Vulgar Latin

E2560

Vulgar Latin was the everyday, non-standard form of Latin spoken by common people in the Roman Empire, from which the Romance languages later evolved.


Statements (64)
Predicate Object
instanceOf ancestor of Romance languages
historical language
variety of Latin
alternativeName Popular Latin
Sermo Vulgaris
Sermo Vulgaris Latinus
approximateEnd around 8th century
early Middle Ages
approximateStart around 1st century BCE
characteristic development of definite and indefinite articles
greater use of analytic constructions
increased use of prepositions
loss of neuter gender in many areas
merger of long and short vowels in many positions
phonological changes leading to diphthongization in some regions
reduction of synthetic passive forms
simplified case system
contrastedWith formal written Latin
developedFrom Classical Latin
Old Latin
developedInto Old French
Old Italian
Old Portuguese
Old Romanian
Old Spanish
Proto-Romance
Romance languages
distinctFrom Classical Latin
Literary Latin
influenced Catalan
French
Italian
Occitan
Portuguese
Romanian
Spanish
influencedBy substrate languages in Roman provinces
languageFamily Indo-European languages
Italic languages
lexicalChange replacement of many Classical Latin words with new formations or borrowings
notAttestedBy native texts
reconstructedFrom Latin inscriptions with non-standard features
Romance languages
grammarians' comments on incorrect Latin
region Dacia
Eastern Roman Empire
Gaul
Iberian Peninsula
Illyricum
Italy
North Africa
Western Roman Empire
status non-standard form of Latin
spoken vernacular
timePeriod Late Antiquity
classical antiquity
usedBy common people in the Roman Empire
merchants in the Roman Empire
settlers in Roman provinces
soldiers in the Roman Empire
usedFor everyday communication
oral communication
usedIn Roman Empire
writingSystem Latin alphabet


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