The Lexical Similarity between Romanian and Spanish Language
The Origins and Development of Romance Languages
Romance languages originated from Vulgar Latin, the spoken language of the Roman Empire which gradually evolved from classical Latin during the first millennium AD. Over centuries, Vulgar Latin diverged into dialects in different regions which later developed into the major Romance languages spoken today like French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. While the western Romance languages like French, Spanish and Portuguese continued interacting and influencing each other, Romanian language developed in isolation in the eastern territories due to the geographical position of modern-day Romania. Being surrounded by Slavic populations, Romanian adopted numerous linguistic elements from neighboring Balkan languages like Greek, Bulgarian and other Slavic languages.
Distinct Evolution of Romanian compared to other Romance Languages
The isolated evolution of Romanian language led to significant differences compared to its western cousin languages. With limited contact and exchange with Italy and Iberian Peninsula, Romanian missed out on many lexical and structural changes undergone by western Romance languages during the late antiquity and medieval periods. As a result of this, modern Romanian preserves numerous archaic features of Vulgar Latin not found in other major Romance languages. On the other hand, it integrated numerous linguistic traits from surrounding non-Romance languages through prolonged bilingualism over centuries. All these factors resulted in Romanian emerging as a unique member of Romance language family with significant divergence from its western branches.
Lexical Similarities between Romanian and other Romance Languages
Based on standardized vocabulary word lists like Swadesh lists, the lexical similarity coefficients between Romanian and major Romance languages have been estimated. As shown in the table, Romanian shares the highest lexical similarity of around 77% with Italian followed by 75% with French. Its lexical similarity with Spanish is slightly lower at 71%. This suggests that out of the major Romance languages, Romanian vocabulary is most closely related to Italian due to both developing independently from a common Proto-Romance ancestor with limited external influences. However, the coefficient only indicates basic lexical overlapping and does not account for structural differences accumulated due to divergent evolution.
Romanians have Higher Comprehensibility of Italian than Spanish
While Romanian shares decent basic lexical similarity with both Italian and Spanish, anecdotes suggest Romanians find Italian much easier to understand compared to Spanish. This is attributed to multiple factors beyond just vocabulary. Italian retained more archaic features of Vulgar Latin phonology and grammar adopted by Romanian during its isolation. On the other hand, Spanish underwent significant phonetic changes like loss of final vowels. Additionally, Romanians have greater exposure to Italian culture, movies, songs and media compared to Spanish influencing popular comprehension. Nevertheless, with some exposure Romanians can still grasp the general meaning of written and spoken Spanish relatively well considering their divergent evolutionary histories.
Impact of French Borrowings on Romanian-Spanish Lexical Similarity
A notable portion of the 71% basic lexical similarity between Romanian and Spanish can be credited to the mass adoption of French loanwords by both languages especially during the 19th century. Terms from diverse fields like administration, technology, science, arts entered Romanian and Spanish vocabulary directly from French rather than their shared Latin roots. This artificially inflated their surface level lexical resemblance estimated through word lists. However, it doesn’t account for profound structural differences accumulated due to independent phonological, morphological and syntactical evolution over centuries. Therefore, while Romanian-Spanish loanword sharing influences their lexical similarity coefficient estimated through vocabulary lists, it doesn’t reflect the real depth of genetic relationship between the two languages.
Intelligibility across Romance Languages varies with Multiple Factors
In summary, the degree of intelligibility between any two Romance languages is influenced not just by basic vocabulary sharing but a complex interplay of phonological, morphological, syntactical similarities/differences as well as cultural and historical factors impacting language contact. Despite lower estimated lexical similarity, Spanish speakers may comprehend Portuguese better than Italian speakers due to geographical proximity and shared recent history between Iberian neighbors. Meanwhile, Romanians have developed higher receptiveness towards Italian culture helping comprehension. Therefore, while Romanian can be considered relatively closer to Italian genetically, its actual intelligibility with Spanish considering all linguistic and extra-linguistic aspects may not differ too much. More exposure and practice are usually needed to overcome accumulated divergences between any two Romance languages regardless of their quantified lexical or genetic relationship.
Impact of Dialectal Variations on Language Relationship Estimations
It’s also important to note that language relationship quantification is based on standardized forms ignoring dialectal diversity. For instance, estimates put Sardinian lexical similarity to Italian around 85% but divergence between certain Sardinian dialects and standard Italian can exceed 50%! Similarly, regional varieties within Romania, Spain and Italy preserving more archaic features than standard forms may align better with each other than their respective standard languages. Accounting for dialect continua could paint a more nuanced picture of actual affinity between Romance languages evolving in proximity over centuries. Unfortunately, most relationship studies consider only standardized variants missing out on deeper historical linguistic connections retained at peripheral dialect levels. A multifaceted analysis is needed to get a complete sense of how Romance languages interconnect.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while Romanian vocabulary shows highest basic similarity to Italian followed by Spanish, its actual mutual comprehensibility varies non-linearly factoring in structural as well as social aspects. Real affinity is better understood through integrative examination accounting for dialectal diversity too rather than superficial quantification alone. With increased globalization narrowing sociolinguistic gaps, improving second Romance language education can help unlock the buried treasure of historical linguistic gifts retained across the Romance language family. A comprehensive view acknowledges the dynamic, interwoven nature of language relationships in shaping our shared cultural heritage.
