I recently had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Michelle Sheehan, a professor of linguistics at Newcastle University, at the School of English Literature, Language and Linguists, entitled “The comparative study of modern Romance languages: a linguistic treasure trove!”. Michelle, who is interested in syntactic theory (i.e. the structure of languages), how languages vary, how we can model these variations, and syntax/semantics interfaces (how structures and meaning interact), gave a presentation about these topics using Romance languages as an example. This presentation was hosted by the Chartered Institute of Linguists, of which I am a member.

comparative study: Overview

Michelle Sheehan began her journey into Romance-language linguistics with French and Spanish, eventually expanding to Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan and Galician.

This presentation was focused on key topics, such as linguistic diversity and spread, features of romance languages, examples of similarities and differences, the influence of language contact, and modern applications and observations.

One thing to note about this presentation: language and dialect do not have much distinction in linguistics. These terms have more meaning in historical or political contexts, influencing how the terms are used today.

Linguistic Diversity and Spread

Romance languages come from Latin, but where did Latin come from? Latin was one of the many dialects spoken in Italy; it came from the Lazio region and eventually became the de facto language of the Roman Empire, which saw it spread across Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor.

Even at this time, many languages were used in the Roman Empire, which influenced and were influenced by their contact with Latin. Over time (and after the fall of the Empire), Latin evolved into the Romance languages we know and love today. Some became national languages, such as French, Spanish and Portuguese, while others remained “regional dialects” such as Occitan and Sardinian.

Furthermore, colonisation by European powers further spread Romance languages worldwide, which then interacted with other languages. These interactions created examples such as Brazilian Portuguese and Quebecois French, as well as Creole languages.

Features of Romance Varieties (and examples)

Romance languages can all be traced back to Vulgar Latin, the colloquial form spoken by the general populace during the time of the Roman Empire. Note this is important as it was not the written version or versions spoken by the upper classes. As a result, all varieties have a shared root.

However, divergence has caused differences to arise. These include historical, geographic and socio-political factors. These influences also include interactions with Indigenous languages such as Basque, Celtic and Arabic and borrowing from neighbouring language families (e.g. German).

Some examples of this divergence include vocabulary, such as numbers and pronouns, which can be traced back to a Vulgar Latin origin but have taken different evolutionary paths.

There have also been grammatical variations, such as where the word for “no” comes from. An example that Michelle shared was French using a bipartite negation system (i.e. two words for negation, “ne…pas”), whereas colloquial French has dropped the “ne” part, leaving just “pas”. The “ne…pas” construction comes from Latin, but other languages have chosen to use only the “ne” part (Spanish: no, Portuguese: não, etc.).

Finally, we can also see shifts in phonology, such as the Latin “P” sound becoming “V” in French or the “s” being dropped in words like hospital to become “hôpital”.

Influence of Language Contact

While the Romance languages have had considerable influence on surrounding languages, they have also had a strong influence on the Romance languages, leading to their diversification. Influences from Celtic and Arabic languages during the Roman Empire, followed by Germanic and Slavic languages afterwards, have played a prominent role.

Finally, intense bilingualism through colonisation and close contact has also led to grammatical borrowing between languages, most easily seen today in Creoles.

Comparative Study: Modern Applications and Observations

Michelle further expanded the previous points by looking at Romance Creoles, such as Mauritian Creole, which has many words derived from French but has unique grammatical systems not found in other French dialects.

Using comparative studies of active (i.e. currently used) languages, we can make educated guesses about what origin languages would have looked and sounded like, as well as other traits such as grammar and syntax. In the case of Romance languages, this would be Vulgar Latin.

These concepts can be used for other languages of surviving language families. These linguistic processes can illustrate how languages diversify over time while coming from a shared ancestor.

What does this mean for a translator/English teacher?

Most of the information in “The Comparative Study of Modern Romance Languages: A Linguistic Treasure Trove!” was not new to me, as I have an amateur interest in etymology, especially where English is involved. Because so many words are borrowed from Romance languages (especially French and Latin), it is interesting to me to see which words came from Romance languages and which words have Germanic or Scandinavian roots.

Also, as a medical/scientific translator, I work with Scientific and Medical English, which borrow much more heavily from Latin and Greek than general English for vocabulary and grammar. For example, prepositional verbs are rarely used, instead opting for verbs from Latin (e.g. “put in” vs “insert”), which helps reduce potential confusion (e.g. when a preposition can be separated from its verb).

Knowing the meaning of parts of words (and where they come from) has helped me immensely when translating things I do not know from personal experience. An example would be an angiogram, a scan using X-rays, computed tomography angiography (CTA) or magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), where a contrast dye is injected into the blood and appears on the scan. The term comes from Greek “angeion”, meaning vessel, and graphein, meaning “to write or record”. However, “a record of the vessels” gives me an insight into an angiogram and its purpose.

As a teacher, it can also sometimes be helpful for students from neighbouring languages (e.g. Romance languages, Germanic languages, Slavic languages), or sometimes even languages that have had little contact until the modern era (e.g. Japanese), to relate English concepts back to their language. Depending on what it is, it may have a connection with the word they use.

One example is English’s “enough” and German’s “genug”, which mean the same thing and come from the same root, even if they look very different today. Each went through separate twists and turns from Proto-Germanic “ganōgaz” to its current form. Otherwise, they are used in the same way and have the same meaning: “sufficient”, so relating the two makes it easier for students of Germanic languages as that is “one less thing to learn” (i.e. they already understand the usage because it is the same for them).

Part of Michelle’s research looks at the feasibility of adding essential linguistics into modern language classes in the UK. From my own experience, I have found it beneficial when not overused, precisely like the International Phonetic Alphabet. Moderation is critical so as not to bore students.