (but Italian {{lang|it|fieno}} /fjɛno/).

{{lang|la|oe}} generally merged with {{IPA|/eː/}}: ''poenam'' "punishment" > Romance *{{IPA|/pena/}} > Spanish/Italian {{lang|es|pena}}, French {{lang|fr|peine}}; ''foedus'' "ugly" > Romance *{{IPA|/fedo/}} > Spanish {{lang|es|feo}}, Portuguese {{lang|pt|feio}}. There are relatively few such outcomes, since {{lang|la|oe}} was rare in Classical Latin (most original instances had become Classical {{lang|la|ū}}, as in Old Latin {{lang|la|oinos}} "one" > Classical {{lang|la|ūnus}}<ref name="Palmer">Palmer (1954).</ref>) and so {{lang|la|oe}} was mostly limited to Greek loanwords, which were typically learned (high-register) terms.

''au'' merged with ''ō'' {{IPA|/oː/}} in the popular speech of Rome already by the 1st century {{smallcaps|b.c}}.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023|reason=Quite bold to claim that the entire phoneme /aw/ was lost to such a merger in the first century BC, in light of the modern Roman dialect reflecting no such thing (rather showing outcomes similar to those of Tuscan/Standard Italian).}} A number of authors remarked on this explicitly, e.g. [[Cicero]]'s taunt that the populist politician [[Publius Clodius Pulcher]] had changed his name from ''Claudius'' to ingratiate himself with the masses. This change never penetrated far from Rome, however, and the pronunciation /au/ was maintained for centuries in the vast majority of Latin-speaking areas, although it eventually developed into some variety of ''o'' in many languages. For example, Italian and French have {{IPA|/ɔ/}} as the usual reflex, but this post-dates diphthongization of {{IPA|/ɔ/}} and the French-specific palatalization {{IPA|/ka/}} > {{IPA|/tʃa/}} (hence ''causa'' > French {{lang|fr|chose}}, Italian {{lang|it|cosa}} {{IPA|/kɔza/}} not **''cuosa''). Spanish has {{IPA|/o/}}, but Portuguese spelling maintains {{angbr|ou}}, which has developed to {{IPA|/o/}} (and still remains as {{IPA|/ou/}} in some dialects, and {{IPA|/oi/}} in others).{{sfn|Boyd-Bowman|1980|pp=24–25}} Occitan, Dalmatian, Sardinian, and many other minority Romance languages still have {{IPA|/au/}} while in Romanian it underwent diaresis like in {{lang|la|aurum}} > {{lang|ro|aur}} (a-ur).{{Sfn|Sala|2012|p=145}} A few common words, however, show an early merger with ''ō'' {{IPA|/oː/}}, evidently reflecting a generalization of the popular Roman pronunciation:{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} e.g. French {{lang|fr|queue}}, Italian {{lang|it|coda}} {{IPA|/koda/}}, Occitan {{lang|oc|co(d)a}}, Romanian {{lang|ro|coadă}} (all meaning "tail") must all derive from ''cōda'' rather than Classical ''cauda''.<ref>''cauda'' would produce French **{{lang|fr|choue}}, Italian {{IPA|*/kɔda/}}, Occitan **{{lang|oc|cauda}}, Romanian **{{lang|ro|caudă}}.</ref> Similarly, Spanish {{lang|es|oreja}}, Portuguese {{lang|pt|orelha}}, French {{lang|fr|oreille}}, Romanian {{lang|ro|ureche}}, and Sardinian {{lang|sc|olícra}}, ''orícla'' "ear" must derive from ''ōric(u)la'' rather than Classical ''auris'' (Occitan {{lang|oc|aurelha}} was probably influenced by the unrelated ''ausir'' < ''audīre'' "to hear"), and the form ''oricla'' is in fact reflected in the [[Appendix Probi]].

==== Further developments ====
===== Metaphony =====
{{Main|Metaphony (Romance languages)}}
An early process that operated in all Romance languages to varying degrees was [[metaphony]] (vowel mutation), conceptually similar to the [[Germanic umlaut|umlaut]] process so characteristic of the [[Germanic languages]]. Depending on the language, certain stressed vowels were raised (or sometimes diphthongized) either by a final /i/ or /u/ or by a directly following /j/. Metaphony is most extensive in the Italo-Romance languages, and applies to nearly all languages in Italy; however, it is absent from Tuscan, and hence from standard Italian. In many languages affected by metaphony, a distinction exists between final /u/ (from most cases of Latin {{lang|la|-um}}) and final /o/ (from Latin {{lang|la|-ō}}, {{lang|la|-ud}} and some cases of {{lang|la|-um}}, esp. masculine "mass" nouns), and only the former triggers metaphony.

Some examples:
* In [[Servigliano]] in the [[Marche]] of Italy, stressed {{IPA|/ɛ e ɔ o/}} are raised to {{IPA|/e i o u/}} before final /i/ or /u/:<ref name="kaze1991">{{Cite journal |last=Kaze |first=Jeffery W. |year=1991 |title=Metaphony and Two Models for the Description of Vowel Systems |journal=Phonology |volume=8 |pages=163–170 |doi=10.1017/s0952675700001329 |jstor=4420029 |s2cid=60966393 |number=1}}</ref> {{IPA|/ˈmetto/}} "I put" vs. {{IPA|/ˈmitti/}} "you put" (< *metti < *mettes < Latin {{lang|la|mittis}}); {{IPA|/moˈdɛsta/}} "modest (fem.)" vs. {{IPA|/moˈdestu/}} "modest (masc.)"; {{IPA|/ˈkwesto/}} "this (neut.)" (< Latin {{lang|la|eccum istud}}) vs. {{IPA|/ˈkwistu/}} "this (masc.)" (< Latin {{lang|la|eccum istum}}).
* Calvallo in [[Basilicata]], [[southern Italy]], is similar, but the low-mid vowels {{IPA|/ɛ ɔ/}} are diphthongized to {{IPA|/je wo/}} rather than raised:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Calabrese |first=Andrea |title=Metaphony |url=http://homepages.uconn.edu/~anc02008/Papers/METAPHONY.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053600/http://homepages.uconn.edu/~anc02008/Papers/METAPHONY.pdf |archive-date=2013-09-21 |access-date=2012-05-15}}</ref> {{IPA|/ˈmette/}} "he puts" vs. {{IPA|/ˈmitti/}} "you put", but {{IPA|/ˈpɛnʒo/}} "I think" vs. {{IPA|/ˈpjenʒi/}} "you think".
* Metaphony also occurs in most northern Italian dialects, but only by (usually lost) final *i; apparently, final *u was lowered to *o (usually lost) before metaphony could take effect.
* Some of the [[Astur-Leonese language]]s in northern Spain have the same distinction between final /o/ and /u/<ref>{{Cite web |title=ALVARO ARIAS CABAL – Publicaciones |url=http://personales.uniovi.es/web/ariasal/ |website=personales.uniovi.es |access-date=2015-12-30 |archive-date=2021-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429121158/https://personales.uniovi.es/web/ariasal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> as in the Central-Southern Italian languages,<ref name="penny1994">{{Cite journal |last=Penny |first=Ralph |year=1994 |title=Continuity and Innovation in Romance: Metaphony and Mass-Noun Reference in Spain and Italy |journal=The Modern Language Review |volume=89 |pages=273–281 |doi=10.2307/3735232 |jstor=3735232 |number=2}}</ref> with /u/ triggering metaphony.<ref name="AAC">Álvaro Arias. "[https://minerva.usc.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10347/5730/pg_113-142_moenia11.pdf?sequence=1 La armonización vocálica en fonología funcional (de lo sintagmático en fonología a propósito de dos casos de metafonía hispánica)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119060648/https://minerva.usc.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10347/5730/pg_113-142_moenia11.pdf?sequence=1 |date=2018-01-19 }}", ''Moenia'' 11 (2006): 111–139.</ref> The plural of masculine nouns in these dialects ends in ''-os'', which does not trigger metaphony, unlike in the singular (vs. Italian plural {{lang|it|-i}}, which does trigger metaphony).
* Sardinian has allophonic raising of mid vowels {{IPA|/ɛ ɔ/}} to {{IPA|[e o]}} before final /i/ or /u/. This has been phonemicized in the [[Campidanese dialect]] as a result of the subsequent raising of final /e o/ to /i u/.
* Raising of {{IPA|/ɔ/}} to {{IPA|/o/}} occurs sporadically in Portuguese in the masculine singular, e.g. {{lang|pt|porco}} {{IPA|/ˈporku/}} "pig" vs. ''porcos'' {{IPA|/ˈpɔrkus/}} "pig". It is thought that Galician-Portuguese at one point had singular /u/ vs. plural /os/, exactly as in modern Astur-Leonese.<ref name="penny1994" />
* In all of the Western Romance languages, final /i/ (primarily occurring in the first-person singular of the [[preterite]]) raised mid-high {{IPA|/e o/}} to {{IPA|/i u/}}, e.g. Portuguese {{lang|pt|fiz}} "I did" (< *fidzi < *fedzi < Latin {{lang|la|fēcī}}) vs. ''fez'' "he did" (< *fedze < Latin {{lang|la|fēcit}}). Old Spanish similarly had {{lang|osp|fize}} "I did" vs. {{lang|osp|fezo}} "he did" (''-o'' by analogy with ''amó'' "he loved"), but subsequently generalized stressed /i/, producing modern ''hice'' "I did" vs. ''hizo'' "he did". The same thing happened prehistorically in Old French, yielding ''fis'' "I did", ''fist'' "he did" (< *feist < Latin {{lang|la|fēcit}}).

===== Diphthongization =====
A number of languages [[diphthongization|diphthongized]] some of the free vowels, especially the open-mid vowels {{IPA|/ɛ ɔ/}}:{{Sfn|Sala|2012|p=154}}
* Spanish consistently diphthongized all open-mid vowels {{IPA|/ɛ ɔ/ > /je we/}} except for before certain palatal consonants (which raised the vowels to close-mid before diphthongization took place).
* Eastern Romance languages similarly diphthongized {{IPA|/ɛ/}} to {{IPA|/je/}} (the corresponding vowel {{IPA|/ɔ/}} did not develop from Proto-Romance).
* Italian diphthongized {{IPA|/ɛ/ > /jɛ/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/ > /wɔ/}} in open syllables (in the situations where vowels were lengthened in Proto-Romance), the most salient exception being /ˈbɛne/ {{lang|it|bene}} 'well', perhaps due to the high frequency of [[apocope|apocopated]] {{lang|it|ben}} (e.g. {{lang|it|ben difficile}} 'quite difficult', {{lang|it|ben fatto}} 'well made' etc.).
* French similarly diphthongized {{IPA|/ɛ ɔ/}} in open syllables (when lengthened), along with {{IPA|/a e o/}}: {{IPA|/aː ɛː eː ɔː oː/}} > {{IPA|/aɛ iɛ ei uɔ ou/}} > middle OF {{IPA|/e je ɔi we eu/}} > modern {{IPA|/e je wa œ ~ ø œ ~ ø/}}.
* French also diphthongized {{IPA|/ɛ ɔ/}} before palatalized consonants, especially /j/. Further development was as follows: {{IPA|/ɛj/ > /iej/ > /i/}}; {{IPA|/ɔj/}} > /uoj/ > early OF /uj/ > modern /ɥi/.
* Catalan diphthongized {{IPA|/ɛ ɔ/}} before /j/ from palatalized consonants, just like French, with similar results: {{IPA|/ɛj/ > /i/}}, {{IPA|/ɔj/ > /uj/}}.

These diphthongization had the effect of reducing or eliminating the distinctions between open-mid and close-mid vowels in many languages. In Spanish and Romanian, all open-mid vowels were diphthongized, and the distinction disappeared entirely.{{Sfn|Sala|2012|p=155}} Portuguese is the most conservative in this respect, keeping the seven-vowel system more or less unchanged (but with changes in particular circumstances, e.g. due to [[#Metaphony|metaphony]]). Other than before palatalized consonants, Catalan keeps {{IPA|/ɔ o/}} intact, but {{IPA|/ɛ e/}} split in a complex fashion into {{IPA|/ɛ e ə/}} and then coalesced again in the standard dialect ([[Eastern Catalan]]) in such a way that most original {{IPA|/ɛ e/}} have reversed their quality to become {{IPA|/e ɛ/}}.

In French and Italian, the distinction between open-mid and close-mid vowels occurred only in closed syllables. Standard Italian more or less maintains this. In French, /e/ and {{IPA|/ɛ/}} merged by the twelfth century or so, and the distinction between {{IPA|/ɔ/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} was eliminated without merging by the sound changes {{IPA|/u/ > /y/}}, {{IPA|/o/ > /u/}}. Generally this led to a situation where both {{IPA|[e,o]}} and {{IPA|[ɛ,ɔ]}} occur allophonically, with the close-mid vowels in [[open syllable]]s and the open-mid vowels in [[closed syllable]]s. In French, both {{IPA|[e/ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[o/ɔ]}} were partly rephonemicized: Both {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/ɛ/}} occur in open syllables as a result of {{IPA|/aj/ > /ɛ/}}, and both {{IPA|/o/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}} occur in closed syllables as a result of {{IPA|/al/ > /au/ > /o/}}.

Old French also had numerous falling diphthongs resulting from diphthongization before palatal consonants or from a fronted /j/ originally following palatal consonants in Proto-Romance or later: e.g. {{Lang|fro|pācem}} /patsʲe/ "peace" > PWR */padzʲe/ (lenition) > OF {{Lang|fro|paiz}} /pajts/; *''punctum'' "point" > Gallo-Romance */ponʲto/ > */pojɲto/ (fronting) > OF {{Lang|fro|point}} /põjnt/. During the Old French period, preconsonantal /l/ [ɫ] vocalized to /w/, producing many new falling diphthongs: e.g. {{Lang|fro|dulcem}} "sweet" > PWR */doltsʲe/ > OF {{Lang|fro|dolz}} /duɫts/ > ''douz'' /duts/; ''fallet'' "fails, is deficient" > OF {{Lang|fro|falt}} > ''faut'' "is needed"; ''bellus'' "beautiful" > OF {{Lang|fro|bels}} {{IPA|[bɛɫs]}} > ''beaus'' {{IPA|[bɛaws]}}. By the end of the Middle French period, ''all'' falling diphthongs either monophthongized or switched to rising diphthongs: proto-OF {{IPA|/aj ɛj jɛj ej jej wɔj oj uj al ɛl el il ɔl ol ul/}} > early OF {{IPA|/aj ɛj i ej yj oj yj aw ɛaw ew i ɔw ow y/}} > modern spelling {{angbr|ai ei i oi ui oi ui au eau eu i ou ou u}} > mod. French {{IPA|/ɛ ɛ i wa ɥi wa ɥi o o ø i u u y/}}.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

===== Nasalization =====
In both French and Portuguese, [[nasal vowel]]s eventually developed from sequences of a vowel followed by a nasal consonant (/m/ or /n/). Originally, all vowels in both languages were nasalized before any nasal consonants, and nasal consonants not immediately followed by a vowel were eventually dropped. In French, nasal vowels before remaining nasal consonants were subsequently denasalized, but not before causing the vowels to lower somewhat, e.g. ''dōnat'' "he gives" > OF ''dune'' {{IPA|/dunə/}} > ''donne'' {{IPA|/dɔn/}}, ''fēminam'' > ''femme'' {{IPA|/fam/}}. Other vowels remained nasalized, and were dramatically lowered: ''fīnem'' "end" > ''fin'' {{IPA|/fɛ̃/}} (often pronounced {{IPA|[fæ̃]}}); ''linguam'' "tongue" > ''langue'' {{IPA|/lɑ̃ɡ/}}; ''ūnum'' "one" > ''un'' {{IPA|/œ̃/, /ɛ̃/}}.

In Portuguese, /n/ between vowels was dropped, and the resulting [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]] eliminated through vowel contraction of various sorts, often producing diphthongs: ''manum, *manōs'' > PWR *''manu, ˈmanos'' "hand(s)" > ''mão, mãos'' {{IPA|/mɐ̃w̃, mɐ̃w̃s/}}; ''canem, canēs'' "dog(s)" > PWR *''kane, ˈkanes'' > *''can, ˈcanes'' > ''cão, cães'' {{IPA|/kɐ̃w̃, kɐ̃j̃s/}}; ''ratiōnem, ratiōnēs'' "reason(s)" > PWR *''raˈdʲzʲone, raˈdʲzʲones'' > *''raˈdzon, raˈdzones'' > ''razão, razões'' {{IPA|/χaˈzɐ̃w̃, χaˈzõj̃s/}} (Brazil), {{IPA|/ʁaˈzɐ̃ũ, ʁɐˈzõj̃ʃ/}} (Portugal). Sometimes the nasalization was eliminated: ''lūna'' "moon" > Galician-Portuguese ''lũa'' > ''lua''; ''vēna'' "vein" > Galician-Portuguese ''vẽa'' > ''veia''. Nasal vowels that remained actually tend to be raised (rather than lowered, as in French): ''fīnem'' "end" > ''fim'' {{IPA|/fĩ/}}; ''centum'' "hundred" > PWR ''tʲsʲɛnto'' > ''cento'' {{IPA|/ˈsẽtu/}}; ''pontem'' "bridge" > PWR ''pɔnte'' > ''ponte'' {{IPA|/ˈpõtʃi/}} (Brazil), {{IPA|/ˈpõtɨ/}} (Portugal).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110550283/html |title=Manual of Romance Phonetics and Phonology |year=2021 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-055028-3 |editor-last=Gabriel |editor-first=Christoph |page=234 |doi=10.1515/9783110550283 |hdl=1983/44e3b3cd-164e-496b-a7a6-6b3a492e4c48 |s2cid=243922354 |editor-last2=Gess |editor-first2=Randall |editor-last3=Meisenburg |editor-first3=Trudel |access-date=2023-09-06 |archive-date=2023-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906182812/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110550283/html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Romanian shows evidence of past nasalization phenomena, the loss of palatal nasal [ɲ] in vie < Lat. vinia, and the rhotacism of intervocalic /n/ in words like mărunt < Lat. minutu for example. The effect of nasalization is observed in vowel closing to /i ɨ u/ before single /n/ and nasal+consonant clusters. Latin /nn/ and /m/ did not cause the same effect.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110550283/html |title=Manual of Romance Phonetics and Phonology |year=2021|publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-055028-3 |editor-last=Gabriel |editor-first=Christoph |page=235 |doi=10.1515/9783110550283 |hdl=1983/44e3b3cd-164e-496b-a7a6-6b3a492e4c48 |s2cid=243922354 |editor-last2=Gess |editor-first2=Randall |editor-last3=Meisenburg |editor-first3=Trudel |access-date=2023-09-06 |archive-date=2023-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906182812/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110550283/html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Front-rounded vowels ====
Characteristic of the [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]] and [[Rhaeto-Romance languages]] are the [[front rounded vowel]]s {{IPA|/y ø œ/}}. All of these languages, with the exception of [[Catalan language|Catalan]], show an unconditional change /u/ > /y/, e.g. ''lūnam'' > French ''lune'' {{IPA|/lyn/}}, Occitan {{IPA|/ˈlyno/}}. Many of the languages in Switzerland and Italy show the further change /y/ > /i/. Also very common is some variation of the French development {{IPA|/ɔː oː/}} (lengthened in [[open syllable]]s) > {{IPA|/we ew/}} > {{IPA|/œ œ/}}, with mid back vowels diphthongizing in some circumstances and then re-monophthongizing into mid-front rounded vowels. (French has both {{IPA|/ø/}} and {{IPA|/œ/}}, with {{IPA|/ø/}} developing from {{IPA|/œ/}} in certain circumstances.)

=== Unstressed vowels ===
<!-- Setting the default font to Arial Unicode MS should make the IPA work out-of-the-box in IE-->
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:1em; text-align:center;"
|+ Evolution of unstressed vowels in early Italo-Western Romance
! rowspan=3| Latin
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Proto-<br />Romance
! rowspan="2" |Stressed|| rowspan=2| Non-final<br />unstressed || colspan="5" | Final-unstressed
|-
! Original !! Later<br />Italo-<br />Romance !! Later<br />Western-<br />Romance !! Gallo-<br />Romance !! Primitive<br />French
|-
! Acad.<sup>1</sup>
! [[Help:IPA|IPA]] !! colspan="7" | [[Help:IPA|IPA]]
|-
! ''a, ā''
| '''a'''
| *{{IPA|/a/}} || colspan="2" | {{IPA|/a/}} || {{IPA|/a/}}
| colspan="3" |{{IPA|/a/}}|| {{IPA|/ə/}}
|-
! ''e, ae''
| '''ę'''
| *{{IPA|/ɛ/}} || {{IPA|/ɛ/}} || rowspan=3| {{IPA|/e/}} || rowspan="3" | {{IPA|/e/}}
| rowspan="3" |/e/|| rowspan="4" | {{IPA|/e/}} || rowspan=8| ∅; {{IPA|/e/}} (prop) || rowspan=8| ∅; {{IPA|/ə/}} (prop)
|-
! ''ē, oe''
| '''ẹ'''
| *{{IPA|/e/}} || rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/e/}}
|-
! ''i, y''
|'''į'''
| *{{IPA|/ɪ/}}
|-
! ''ī, ȳ''
| '''ị'''
| *{{IPA|/i/}} || colspan="2" | {{IPA|/i/}} || {{IPA|/i/}}
|/i/
|-
! ''o''
| '''ǫ'''
| *{{IPA|/ɔ/}} || {{IPA|/ɔ/}} || rowspan=3| {{IPA|/o/}} || rowspan=2| {{IPA|/o/}} || colspan=2 rowspan=4| {{IPA|/o/}}
|-
! ''ō, (au)''
| '''ọ'''
| *{{IPA|/o/}} || rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/o/}}
|-
! ''u''
|'''ų'''
| *{{IPA|/ʊ/}}|| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|/u/}}
|-
! ''ū''
| '''ụ'''
| *{{IPA|/u/}} || colspan="2" | {{IPA|/u/}}
|-
! ''au''<br />''(most words)''
| '''au'''
| *{{IPA|/aw/}} || colspan="2" | {{IPA|/aw/}} || colspan=5| N/A
|-
|colspan="10"| <sup>1</sup> Traditional academic transcription in Romance studies.
|}

There was more variability in the result of the unstressed vowels. Originally in Proto-Romance, the same nine vowels developed in unstressed as stressed syllables, and in Sardinian, they coalesced into the same five vowels in the same way.

In Italo-Western Romance, however, vowels in unstressed syllables were significantly different from stressed vowels, with yet a third outcome for final unstressed syllables. In non-final unstressed syllables, the seven-vowel system of stressed syllables developed, but then the low-mid vowels {{IPA|/ɛ ɔ/}} merged into the high-mid vowels {{IPA|/e o/}}. This system is still preserved, largely or completely, in all of the conservative Romance languages (e.g. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan).

In final unstressed syllables, results were somewhat complex. One of the more difficult issues is the development of final short ''-u'', which appears to have been raised to {{IPA|/u/}} rather than lowered to {{IPA|/o/}}, as happened in all other syllables. However, it is possible that in reality, final {{IPA|/u/}} comes from ''long'' *''-ū'' < ''-um'', where original final ''-m'' caused vowel lengthening as well as nasalization. Evidence of this comes from [[Rhaeto-Romance languages|Rhaeto-Romance]], in particular [[Sursilvan]], which preserves reflexes of both final ''-us'' and ''-um'', and where the latter, but not the former, triggers [[#Metaphony|metaphony]]. This suggests the development ''-us'' > {{IPA|/ʊs/}} > {{IPA|/os/}}, but ''-um'' > {{IPA|/ũː/}} > {{IPA|/u/}}.<ref>The outcome of ''-am -em -om'' would be the same regardless of whether lengthening occurred, and that ''-im'' was already rare in Classical Latin, and appears to have barely survived in Proto-Romance. The only likely survival is in "-teen" numerals such as ''trēdecim'' "thirteen" > Italian ''tredici''. This favors the vowel-lengthening hypothesis ''-im'' > {{IPA|/ĩː/}} > {{IPA|/i/}}; but notice unexpected ''decem'' > Italian {{lang|it|dieci}} (rather than expected ''*diece''). It is possible that ''dieci'' comes from *''decim'', which analogically replaced ''decem'' based on the ''-decim'' ending; but it is also possible that the final /i/ in ''dieci'' represents an irregular development of some other sort and that the process of analogy worked in the other direction.</ref>

The original five-vowel system in final unstressed syllables was preserved as-is in some of the more conservative central Italian languages, but in most languages there was further coalescence:
* In [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] (including standard Italian), final /u/ merged into /o/.
* In the [[Western Romance languages]], final /i/ eventually merged into /e/ (although final /i/ triggered [[#Metaphony|metaphony]] before that, e.g. Spanish {{lang|es|hice}}, Portuguese {{lang|pt|fiz}} "I did" < ''*fize'' < Latin {{lang|la|fēcī}}). Conservative languages like Spanish largely maintain that system, but drop final /e/ after certain single consonants, e.g. /r/, /l/, /n/, /d/, /z/ (< palatalized ''c''). The same situation happened in final /u/ that merged into /o/ in Spanish.
* In the [[Gallo-Romance languages]] (part of Western Romance), final /o/ and /e/ were dropped entirely unless that produced an impossible final cluster (e.g. /tr/), in which case a "prop vowel" /e/ was added. This left only two final vowels: /a/ and prop vowel /e/. Catalan preserves this system.
* Loss of final stressless vowels in [[Venetian language|Venetian]] shows a pattern intermediate between Central Italian and the [[Gallo-Italic languages|Gallo-Italic]] branch, and the environments for vowel deletion vary considerably depending on the dialect. In the table above, final /e/ is uniformly absent in ''mar'', absent in some dialects in ''part(e)'' /part(e)/ and ''set(e)'' /sɛt(e)/, but retained in ''mare'' (< Latin {{lang|la|mātrem}}) as a relic of the earlier cluster *dr.
* In primitive [[Old French]] (one of the [[Gallo-Romance languages]]), these two remaining vowels merged into {{IPA|/ə/}}.

Various later changes happened in individual languages, e.g.:
* In French, most final consonants were dropped, and then final {{IPA|/ə/}} was also dropped. The {{IPA|/ə/}} is still preserved in spelling as a final silent ''-e'', whose main purpose is to signal that the previous consonant is pronounced, e.g. {{lang|fr|port}} "port" {{IPA|/pɔʁ/}} vs. {{lang|fr|porte}} "door" {{IPA|/pɔʁt/}}. These changes also eliminated the difference between singular and plural in most words: {{lang|fr|ports}} "ports" (still {{IPA|/pɔʁ/}}), {{lang|fr|portes}} "doors" (still {{IPA|/pɔʁt/}}). Final consonants reappear in [[liaison (French)|liaison]] contexts (in close connection with a following vowel-initial word), e.g. {{lang|fr|nous}} {{IPA|[nu]}} "we" vs. {{lang|fr|nous avons}} {{IPA|[nu.za.ˈvɔ̃]}} "we have", {{lang|fr|il fait}} {{IPA|[il.fɛ]}} "he does" vs. {{lang|fr|fait-il ?}} {{IPA|[fɛ.til]}} "does he?".
* In Portuguese, final unstressed /o/ and /u/ were apparently preserved intact for a while, since final unstressed /u/, but not /o/ or /os/, triggered [[metaphony]] (see above). Final-syllable unstressed /o/ was raised in preliterary times to /u/, but always still written {{angbr|o}}. At some point (perhaps in late Galician-Portuguese), final-syllable unstressed /e/ was raised to /i/ (but still written {{angbr|e}}); this remains in [[Brazilian Portuguese]], but has developed to {{IPA|/ɨ/}} in northern and central [[European Portuguese]].
* In Catalan, final unstressed {{IPA|/as/}} > {{IPA|/es/}}. In many dialects, unstressed {{IPA|/o/}} and {{IPA|/u/}} merge into {{IPA|/u/}} as in Portuguese, and unstressed {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/e/}} merge into {{IPA|/ə/}}. However, some dialects preserve the original five-vowel system, most notably standard [[Valencian language|Valencian]].
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:1em;"
|+ Examples of evolution of final unstressed vowels:<br />From least- to most-changed languages
! rowspan="2"| English !! rowspan="2"| Latin !! Proto-Italo-<br />Western<sup>1</sup> !! Conservative<br />Central Italian<sup>1</sup> !! Italian !! Portuguese !! Spanish !! Catalan !! Old French !! Modern French
|-
! a, e, i, o, u !! a, e, i, o, u !! a, e, i, o !! colspan="2"| a, e/-, o !! a, -/e !! colspan="2"| e, -/e
|-
| one (fem.) || {{lang|la|ūnam}} || [ˈuna] || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|una}} || {{lang|pt|uma}} || colspan="2"| una || colspan="2"| une
|-
| door || {{lang|la|portam}} || [ˈpɔrta] || colspan="3"| {{lang|it|porta}} || puerta || porta || colspan="2"| porte
|-
| seven || {{lang|la|septem}} || [ˈsɛtte] || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|sette}} ||sete || siete || colspan="2"| set || sept
|-
| sea || {{lang|la|mare}} || [ˈmare] || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|mare}} || colspan="3"| mar || colspan="2"| mer
|-
| peace || {{lang|la|pācem}} || [ˈpatʃe] || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|pace}} || colspan="2"| paz || pau || paiz || paix
|-
| part || {{lang|la|partem}} || [ˈparte] || colspan="4"| {{lang|it|parte}} || colspan="3"| part
|-
| truth || {{lang|la|veritātem}} || [veriˈtate] || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|verità}} || verdade || verdad || veritat || verité || vérité
|-
| mother || {{lang|la|mātrem}} || [ˈmatre] || {{lang|it|matre}} || {{lang|it|madre}} || mãe || madre || mare || meḍre || mère
|-
| twenty || {{lang|la|vīgintī}} || [veˈenti] || {{lang|it|vinti}} || {{lang|it|venti}} || vinte || veinte || colspan="2"| vint || vingt
|-
| four || {{lang|la|quattuor}} || [ˈkwattro] || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|quattro}} || quatro ||cuatro || colspan="3"| quatre
|-
| eight || {{lang|la|octō}} || [ˈɔkto] || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|otto}} || oito || ocho || vuit || colspan="2"| huit
|-
| when || {{lang|la|quandō}} || [ˈkwando] || colspan="3"| {{lang|it|quando}} || cuando || quan || quant || quand
|-
| fourth || {{lang|la|quartum}} || [ˈkwartu] || {{lang|it|quartu}} || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|quarto}} || cuarto || colspan="3"| quart
|-
| one (masc.) || {{lang|la|ūnum}} || [ˈunu] || {{lang|it|unu}} || {{lang|it|uno}} || um || uno || colspan="3"| un
|-
| port || {{lang|la|portum}} || [ˈpɔrtu] || {{lang|it|portu}} || colspan="2"| {{lang|it|porto}} || puerto || colspan="3"| port
|}

=== Intertonic vowels ===
The so-called ''intertonic vowels'' are word-internal unstressed vowels, i.e. not in the initial, final, or ''tonic'' (i.e. stressed) syllable, hence intertonic. Intertonic vowels were the most subject to loss or modification. Already in Vulgar Latin intertonic vowels between a single consonant and a following /r/ or /l/ tended to drop: ''vétulum'' "old" > ''veclum'' > Dalmatian ''vieklo'', Sicilian ''vecchiu'', Portuguese ''velho''. But many languages ultimately dropped almost all intertonic vowels.

Generally, those languages south and east of the [[La Spezia–Rimini Line]] (Romanian and Central-Southern Italian) maintained intertonic vowels, while those to the north and west (Western Romance) dropped all except /a/. Standard Italian generally maintained intertonic vowels, but typically raised unstressed /e/ > /i/. Examples:
* ''septimā́nam'' "week" > Italian ''settimana'', Romanian ''săptămână'' vs. Spanish/Portuguese ''semana'', French ''semaine'', Occitan/Catalan ''setmana'', Piedmontese ''sman-a''
* ''quattuórdecim'' "fourteen" > Italian ''quattordici'', Venetian ''cuatòrdexe'', Lombard/Piedmontese ''quatòrdes'', vs. Spanish ''catorce'', Portuguese/French ''quatorze''
* ''metipsissimus''<ref>The Latin forms are attested; ''metipsissimus'' is the superlative of the formative -''metipse'', found for example in ''egometipse'' "myself in person"</ref> > ''medipsimus'' /medíssimos/ ~ /medéssimos/ "self"<ref>Ralph Penny, ''A History of the Spanish Language'', 2nd edn. (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002), 144.</ref> > Italian ''medésimo'' vs. Venetian ''medemo'', Lombard ''medemm'', Old Spanish ''meísmo'', ''meesmo'' (> modern ''mismo''), Galician-Portuguese ''meesmo'' (> modern ''mesmo''), Old French ''meḍisme'' (> later ''meïsme'' > MF ''mesme'' > modern ''même'')<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Espinosa |first=Aurelio M. |year=1911 |title=Metipsimus in Spanish and French |journal=[[Modern Language Association#Activities|PMLA]] |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=356–378 |doi=10.2307/456649 |jstor=456649}}</ref>
* ''bonitā́tem'' "goodness" > Italian ''bonità'' ~ ''bontà'', Romanian ''bunătate'' but Spanish ''bondad'', Portuguese ''bondade'', French ''bonté''
* ''collocā́re'' "to position, arrange" > Italian ''collocare'' vs. Spanish ''colgar'' "to hang", Romanian ''culca'' "to lie down", French ''coucher'' "to lay sth on its side; put s.o. to bed"
* ''commūnicā́re'' "to take communion" > Romanian ''cumineca'' vs. Portuguese ''comungar'', Spanish ''comulgar'', Old French ''comungier''
* ''carricā́re'' "to load (onto a wagon, cart)" > Portuguese/Catalan ''carregar'' vs. Spanish/Occitan ''cargar'' "to load", French ''charger'', Italian ''caricare'', Lombard ''cargà/caregà'', Venetian ''carigar/cargar(e)'' "to load", Romanian ''încărca''
* ''fábricam'' "forge" > {{IPA|/*fawrɡa/}} > Spanish ''fragua'', Portuguese ''frágua'', Occitan/Catalan ''farga'', French ''forge''
* ''disjējūnā́re'' "to break a fast" > *''disjūnā́re'' > Old French ''disner'' "to have lunch" > French ''dîner'' "to dine" (but *''disjū́nat'' > Old French ''desjune'' "he has lunch" > French ''(il) déjeune'' "he has lunch")
* ''adjūtā́re'' "to help" > Italian ''aiutare'', Romanian ''ajuta'' but French ''aider'', Lombard ''aidà/aiuttà'' (Spanish ''ayudar'', Portuguese ''ajudar'' based on stressed forms, e.g. ''ayuda/ajuda'' "he helps"; cf. Old French ''aidier'' "to help" vs. ''aiue'' "he helps")
Portuguese is more conservative in maintaining some intertonic vowels other than /a/: e.g. *''offerḗscere'' "to offer" > Portuguese ''oferecer'' vs. Spanish ''ofrecer'', French ''offrir'' (< *''offerīre''). French, on the other hand, drops even intertonic /a/ after the stress: ''Stéphanum'' "Stephen" > Spanish ''Esteban'' but Old French ''Estievne'' > French ''Étienne''. Many cases of /a/ before the stress also ultimately dropped in French: ''sacraméntum'' "sacrament" > Old French ''sairement'' > French ''serment'' "oath".

== Writing systems ==
{{Main|Latin script}}
{{See also|Palatalization in the Romance languages#Spelling of palatalized consonants}}

The Romance languages for the most part have continued to use the Latin alphabet while adapting it to their evolution.
One exception was Romanian, where before the nineteenth century, the [[Romanian Cyrillic alphabet]] was used due to Slavic influence after the Roman retreat. A Cyrillic alphabet was also used for Romanian (then called Moldovan) in the [[Soviet Union|USSR]]. The non-Christian populations of Spain also used the scripts of their religions ([[Arabic script|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew script|Hebrew]]) to write Romance languages such as [[Judaeo-Spanish]] and [[Mozarabic language|Mozarabic]] in ''[[aljamiado]]''.

=== Letters ===

The [[Latin alphabet#Classical Latin alphabet|classical Latin alphabet]] of 23 letters – ''A'', ''B'', ''C'', ''D'', ''E'', ''F'', ''G'', ''H'', ''I'', ''K'', ''L'', ''M'', ''N'', ''O'', ''P'', ''Q'', ''R'', ''S'', ''T'', ''V'', ''X'', ''Y'', ''Z'' – was [[Latin-script alphabet|modified and augmented]] in various ways to yield the spelling systems of the Romance languages. In particular, the single Latin letter ''V'' split into ''V'' (consonant) and ''U'' (vowel), and the letter ''I'' split into ''I'' and ''J''. The Latin letter ''K'' and the new letter ''W'', which came to be widely used in [[Germanic languages]], are seldom used in most Romance languages – mostly for unassimilated foreign names and words. Indeed, in Italian prose {{wikt-lang|it|kilometro}} is properly {{wikt-lang|it|chilometro}}. Portuguese and Catalan eschew importation of "foreign" letters more than most languages. Thus Wikipedia is {{wikt-lang|ca|Viquipèdia}} in Catalan but {{wikt-lang|es|Wikipedia}} in Spanish; chikungunya, sandwich, kiwi are {{wikt-lang|pt|chicungunha}}, {{wikt-lang|pt|sanduíche}}, {{wikt-lang|pt|quiuí}} in Portuguese but {{wikt-lang|pt|chikunguña}}, {{wikt-lang|pt|sándwich}}, {{wikt-lang|pt|kiwi}} in Spanish.

While most of the 23 basic Latin letters have maintained their phonetic value, for some of them it has diverged considerably; and the new letters added since the Middle Ages have been put to different uses in different scripts. Some letters, notably ''H'' and ''Q'', have been variously combined in [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] or [[trigraph (orthography)|trigraphs]] (see below) to represent phonetic phenomena that could not be recorded with the basic Latin alphabet, or to get around previously established spelling conventions. Most languages added auxiliary marks ([[diacritic]]s) to some letters, for these and other purposes.

The spelling systems of most Romance languages are fairly simple, and consistent within any language.
Spelling rules are typically [[Phonemic orthography|phonemic]] (as opposed to being strictly [[Phonetic transcription|phonetic]]); as a result of this, the actual pronunciation of standard written forms can vary substantially according to the speaker's accent (which may differ by region) or the position of a sound in the word or utterance ([[Allophone|allophony]]).

The following letters have notably different values between languages, or between Latin and the Romance languages:
:'''B, V''': Merged in Spanish and some dialects of Catalan, where both letters represent a single phoneme pronounced as either {{IPA|[b]}} or {{IPA|[β]}} depending on position, with no differentiation between '''B''' and '''V'''.
:'''C''': Generally a "hard" {{IPA|[k]}}, but "soft" ([[fricative consonant|fricative]] or [[affricate consonant|affricate]]) before ''e'', ''i'', or ''y''.
:'''G''': Generally a "hard" {{IPA|[ɡ]}}, but "soft" (fricative or affricate) before ''e'', ''i'', or ''y''. In some languages, like Spanish, the hard ''g'', phonemically {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, is pronounced as a fricative {{IPA|[ɣ]}} after vowels. In Romansch, the soft ''g'' is a [[voiced palatal plosive]] {{IPA|[ɟ]}} or a voiced [[alveolo-palatal consonant|alveolo-palatal]] affricate {{IPA|[dʑ]}}.
:'''H''': [[Silent letter|Silent]] in most languages; used to form various [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]]. But represents {{IPA|[h]}} in Romanian, Walloon and Gascon Occitan.
:'''J''': Represents the fricative {{IPA|[ʒ]}} in most languages, the [[palatal approximant]] {{IPA|[j]}} in Romansh and in several of the languages of Italy, and [x] or [h] in Spanish (depending on the [[Spanish dialects and varieties#Pronunciation of j|variety]]). Italian does not use this letter in native words, replacing it with ''gi'' before a vowel.
:'''Q''': As in Latin, its phonetic value is that of a hard ''c'', i.e. {{IPA|[k]}}, and in native words it is almost always followed by a (sometimes silent) ''u''. Romanian does not use this letter in native words, using ''ch'' instead.
:'''S''': Generally [[voice (phonetics)|voiceless]] {{IPA|[s]}}, but in some languages it can be voiced {{IPA|[z]}} instead in certain contexts (especially between vowels). In Spanish, Romanian, Galician and several varieties of Italian, it is always pronounced voiceless between vowels. If the phoneme /s/ is represented by the letter '''S''', predictable assimilations are normally not shown (e.g. Italian {{IPA|/ˈslitta/}} 'sled', spelled ''slitta'' but pronounced {{IPA|[ˈzlitta]}}, never with {{IPA|[s]}}). Also at the end of syllables it may represent special [[allophone|allophonic]] pronunciations. In Romansh, it also stands for a voiceless or voiced fricative, {{IPA|[ʃ]}} or {{IPA|[ʒ]}}, before certain consonants.
:'''W''': No Romance language uses this letter in native words, with the exception of [[Walloon language|Walloon]].
:'''X''': Its pronunciation is rather variable, both between and within languages. In the Middle Ages, the [[Iberian languages|languages of Iberia]] used this letter to denote the [[voiceless postalveolar fricative]] {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, which is still the case in modern [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. With the Renaissance the classical pronunciation {{IPA|[ks]}} – or similar [[consonant cluster]]s, such as {{IPA|[ɡz]}}, {{IPA|[ɡs]}}, or {{IPA|[kθ]}} – were frequently reintroduced in [[latinism]]s and hellenisms. In [[Venetian language|Venetian]] it represents {{IPA|[z]}}, and in [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]] the [[voiced postalveolar fricative]] {{IPA|[ʒ]}}. Italian does not use this letter in native words for historical reasons.
:'''Y''': This letter is not used in most languages, with the prominent exceptions of French and Spanish, where it represents {{IPA|[j]}} before vowels (or various similar fricatives such as the [[voiced palatal fricative|palatal fricative]] {{IPA|[ʝ]}}, in Spanish), and the vowel {{IPA|[i]}} or [[semivowel]] {{IPA|[j]}} elsewhere.
:'''Z''': In most languages it represents the sound {{IPA|[z]}}. However, in Italian it denotes the affricates {{IPA|[dz]}} and {{IPA|[ts]}} (which are two separate phonemes, but rarely contrast; among the few examples of minimal pairs are {{wikt-lang|it|razza}} "ray" with {{IPA|[ddz]}}, {{wikt-lang|it|razza}} "race" with {{IPA|[tts]}} (both are phonetically long between vowels); in Romansh the voiceless affricate {{IPA|[ts]}}; and in Galician and Spanish it denotes either the [[voiceless dental fricative]] {{IPA|[θ]}} or {{IPA|[s]}}.

Otherwise, letters that are not combined as digraphs generally represent the same phonemes as suggested by the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA), whose design was, in fact, greatly influenced by Romance spelling systems.

=== Digraphs and trigraphs ===
Since most Romance languages have more sounds than can be accommodated in the Roman Latin alphabet they all resort to the use of digraphs and trigraphs – combinations of two or three letters with a single phonemic value. The concept (but not the actual combinations) is derived from Classical Latin, which used, for example, ''TH'', ''PH'', and ''CH'' when transliterating the Greek letters "θ", "ϕ" (later "φ"), and "χ". These were once [[aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] sounds in Greek before changing to corresponding fricatives, and the ''H'' represented what sounded to the Romans like an {{IPA|/ʰ/}} following {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/p/}}, and {{IPA|/k/}} respectively. Some of the digraphs used in modern scripts are:<!--THIS TABLE SHOULD PERHAPS BE ORGANIZED BY SOUND RATHER THAN DIGRAPH?-->

:'''CI''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, Corsican and Romanian to represent {{IPA|/tʃ/}} before ''A'', ''O'', or ''U''.
:'''CH''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, Corsican, Romanian, Romansh and [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] to represent {{IPA|/k/}} before ''E'' or ''I'' (including yod {{IPA|/j/}}); {{IPA|/tʃ/}} in [[Occitan language|Occitan]], Spanish, Astur-leonese and Galician; {{IPA|[c]}} or {{IPA|[tɕ]}} in Romansh before ''A'', ''O'' or ''U''; and {{IPA|/ʃ/}} in most other languages. In Catalan it is used in some old spelling conventions for {{IPA|/k/}}.
:'''DD''': used in [[Sicilian language|Sicilian]] and [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] to represent the [[voiced retroflex plosive]] {{IPA|/ɖ/}}. In recent history more accurately transcribed as ''DDH''.
:'''DJ''': used in Walloon and Catalan for {{IPA|/dʒ/}}.
:'''GI''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, Corsican and Romanian to represent {{IPA|/dʒ/}} before ''A'', ''O'', or ''U'', and in Romansh to represent {{IPA|[ɟi]}} or {{IPA|/dʑi/}} or (before ''A'', ''E'', ''O'', and ''U'') {{IPA|[ɟ]}} or {{IPA|/dʑ/}}
:'''GH''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, Corsican, Romanian, Romansh and [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]] to represent {{IPA|/ɡ/}} before ''E'' or ''I'' (including yod {{IPA|/j/}}), and in Galician for the [[voiceless pharyngeal fricative]] {{IPA|/ħ/}} (not standard sound).
:'''GL''': used in Romansh before consonants and ''I'' and at the end of words for {{IPA|/ʎ/}}.
:'''GLI''': used in Italian and Corsican for {{IPA|/ʎʎ/}} and Romansh for {{IPA|/ʎ/}}.
:'''GN''': used in French, some Romance languages in Italy, Corsican, Romansh Walloon for {{IPA|/ɲ/}}, as in ''champignon''; in Italian to represent {{IPA|/ɲɲ/}}, as in "ogni" or "lo gnocco".
:'''GU''': used before ''E'' or ''I'' to represent {{IPA|/ɡ/}} or {{IPA|/ɣ/}} in all Romance languages except Italian, Romance languages in Italy, Corsican, Romansh, and Romanian, which use '''GH''' instead.
:'''IG''': used at the end of word in Catalan for {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, as in ''maig'', ''safareig'' or ''enmig''.
:'''IX''': used between vowels or at the end of word in Catalan/Aragonese for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, as in ''caixa''/''caixa'' or ''calaix''/''calaixo''.
:'''JH''': used in Walloon for /ʒ/ or /h/.
:'''LH''': used in Portuguese and Occitan {{IPA|/ʎ/}}.
:'''LL''': used in Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Astur-leonese, Norman and Dgèrnésiais, originally for {{IPA|/ʎ/}} which has merged in some cases with {{IPA|/j/}}. Represents {{IPA|/l/}} in French unless it follows ''I'' (''i'') when it represents {{IPA|/j/}} (or {{IPA|/ʎ/}} in some dialects). As in Italian, it is used in Occitan for a [[geminate consonant|long]] {{IPA|/ll/}}.
:'''L·L''': used in Catalan for a geminate consonant {{IPA| /ɫɫ/}}.
:'''NH''': used in Portuguese and Occitan for {{IPA|/ɲ/}}, used in official Galician for {{IPA|/ŋ/}} .
:'''N-''': used in Piedmontese and Ligurian for {{IPA|/ŋ/}} between two vowels.
:'''NN''': used in [[Leonese dialect|Leonese]] for {{IPA|/ɲ/}}, in Italian for geminate {{IPA|/nn/}}.
:'''NY''': used in Catalan, Aragonese and Walloon for {{IPA|/ɲ/}}.
:'''QU''': represents {{IPA|/kw/}} in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, and Romansh; {{IPA|/k/}} in French, Astur-leonese (normally before ''e'' or ''i''); {{IPA|/k/}} (before ''e'' or ''i'') or {{IPA|/kw/}} (normally before ''a'' or ''o'') in Occitan, Catalan and Portuguese; {{IPA|/k/}} in Spanish (always before ''e'' or ''i'').
:'''RR''': used between vowels in several languages (Occitan, Catalan, Spanish) to denote a [[trill consonant|trilled]] {{IPA|/r/}} or a [[guttural R]], instead of the [[flap consonant|flap]] {{IPA|/ɾ/}}.
:'''SC''': used before ''E'' or ''I'' in Italian, Romance languages in Italy as {{IPA|/ʃ/ or /ʃʃ/}}, in European Portuguese as {{IPA|/ʃs/}} and in French, Brazilian Portuguese, Catalan and [[Hispanic America|Hispanic American]] Spanish as {{IPA|/s/}} in words of certain etymology (notice this would represent {{IPA|/sθ/}} in standard peninsular Spanish)
:'''SCH''': used in Romansh for {{IPA|[ʃ]}} or {{IPA|[ʒ]}}, in Italian for {{IPA|/sk/}} before ''E'' or ''I'', including yod {{IPA|/j/}}.
:'''SCI''': used in Italian, Romance languages in Italy, and Corsican to represent {{IPA|/ʃ/ or /ʃʃ/}} before ''A'', ''O'', or ''U''.
:'''SH''': used in [[Aranese dialect|Aranese]], Spanish (almost only in foreign words), Occitan and Walloon for {{IPA|/ʃ/}}.
:'''SS''': used in French, Portuguese, Piedmontese, Romansh, Occitan, and Catalan for {{IPA|/s/}} between vowels, in Italian, Romance languages of Italy, and Corsican for long {{IPA|/ss/}}.
:'''TS''': used in Catalan for {{IPA|/ts/}}.
:'''TSH''': used in Walloon for /tʃ/.
:'''TG''': used in Romansh for {{IPA|[c]}} or {{IPA|[tɕ]}}. In Catalan is used for {{IPA|/dʒ/}} before ''E'' and ''I'', as in ''metge'' or ''fetge''.
:'''TH''': used in Jèrriais for {{IPA|/θ/}}; used in Aranese for either {{IPA|/t/}} or {{IPA|/tʃ/}}.
:'''TJ''': used between vowels and before ''A'', ''O'' or ''U'', in Catalan for {{IPA|/dʒ/}}, as in ''sotjar'' or ''mitjó''.
:'''TSCH''': used in Romansh for {{IPA|[tʃ]}}.
:'''TX''': used at the beginning or at the end of word or between vowels in Catalan for {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, as in ''txec'', ''esquitx'' or ''atxa''.
:'''TZ''': used in Catalan for {{IPA|/dz/}}.
:'''XH''': used in Walloon for /ʃ/ or /h/, depending on the dialect.
<!--MORE...-->

While the digraphs ''CH'', ''PH'', ''RH'' and ''TH'' were at one time used in many words of Greek origin, most languages have now replaced them with ''C/QU'', ''F'', ''R'' and ''T''. Only French has kept these [[etymology|etymological]] spellings, which now represent {{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, {{IPA|/f/}}, {{IPA|/ʀ/}} and {{IPA|/t/}}, respectively.

==== Double consonants ====
[[Gemination]], in the languages where it occurs, is usually indicated by doubling the consonant, except when it does not contrast phonemically with the corresponding short consonant, in which case gemination is not indicated. In [[Jèrriais]], long consonants are marked with an apostrophe: {{lang|nrf|s's}} is a long {{IPA|/zz/}}, {{lang|nrf|ss's}} is a long {{IPA|/ss/}}, and {{lang|nrf|t't}} is a long {{IPA|/tt/}}. The phonemic contrast between geminate and single consonants is widespread in [[Italian language|Italian]], and normally indicated in the traditional orthography: {{lang|it|fatto}} {{IPA|/fatto/}} 'done' vs. {{lang|it|fato}} {{IPA|/fato/}} 'fate, destiny'; {{lang|it|cadde}} {{IPA|/kadde/}} 's/he, it fell' vs. {{lang|it|cade}} {{IPA|/kade/}} 's/he, it falls'. The double consonants in French orthography, however, are merely etymological. In Catalan, the gemination of {{lang|ca|l}} is marked by a {{lang|ca|[[punt volat]]}} ("flying point"): {{lang|ca|l·l}}.

=== Diacritics ===
Romance languages also introduced various marks ([[diacritic]]s) that may be attached to some letters, for various purposes. In some cases, diacritics are used as an alternative to digraphs and trigraphs; namely to represent a larger number of sounds than would be possible with the basic alphabet, or to distinguish between sounds that were previously written the same. Diacritics are also used to mark word stress, to indicate exceptional pronunciation of letters in certain words, and to distinguish words with same pronunciation ([[homophone]]s).

Depending on the language, some letter-diacritic combinations may be considered distinct letters, e.g. for the purposes of [[alphabetical order|lexical sorting]]. This is the case, for example, of Romanian ''ș'' ({{IPA|[ʃ]}}) and Spanish ''ñ'' ({{IPA|[ɲ]}}).

The following are the most common use of diacritics in Romance languages.
<!-- This should probably be limited to the most common functions of the Romance diacritics. Rarer values can be found in the particular articles about each language. -->
* '''Vowel quality''': the system of marking [[close-mid vowel]]s with an [[acute accent]], ''é'', and [[open-mid vowel]]s with a [[grave accent]], ''è'', is widely used (e.g. Catalan, French, Italian). Portuguese, however, uses the [[circumflex]] (''ê'') for the former, and the acute (''é''), for the latter. Some minority Romance languages use an [[umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]] (diaeresis mark) in the case of ''ä, ö, ü'' to indicate fronted vowel variants, as in [[German language|German]]. Centralized vowels ({{IPA|/ɐ/, /ə/}}) are indicated variously (''â'' in Portuguese, ''ă/î'' in Romanian, ''ë'' in [[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]], etc.). In French, Occitan and Romanian, these accents are used whenever necessary to distinguish the appropriate vowel quality, but in the other languages, they are used only when it is necessary to mark unpredictable stress, or in some cases to distinguish homophones.
* '''Vowel length''': French uses a circumflex to indicate what had been a [[long vowel]] (although nowadays this rather indicates a difference in vowel quality, if it has any effect at all on pronunciation). This same usage is found in some minority languages.
* '''Nasality''': Portuguese marks [[nasal vowel]]s with a [[tilde]] (''ã'') when they occur before other written vowels and in some other instances.
* '''Palatalization''': some historical [[palatalization (sound change)|palatalizations]] are indicated with the [[cedilla]] (''ç'') in French, Catalan, Occitan and Portuguese. In Spanish and several other world languages influenced by it, the grapheme ''[[ñ]]'' represents a [[palatal nasal]] consonant.
* '''Separate pronunciation''': when a vowel and another letter that would normally be combined into a [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]] with a single sound are exceptionally pronounced apart, this is often indicated with a [[umlaut (diacritic)|diaeresis mark]] on the vowel. This is particularly common in the case of ''gü'' /ɡw/ before ''e'' or ''i'', because plain ''gu'' in this case would be pronounced /ɡ/. This usage occurs in Spanish, French, Catalan and Occitan, and occurred before the 2009 spelling reform in Brazilian Portuguese. French also uses the diaeresis on the second of two adjacent vowels to indicate that both are pronounced separately, as in ''Noël'' "Christmas" and ''haïr'' "to hate".
* '''Stress''': the stressed vowel in a polysyllabic word may be indicated with an accent, when it cannot be predicted by rule. In Italian, Portuguese and Catalan, the choice of accent (acute, grave or circumflex) may depend on vowel quality. When no quality needs to be indicated, an acute accent is normally used (''ú''), but Italian and Romansh use a grave accent (''ù''). Portuguese puts a diacritic on all stressed monosyllables that end in ''a e o as es os'', to distinguish them from unstressed function words: ''chá'' "tea", ''más'' "bad (fem. pl.)", ''sé'' "seat (of government)", ''dê'' "give! (imperative)", ''mês'' "month", ''só'' "only", ''nós'' "we" (cf. ''mas'' "but", ''se'' "if/oneself", ''de'' "of", ''nos'' "us"). Word-final stressed vowels in polysyllables are marked by the grave accent in Italian, thus ''università'' "university/universities", ''virtù'' "virtue/virtues", resulting in occasional minimal or near-minimal pairs such as ''parlo'' "I speak" ≠ ''parlò'' "s/he spoke", ''capi'' "heads, bosses" ≠ ''capì'' "s/he understood", ''gravita'' "it, s'/he gravitates" ≠ ''gravità'' "gravity, seriousness".
* '''Homophones''': words (especially monosyllables) that are pronounced exactly or nearly the same way and are spelled identically, but have different meanings, can be differentiated by a diacritic. Typically, if one of the pair is stressed and the other isn't, the stressed word gets the diacritic, using the appropriate diacritic for notating stressed syllables (see above). Portuguese does this consistently as part of notating stress in certain monosyllables, whether or not there is an unstressed homophone (see examples above). Spanish also has many pairs of identically pronounced words distinguished by an acute accent on the stressed word: ''si'' "if" vs. ''sí'' "yes", ''mas'' "but" vs. ''más'' "more", ''mi'' "my" vs. ''mí'' "me", ''se'' "oneself" vs. ''sé'' "I know", ''te'' "you (object)" vs. ''té'' "tea", ''que/quien/cuando/como'' "that/who/when/how" vs. ''qué/quién/cuándo/cómo'' "what?/who?/when?/how?", etc. A similar strategy is common for monosyllables in writing Italian, but not necessarily determined by stress: stressed ''dà'' "it, s/he gives" vs. unstressed ''da'' "by, from", but also ''tè'' "tea" and ''te'' "you", both capable of bearing phrasal stress. Catalan has some pairs where both words are stressed, and one is distinguished by a vowel-quality diacritic, e.g. ''os'' "bone" vs. ''ós'' "bear". When no vowel-quality needs distinguishing, French and Catalan use a [[grave accent]]: French ''ou'' "or" vs. ''où'' "where", French ''la'' "the" vs. ''là'' "there", Catalan ''ma'' "my" vs. ''mà'' "hand".

=== Upper and lowercase ===
Most languages are written with a mixture of two distinct but phonetically identical variants or "[[letter case|cases]]" of the alphabet: [[letter case#Majuscule|majuscule]] ("uppercase" or "capital letters"), derived from Roman stone-carved letter shapes, and [[letter case#Minuscule|minuscule]] ("lowercase"), derived from [[Carolingian minuscule|Carolingian writing]] and Medieval [[quill pen]] handwriting which were later adapted by printers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

In particular, all Romance languages capitalize (use uppercase for the first letter of) the following words: the first word of each complete [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]], most words in names of people, places, and organizations, and most words in titles of books. The Romance languages do not follow the German practice of capitalizing all nouns including common ones. Unlike English, the names of months, days of the weeks, and derivatives of proper nouns are usually not capitalized: thus, in Italian one capitalizes ''Francia'' ("France") and ''Francesco'' ("Francis"), but not ''francese'' ("French") or ''francescano'' ("Franciscan"). However, each language has some exceptions to this general rule.

== Vocabulary comparison ==
The tables below{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} provide a vocabulary comparison that illustrates a number of examples of sound shifts that have occurred between Latin and Romance languages. Words are given in their conventional spellings. In addition, for French the actual pronunciation is given, due to the dramatic differences between spelling and pronunciation. (French spelling approximately reflects the pronunciation of [[Old French]], c. 1200 AD.)

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%"
|-
![[English language|English]]
![[Latin]]
![[Sardinian language|Sardinian]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ditzionàriu in línia de sa limba e de sa cultura sarda, Regione Autònoma de sa Sardigna |url=https://ditzionariu.nor-web.eu/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008063308/http://ditzionariu.nor-web.eu/ |archive-date=2017-10-08 |access-date=2013-09-14}}</ref><br />(Nuorese)
![[Romanian language|Romanian]]
![[Sicilian language|Sicilian]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-06-15 |title=Sicilian–English Dictionary |url=http://italian.about.com/od/sicilian/a/aa050405d_3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707075133/http://italian.about.com/od/sicilian/a/aa050405d_3.htm |archive-date=2011-07-07 |access-date=2010-11-06 |publisher=Italian.about.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dictionary Sicilian – Italian |url=http://www.utenti.lycos.it/uerreclan_sito/dizionario.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420144425/http://utenti.lycos.it/uerreclan_sito/dizionario.htm |archive-date=2009-04-20 |access-date=2010-11-06 |publisher=Utenti.lycos.it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Indo-European Languages |url=http://www.zompist.com/euro.htm |access-date=2013-09-18 |archive-date=2021-02-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224202225/http://www.zompist.com/euro.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
![[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]]
![[Corsican language|Corsican]]<br />(Northern)
![[Italian language|Italian]]
![[Venetian language|Venetian]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Traduttore – Lingua Veneta |url=http://www.linguaveneta.net/strumenti/traduttore/ |access-date=2022-08-07 |archive-date=2022-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807124708/http://www.linguaveneta.net/strumenti/traduttore/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
![[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Traduttore Italiano Genovese – TIG |url=http://www.zeneize.net/itze/main.asp |url-status=live |access-date=2021-01-26 |archive-date=2021-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308002127/http://www.zeneize.net/itze/main.asp }}</ref>
![[Emilian language|Emilian]]
![[Lombard language|Lombard]]
![[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grand Dissionari Piemontèis / Grande Dizionario Piemontese |url=http://www.piemonteis.com/ |access-date=2013-09-17 |archive-date=2013-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902153307/http://www.piemonteis.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
![[Friulian language|Friulian]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dictionary English–Friulian Friulian–English |url=http://www.sangiorgioinsieme.it/Diz-friulan-english%20.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722053136/http://www.sangiorgioinsieme.it/Diz-friulan-english%20.htm |archive-date=2011-07-22 |access-date=2011-07-31 |publisher=Sangiorgioinsieme.it}}</ref>
![[Romansh language|Romansh]]
![[Franco-Provençal language|Arpitan]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lo trèsor arpitan |url=http://arpitan.eu/SmartDic |url-status=live |access-date=2021-01-26 |archive-date=2020-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231062048/http://www.arpitan.eu/SmartDic }}</ref>
![[French language|French]]
![[Occitan language|Occitan]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beaumont |date=2008-12-16 |title=Occitan–English Dictionary |url=http://www.freelang.net/online/occitan.php?lg=gb |access-date=2010-11-06 |publisher=Freelang.net |archive-date=2011-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603235151/http://www.freelang.net/online/occitan.php?lg=gb |url-status=live }}</ref>
![[Catalan language|Catalan]]
![[Aragonese language|Aragonese]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=English Aragonese Dictionary Online |url=http://en.glosbe.com/en/an |access-date=2013-09-18 |publisher=Glosbe |archive-date=2013-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830042633/http://en.glosbe.com/en/an/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
![[Spanish language|Spanish]]
![[Asturian language|Asturian]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=English Asturian Dictionary Online |url=http://en.glosbe.com/en/ast |access-date=2013-09-18 |publisher=Glosbe |archive-date=2013-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130830075816/http://en.glosbe.com/en/ast/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
![[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
![[Galician language|Galician]]
|-
|man
|''homō, hominem''
|ómine
|om
|omu [ˈɔmʊ]
|ommo [ˈɔmːə]
|omu
|uomo [ˈwɔmo]
|òm(en~an)o [ˈɔm(en~an)o]; òm [ˈɔŋ]
|òmmo [ɔmu]
|òm(en)
|òm(en) [ˈɔmɐn]
|òm [ˈɔm]
|om
|um
|homo
|homme {{IPA|/ɔm/}}
|òme [ˈɔme]
|home
|hom(br)e
|hombre
|home
|homem
|home
|-
|woman, wife
|Domina, femina, ''mulier, mulierem''
|Fémina, muzère
|doamna, femeie, muiere
|mugghieri [mʊˈgːjeri]
|femmena [femːənə], mugliera [muʎeɾə]
|donna, moglie
|donna [dɔnːa]
|dòna [ˈdɔna]; fémena [ˈfemena]; mujer [muˈjer]
|mogê/dònna
|mujér
|dòna [dɔnɐ] /femna,[femnɐ] /<br />miee/moglier [ˈmje]
|fomna / fomla [ˈfʊmnɐ]/[ˈfʊmlɐ], mojé [mʊˈje]
|muîr
|muglier
|fèna
|femme {{IPA|/fam/}}<br />[[Old French|OF]] moillier
|femna/molhèr [ˈfɛnːɒ]/<br>[muˈʎɛ]
|dona, muller
|muller
|mujer
|muyer
|mulher
|muller
|-
|son
|''fīlium''
|fízu
|fiu
|figghiu [ˈfɪgːi̯ʊ]
|figlio [ˈfiʎə]
|figliu/figliolu
|figlio [ˈfiʎːo]
|fïo [ˈfi.o]; fiòƚo [ˈfi̯ɔ.e̯o]; fiol [ˈfi̯ɔl~ˈfi̯ol]
|figeu [fiˈdʒø] / figleu [ˈfiˈʎø]
|fiōl
|fiœl [ˈfi̯ø]
|fieul [ˈfi̯øl] / fij [fi]
|fi
|figl, fegl [fiʎ]
|fily, fely
|fils {{IPA|/fis/}}
|filh [fil]
|fill
|fillo
|hijo
|fíu
|filho
|fillo
|-
|water
|''aquam''
|àbba
|apă
|acqua [ˈakːua]
|acqua [akːu̯ə]
|acqua
|acqua [akːwa]
|aqua~aqoa [ˈaku̯a~ˈakoa]; aba~aiva [ˈaba~ˈai̯va]; buba [ˈbuba]; łénça [ˈensa~ˈlensa]
|ægoa [ˈɛgu̯a]/ aigoa [ai̯ɡu̯a]
|aqua
|aqua/ova/eiva
|eva [ˈevɐ]
|aghe
|aua
|égoua
|eau {{IPA|/o/}}
|aiga [ˈai̯gɒ]
|aigua
|aigua, augua
|agua
|agua
|água
|auga
|-
|fire
|''focum''
|fócu
|foc
|focu [ˈfɔkʊ]
|foco/(pere, from Greek "πυρ")
|focu
|fuoco [fu̯ɔko]
|fógo [ˈfogo]; hógo [ˈhogo]
|fêugo [ˈføgu]
|foeugh
|fœg [ˈføk]
|feu [ˈfø]
|fûc
|fieu
|fuè
|feu {{IPA|/fø/}}
|fuòc [ˈfy̯ɔk] ~ [fjɔk]
|foc
|fuego
|fuego
|fueu
|fogo
|fogo
|-
|rain
|''pluviam''
|próida
|ploaie
|chiuvuta [ki̯ʊˈvʊta]<ref>Developed from *''pluviūtam''.</ref>
|chiuvuta
|pioggia
|pioggia [pi̯ɔdʒːa]
|piova [ˈpi̯ɔva~ˈpi̯ova]
|ciêuva [ˈtʃøa]
|pioeuva
|piœva [ˈpi̯øvɐ]
|pieuva [ˈpi̯øvɐ]
|ploe
|plievgia
|pllove
|pluie {{IPA|/plɥi/}}
|pluèja [ˈply̯ɛd͡ʒɒ]
|pluja
|pluya/plevita
|lluvia
|lluvia
|chuva
|choiva
|-
|land
|''terram''
|tèrra
|țară
|terra [tɛˈrːa]
|terra [tɛrːə]
|terra
|terra [tɛrːa]
|tèra [ˈtɛra]
|tæra [tɛɾa]
|tera
|terra [ˈtɛɾɐ]
|tèra [ˈtɛɾɐ]
|tiere
|terra/tiara
|tèrra
|terre {{IPA|/tɛʁ/}}
|tèrra [ˈtɛʁːɒ]
|terra
|tierra
|tierra
|tierra
|terra
|terra
|-
|stone
|petra
|pedra
|piatră
|petra [ˈpεtra]
|preta [ˈpɾɛtə]
|petra
|pietra [pi̯etra]
|piera [ˈpi̯ɛra~ˈpi̯era]; prïa~prèa [ˈpri.a~ˈprɛ.a]
|pria [pɾi̯a]
|preda
|preda/preja
|pera/pria/preja
|piere
|crapa
|piérra
|pierre
|pèira [ˈpɛi̯ʁɒ]
|pedra
|piedra
|piedra
|piedra
|pedra
|pedra
|-
|sky
|''caelum''
|chélu
|cer
|celu [ˈtʃɛlʊ]
|cielo [ˈtʃi̯elə]
|celu
|cielo [ˈtʃ(i̯)ɛlo]
|çiél [ˈsi̯el~ˈtsi̯el] ~ çiélo [ˈθi̯elo]
|çê [se]
|cēl
|cel [ˈtɕel]
|cel/sel [ˈtɕel] / [ˈsel]
|cîl
|tschiel [ˈtʃ̯i̯ɛl]
|cièl
|ciel {{IPA|/sjɛl/}}
|cèl [sɛl]
|cel
|cielo
|ciel(o)
|cielu
|céu
|ceo
|-
|high
|''altum''
|àrtu
|înalt
|autu [ˈawɾʊ]
|auto [ɑu̯tə]
|altu
|alto [ˈalto]
|alto [ˈalto]
|ato [atu]
|élt
|alt/(v)olt
|àut [ˈɑʊ̯t]
|alt
|aut [ˈɑʊ̯t]
|hiôt
|haut<ref>Initial ''h-'' due to contamination of Germanic ''*hauh'' "high". Although no longer pronounced, it reveals its former presence by inhibiting [[elision (French)|elision]] of a preceding [[schwa]], e.g. ''le haut'' "the high" vs. ''l'eau'' "the water".</ref> {{IPA|/o/}}
|naut [nau̯t]
|alt
|alto
|alto
|altu
|alto
|alto
|-
|new
|''novum''
|nóbu
|nou
|novu [ˈnɔvʊ]
|nuovo [ˈnu̯ovə]
|novu
|nuovo [ˈnu̯ɔvo]
|nóvo [ˈnovo]
|nêuvo [nø̯u]
|noeuv
|nœv [ˈnøf]
|neuv [ˈnø̯w]
|gnove
|nov [ˈnøf]
|nôvo, nôf
|neuf {{IPA|/nœf/}}
|nòu [nɔu̯]
|nou
|nuevo
|nuevo
|nuevu
|novo
|novo
|-
|horse
|''caballum''
|càdhu
|cal
|cavaḍḍu [kaˈvaɖɖʊ]
|cavallo [cɐvɑlːə]
|cavallu
|cavallo [kavalːo]
|cavało [kaˈvae̯o] caval [kaˈval]
|cavàllo
|cavàl
|cavall
|caval [kaˈvɑl]
|cjaval
|chaval [ˈtʃ̯aval]
|chevâl
|cheval<br />{{IPA|/ʃ(ə)val/}}
|caval [kaˈβal]
|cavall
|caballo
|caballo
|caballu
|cavalo
|cabalo
|-
|dog
|''canem''
|càne/jàgaru
|câine
|cani [ˈkanɪ]
|cane/cacciuttiello
|cane
|cane [kane]
|can [ˈkaŋ]
|càn [kaŋ]
|can
|can/ca [ˈkɑ̃(ŋ)]
|can [ˈkaŋ]
|cjan
|chaun [ˈtʃ̯awn]
|chin
|chien<br />{{IPA|/ʃjɛ̃/}}
|can [ka] / gos [gus]
|ca, gos
|can
|can/perro
|can
|cão
|can
|-
|do
|''facere''
|fàchere
|face(re)
|fàciri [ˈfaʃɪɾɪ]
|fà [fɑ]
|fà
|fare [ˈfaɾe]
|far [ˈfar]
|fâ [faː]
|far / fer
|far [ˈfɑ]
|fé [ˈfe]
|fâ
|far [far]
|fére, fâr
|faire {{IPA|/fɛːʁ/}}
|far [fa]
|fer
|fer
|hacer
|facer
|fazer
|facer
|-
|milk
|''lactem''
|làte
|lapte
|latti [ˈlatːɪ]
|latte [ˈlɑtːə]
|latte
|latte [ˈlatːe]
|late [ˈlate]
|læte [ˈlɛːte] / laite [lai̯te]
|latt
|lacc/lat [ˈlɑtɕ]
|làit/lacc [ˈlɑi̯t] / [ˈlɑtɕ]
|lat
|latg [ˈlɑtɕ]
|lacél, lat
|lait {{IPA|/lɛ/}}
|lach [lat͡ʃ] / [lat͡s]
|llet
|leit
|leche
|lleche
|leite
|leite
|-
|eye
|''oculum'' > *oclum
|ócru
|ochi
|occhiu [ˈɔkːi̯ʊ]
|uocchio [uokːi̯ə]
|ochiu/ochju
|occhio [ˈɔkːi̯o]
|òcio [ˈɔtʃo]
|éugio [ˈødʒu]
|òć
|œgg [ˈøtɕ]
|euj/eugg [ˈøj] / [ødʑ]
|voli
|egl
|uely
|œil {{IPA|/œj/}}
|uèlh [y̯ɛl]
|ull
|uello/ollo
|ojo
|güeyu
|olho
|ollo
|-
|ear
|''auriculam'' > *oriclam
|orícra
|ureche
|auricchia [awˈɾɪkːɪ̯a]
|recchia [ɾekːi̯ə]
|orecchiu/orechju
|orecchio [oˡɾekːjo]
|récia [ˈretʃa]; orécia [ˈoɾetʃa]
|oêgia
|uréć
|oregia/orecia [ʊˈɾɛd͡ʑɐ]
|orija [ʊˈɾiɐ̯] / oregia [ʊˈɾed͡ʑɐ]
|orele
|ureglia
|orelye
|oreille<br />{{IPA|/ɔʁɛj/}}
|aurelha [au̯ˈʁɛʎɒ]
|orella
|orella
|oreja
|oreya
|orelha
|orella
|-
|tongue/<br />language
|''linguam''
|límba
|limbă
|lingua [lingu̯a]
|lengua
|lingua
|lingua [ˈliŋɡua]
|léngua [ˈleŋgu̯a]
|léngoa [leŋgu̯a]
|léngua
|lengua [lẽgwɐ]
|lenga [ˈlɛŋɡa]
|lenghe
|lingua
|lengoua
|langue {{IPA|/lɑ̃ɡ/}}
|lenga [ˈlɛŋgɒ]
|llengua
|luenga
|lengua
|llingua
|língua
|lingua
|-
|hand
|''manum''
|mànu
|mână
|manu [manʊ]
|mana [ˈmɑnə]
|manu
|mano [mano]
|man [ˈmaŋ]
|màn [maŋ]
|man
|man/ma [mɑ̃(ɲ)]
|man [ˈmaŋ]
|man
|maun
|man
|main {{IPA|/mɛ̃/}}
|man [ma]
|mà
|man
|mano
|mano
|mão {{IPA|[mɐ̃w̃]}}
|man
|-
|skin
|''pellem''
|pèdhe
|piele
|peḍḍi [pεdːɪ]
|pella [pɛlːə]
|pelle
|pelle [ˈpɛlːe]
|pèłe [ˈpɛ.e~ˈpɛle]; pèl [ˈpɛl]
|pélle [pele]
|pèl
|pell [pɛl]
|pèil [ˈpɛi̯l]
|piel
|pel
|pêl
|peau {{IPA|/po/}}
|pèl [pɛl]
|pell
|piel
|piel
|piel
|pele
|pel
|-
|I
|''ego''
|(d)ègo
|eu
|eu/jè/ju/iu
|ije [ijə]
|eiu
|io
|(mi)<ref name="latinme">Cognate with Latin ''mē'', not ''ego''. This parallels the state of affairs in Celtic, where the cognate of ''ego'' is not attested anywhere, and the use of the accusative form cognate to ''mē'' has been extended to cover the nominative, as well.</ref> a
|(mi)<ref name="latinme" /> a
|(mì/mè)<ref name="latinme" /> a
|(mi/mé)<ref name="latinme" /> a
|(mi)<ref name="latinme" /> i/a/e
|jo
|jau
|je
|je {{IPA|/ʒə/}}, moi {{IPA|/mwa/}}<ref name="latinme" />
|ieu [i̯ɛu̯]
|jo
|yo
|yo
|yo
|eu
|eu
|-
|our
|''nostrum''
|nóstru
|nostru
|nostru [ˈnɔstrʊ]
|nuosto [nu̯oʃtə]
|nostru
|nostro
|nòstro [ˈnɔstro]
|nòstro [ˈnɔstɾu]
|nòster
|nòst/nòster [ˈnɔst(ɐr)]
|nòst [ˈnɔst]
|nestri
|noss
|noutron
|notre {{IPA|/nɔtʁ/}}
|nòstre [ˈnɔstʁe]
|nostre
|nuestro
|nuestro
|nuesu,<ref name="nosso">Developed from an assimilated form *''nossum'' rather than from ''nostrum''.</ref> nuestru
|nosso<ref name="nosso" />
|noso<ref name="nosso" />
|-
|three
|''trēs''
|tres
|trei
|tri [ˈtɹɪ]
|tre [trɛ]
|tre
|tre [tre]
|trí~trè [ˈtri~ˈtrɛ]
|tréi (m)/træ (f)
|trii
|tri ([[grammatical gender|m]])/<br />tre ([[grammatical gender|f]])
|trè [ˈtɾɛ]
|tre
|trais
|trê
|trois {{IPA|/tʁwɑ/}}
|tres [tʁɛs]
|tres
|tres
|tres
|trés
|três
|tres
|-
|four
|''quattuor'' ><br />*quattro
|bàtoro
|patru
|quattru [ˈku̯aʈɻʊ]
|quatto [qu̯ɑtːə]
|quattru
|quattro
|quatro~qoatro [ˈku̯a.tro~ˈkoa.tro]
|quàttro [ˈkuatɾu]
|quàtar
|quàter [ˈkwɑtɐr]
|quatr [ˈkɑt]
|cuatri
|quat(t)er
|quatro
|quatre {{IPA|/katʁ/}}
|quatre [ˈkatʁe]
|quatre
|cuatre, cuatro
|cuatro
|cuatro
|quatro
|catro
|-
|five
|''quīnque'' ><br />*cīnque
|chímbe
|cinci
|cincu [ˈtʃɪnkʊ]
|cinco [tʃinɡə]
|cinque
|cinque [ˈtʃinku̯e]
|çinque [ˈsiŋku̯e~ˈtsiŋku̯e~ˈθiŋku̯e]; çinqoe [ˈsiŋkoe]
|çìnque [ˈsiŋku̯e]
|sinc
|cinc [ʃĩk]
|sinch [ˈsiŋk]
|cinc
|tschintg [ˈtʃink]
|cinq
|cinq {{IPA|/sɛ̃k/}}
|cinc [siŋk]
|cinc
|cinc(o)
|cinco
|cinco, cincu
|cinco
|cinco
|-
|six
|''sex''
|ses
|șase
|sia [ˈsi̯a]
|seje [sɛjə]
|sei
|sei [ˈsɛ̯j]
|sïe~sié [ˈsi.e~ˈsi̯e]
|sêi [se̯j]
|siē
|sex [ses]
|ses [ˈses]
|sîs
|sis
|siéx
|six {{IPA|/sis/}}
|sièis [si̯ɛi̯s]
|sis
|seis/sais
|seis
|seis
|seis
|seis
|-
|seven
|''septem''
|sète
|șapte
|setti [ˈsɛtːɪ]
|sette [ˈsɛtːə]
|sette
|sette [ˈsɛtːe]
|sète [ˈsɛte]; sèt [ˈsɛt]
|sètte [ˈsɛte]
|sèt
|set [sɛt]
|set [ˈsɛt]
|siet
|se(a)t, siat [si̯ɛt]
|sèpt
|sept {{IPA|/sɛt/}}
|sèt [sɛt]
|set
|siet(e)
|siete
|siete
|sete
|sete
|-
|eight
|''octō''
|òto
|opt
|ottu [ˈɔtːʊ]
|otto [otːə]
|ottu
|otto [ˈɔtːo]
|òto [ɔto]
|éuto [ˈøtu]
|òt
|vòt/òt [vɔt]
|eut [ˈøt]
|vot
|ot(g), och [ˈɔtɕ]
|huét
|huit {{IPA|/ɥit/}}
|uèch/uèit [y̯ɛt͡ʃ]/[y̯ɛi̯t]
|vuit
|ueit(o)
|ocho
|ocho
|oito
|oito
|-
|nine
|''novem''
|nòbe
|nouă
|novi [ˈnɔvɪ]
|nove [novə]
|nove
|nove [ˈnɔve]
|nove [nɔve~nove]
|nêuve [nø̯e]
|nóv
|nœv [nøf]
|neuv [ˈnøw]
|nûv
|no(u)v
|nôf
|neuf {{IPA|/nœf/}}
|nòu [nɔu̯]
|nou
|nueu
|nueve
|nueve
|nove
|nove
|-
|ten
|''decem''
|dèche
|zece
|deci [ˈɾεʃɪ]
|diece [d̯i̯eʃə]
|dece
|dieci [ˈdi̯etʃi]
|diéxe [di̯eze]; diés [di̯es]
|dêxe [ˈdeʒe]
|déś
|dex [des]
|des [ˈdes]
|dîs
|diesch [di̯eʃ]
|diéx
|dix {{IPA|/dis/}}
|dètz [dɛt͡s]
|deu
|diez
|diez
|diez
|dez
|dez
|-
![[English language|English]]
![[Latin]]
![[Sardinian language|Sardinian]]<br />(Nuorese)
![[Romanian language|Romanian]]
![[Sicilian language|Sicilian]]
![[Neapolitan language|Neapolitan]]
![[Corsican language|Corsican]]<br />(Northern)
![[Italian language|Italian]]
![[Venetian language|Venetian]]
![[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]]
![[Emilian language|Emilian]]
![[Lombard language|Lombard]]
![[Piedmontese language|Piedmontese]]
![[Friulian language|Friulian]]
![[Romansh language|Romansh]]
![[Franco-Provençal language|Arpitan]]
![[French language|French]]
![[Occitan language|Occitan]]
![[Catalan language|Catalan]]
![[Aragonese language|Aragonese]]
![[Spanish language|Spanish]]
![[Asturian language|Asturian]]
![[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
![[Galician language|Galician]]
|}

=== Degrees of [[lexical similarity]] among the Romance languages ===
<small>Data from [[Ethnologue]]:</small><ref>''Ethnologue, Languages of the World,'' 15th edition, SIL International, 2005.</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%"
|-
! width="60"| <big>%</big> !! width="60" | [[Sardinian language|Sardinian]]!! width="60" | [[Italian language|Italian]] !! width="60" | [[French language|French]] !! width="60" | [[Spanish language|Spanish]] !! width="60" | [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] !! width="60" | [[Catalan language|Catalan]] !! width="60" | [[Romansh language|Romansh]]
|-
! [[Italian language|Italian]]
| 85|| —
| || || || ||
|-
! [[French language|French]]
| 80|| 89
| — || || || ||
|-
! [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
| 76|| 82
| 75 || — || || ||
|-
! [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
| 76|| 80
| 75 || 89 || — || ||
|-
! [[Catalan language|Catalan]]
| 75|| 87
| 85 || 85 || 85 || — ||
|-
! [[Romansh language|Romansh]]
| 74|| 78
| 78 || 74 || 74 || 76 || —
|-
! [[Romanian language|Romanian]]
| 74|| 77
| 75 || 71 || 72 || 73 || 72
|}

== See also ==
* [[Romance linguistics]]
* [[Italo-Celtic]]
* [[Latins#Latin peoples and regions]]
* [[Italic peoples]]
* [[Latin Union]]
* [[Legacy of the Roman Empire]]
* [[Southern Romance languages]]
* [[United States of Latin Africa]]
* [[Latin influence in English]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
;Overviews
* Frederick Browning Agard. ''A Course in Romance Linguistics''. Vol. 1: ''A Synchronic View'', Vol. 2: ''A Diachronic View''. Georgetown University Press, 1984.
* {{Cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Martin |title=The Romance Languages |last2=Vincent |first2=Nigel |publisher=Routledge |year=1988 |location=London}} Reprint 2003.
* {{cite book
|editor1-first=Adam |editor1-last=Ledgeway
|editor2-first=Martin |editor2-last=Maiden
|title=The Cambridge Handbook of Romance Linguistics
|date=2022
|publisher=Cambridge
|location=New York
|isbn=978-1-108-48579-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Posner |first=Rebecca |title=The Romance Languages |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1996 |location=Cambridge}}
* Gerhard Ernst et al., eds. ''Romanische Sprachgeschichte: Ein internationales Handbuch zur Geschichte der romanischen Sprachen''. 3 vols. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2003 (vol. 1), 2006 (vol. 2).
* {{Cite book |last1=Alkire |first1=Ti |title=Romance Languages: A Historical Introduction |last2=Rosen |first2=Carol |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-88915-5 |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511845192}}
* Martin Maiden, John Charles Smith & Adam Ledgeway, eds., ''The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages''. Vol. 1: ''Structures'', Vol. 2: ''Contexts''. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011 (vol. 1) & 2013 (vol. 2).
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Ledgeway |editor1-first=Adam |editor-link1=Adam Ledgeway |editor2-last=Maiden |editor2-first=Martin |editor-link2=Martin Maiden |title=The Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780199677108 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199677108.001.0001 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUlRDAAAQBAJ}}
** {{Harvc |last=Clackson |first=James |author-link=James Clackson |year=2016 |c=Latin as a source for the Romance languages |pp=3–13 |in1=Ledgeway |in2=Maiden}}
** {{Harvc |last=Ledgeway |first=Adam |year=2016 |in1=Ledgeway |in2=Maiden |c=The dialects of southern Italy |pp=246–269 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUlRDAAAQBAJ&dq=lausbergzone+basilicata&pg=PA248}}
** {{Harvc |last=Maiden |first=Martin |year=2016 |c=Inflectional morphology |pp=497–512 |in1=Ledgeway |in2=Maiden}}
** {{Harvc |last=Dragomirescu |first=Adina |last2=Nicolae |first2=Alexandru |year=2016 |c=Case |pp=911–923 |in1=Ledgeway |in2=Maiden}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Lindenbauer |first1=Petrea |title=Die romanischen Sprachen. Eine einführende Übersicht |last2=Metzeltin |first2=Michael |last3=Thir |first3=Margit |publisher=G. Egert |year=1995 |location=Wilhelmsfeld}}
* {{Cite book |last=Metzeltin |first=Michael |title=Las lenguas románicas estándar. Historia de su formación y de su uso |publisher=Academia de la Llingua Asturiana |year=2004 |location=Uviéu}}
* {{Cite web |last1=Sala |first1=Marius |last2=Posner |first2=Rebecca |title=Romance languages |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508379/Romance-languages |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620172507/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Romance-languages |archive-date=20 June 2022 |access-date=25 April 2023 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}

;Phonology
* {{Cite book |last=Boyd-Bowman |first=Peter |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112058502060 |title=From Latin to Romance in Sound Charts |publisher=Georgetown University Press |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-87840-077-5 |location=Washington, D.C. |language=en}}
* Cravens, Thomas D. ''Comparative Historical Dialectology: Italo-Romance Clues to Ibero-Romance Sound Chang''e. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2002.
* Sónia Frota & Pilar Prieto, eds. ''Intonation in Romance''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2015.
* Christoph Gabriel & Conxita Lleó, eds. ''Intonational Phrasing in Romance and Germanic: Cross-Linguistic and Bilingual studies''. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2011.
* Philippe Martin. ''The Structure of Spoken Language: Intonation in Romance''. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2016.
* Rodney Sampson. ''Vowel Prosthesis in Romance''. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010.

;Lexicon
* {{Cite book |last1=Holtus |first1=Günter |title=Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik. (LRL, 12 volumes) |last2=Metzeltin |first2=Michael |last3=Schmitt |first3=Christian |publisher=Niemeyer |year=1988 |location=Tübingen}}

;French
* {{Cite book |last=Price |first=Glanville |title=The French language: present and past |publisher=Edward Arnold |year=1971}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kibler |first=William W. |title=An introduction to Old French |publisher=Modern Language Association of America |year=1984 |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lodge |first=R. Anthony |title=French: From Dialect to Standard |publisher=Routledge |year=1993 |location=London}}

;Portuguese
* {{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Edwin B. |title=From Latin to Portuguese, Historical Phonology and Morphology of the Portuguese Language |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |year=1968 |edition=2nd}}
* {{cite book| title=The Handbook of Portuguese Linguistics |last1=Wetzels |first1=W. Leo |last2=Menuzzi |first2=Sergio |last3=Costa |first3=João |year=2016 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |location=Oxford}}

;Spanish
* {{cite book| title=A History of the Spanish Language | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofspanish0000penn | url-access=registration |last=Penny |first=Ralph |year=2002 |edition=2nd |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
* {{cite book| title=Historia de la Lengua Española |last=Lapesa |first=Rafael |year=1981 |location=Madrid |publisher=Editorial Gredos}}
* {{cite book| title=A Brief History History of the Spanish Language |last=Pharies |first=David |year=2007 |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}
* {{cite book| title=Dialectología Española |last=Zamora Vicente |first=Alonso |year=1967 |edition=2nd |location=Madrid |publisher=Editorial Gredos}}

;Italian
* {{cite book| title=I Dialetti delle Regioni d'Italia |last1=Devoto |first1=Giacomo |last2=Giacomelli |first2=Gabriella |year=2002 |edition=3rd |location=Milano |publisher=RCS Libri (Tascabili Bompiani)}}
* {{cite book| title=Il Linguaggio d'Italia |last1=Devoto |first1=Giacomo |year=1999 |location=Milano |publisher=RCS Libri (Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli)}}
* {{cite book| title=A Linguistic History of Italian |last1=Maiden |first1=Martin |year=1995 |location=London |publisher=Longman}}

;Rhaeto-Romance
* John Haiman & Paola Benincà, eds., ''The Rhaeto-Romance Languages''. London: Routledge, 1992.

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130617111122/http://iedo.brillonline.nl/dictionaries/content/latin/index.html Michael de Vaan, ''Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages,'' Brill, 2008, 826 pp. (part available freely online)]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=LRumIF1TLVkC&q=Las+lenguas+rom%C3%A1nicas+est%C3%A1ndar.+Historia+de+su+formaci%C3%B3n+y+de+su+uso Michael Metzeltin, ''Las lenguas románicas estándar. Historia de su formación y de su uso'', Oviedo, 2004]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110202093412/http://orbilat.com/ Orbis Latinus, site on Romance languages]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110501100652/http://www6.ocn.ne.jp/~wil/ Hugh Wilkinson's papers on Romance Languages]
* [http://hotword.dictionary.com/romance/ Spanish is a Romance language, but what does that have to do with the type of romance between lovers?], dictionary.com
* [http://www.nativlang.com/romance-languages/ Comparative Grammar of the Romance Languages]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140727070941/http://neise.0rq.in/180-comparative-list-of-some-computer-terms-in-romance-language Comparison of the computer terms in Romance languages]}}

{{Romance languages}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Romance languages| ]]
[[Category:Latino-Faliscan languages]]
[[Category:Articles citing Nationalencyklopedin]]
[[Category:Articles containing Medieval Latin-language text]]