Is latin a language? Then what is spanish?

Question

i'm so confused btw this two terms.. Please help me.

In latin America, do the people use spanish or latin language?

Answer 1

The reason why there is Spanish:

In 133 B.C., consul Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus defeated the capital city of Numantia in what would be considered modern day Spain. From this day forward, Numantia (Hispana) was considered a Province or Provincia, which is Latin for "for that Land conquored". Roman soldiers were stationed in this area, but what is more, army veterans from Rome (a very crowded ancient city) were given farm land out in Spain.

This part of Europe was run continuously as Roman for hundreds of years and they spoke the same language as they did in Italy (Latinam). The emperor Trajan came from Spain and ruled at Rome around the year 98. Starting in the 4th century and developing into the 5th century, the Roman Empire began to weaken through poor rulers, a share in power between the Catholic Church and the imperial family, continuous barbarian invasions from the Germanic lands, and the occasional general who wanted to start a rebellion and become emperor himself. The empire started to break up into smaller kingdoms such as the Franks (later to become France), the Ostrogoths (Germans who invaded and sacked Italy), The visgoths (more Frank and German people who settle all over the place), The Byzantines (The Eastern Roman Empire, which tried to take back as much land from the barbarians as they could), and many other smaller tribes. (check out the article on the Suevi just to see how diverse the tribes of Spain were at this time). This fragmentation and division according to new ethnic lines decreased communication between the former Roman provinces during a time known as the Antique Ages more commonly known as The Dark Ages. While Roman Catholic priests continued to give mass and speak in Latin for centuries later, it was during this time when the language began to evolve. By the Middle ages (10th century) it was found that most of the former Roman provinces were speaking a vernacular language that had some similarities to Latin, but had changed significantly.

Many of the Latin words are unchanged such as casa, which is Spanish and Italian for house and Latin for "a house without a basement". The Romans used Domus (where we get domicile) for an apartment made of stone with a basement. Because most soldiers and settlers of Spain were typically not very wealthy, they were accustomed to living in single story shanties, hence the preference of the word casa rather than doma in Spanish.

Other words are common between Vernaculars such as "si" (Spanish and Italian for "yes") and "sic", Latin for "thus" or "it is so". Where the language differs could be explained by introduction of foreign words from Germans or Saracens, evolving seperately from the other Romance languages, or the original language pre-Roman times.

Cab drivers in Italy could understand me enough when I gave directions to them in Latin.

The term "Latin America" comes from the Spanish word Latino, which is what the people of Spain have called themselves for the last 2 thousand years. First they were Latin, but the language evolved the word to Latino.

I would recommend studying Latin in great detail. After extensive study, you can pick up fluency in French, Italian and Spanish in as little as 6 months.

Answer 2

Latin is the name of the language that was spoken anciently in the Roman empire. Roman soldiers (speakers of Latin) worked at posts all over Europe. As a result of natural language change, different versions of Latin came about in different parts of the Roman empire. Finally, these versions changed so much that they were no longer mutually intelligible, and from then on they have been called different languages. The family of languages descended from Latin is called "Romance" (based on the word "Roman", I'm sure) and includes Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and some others.

Explorers/conquerors from Spain and Portugal settled different parts of the Americas, including Central and South America. As a result, the current inhabitants of those places are speakers of Spanish and Portuguese (and their descendants). Because both of those languages are descended from Latin, "Latin America" is a term that applies to both Spanish and Portuguese-speaking areas.

Answer 3

Latin is a dead language, meaning no one speaks it on a regular basis anymore. Many European languages have Latin roots, including Spanish, French and Italian (aka, Romance languages). English has quite a few Latin-based words, too. After all, all of these were ruled by the Romans for hundreds of years--some of the Latin language was incorporated into original local languages.

Answer 4

Latin is a language that was used by the ancient Romans, and was partially derived from Greek. It's a dead language, meaning no one speaks it anymore. (The pope does, actually, but that's another story.) Spanish is a language that was derived from Latin. It's called a Romance language because the ancient Romans spoke Latin. Along with Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, and English are all derived from Latin. Italian is the closest Romance language to Latin. I have no idea really why Hispanic/Mexican (etc.) type things are called Latin, that's seems a little strange to me.

Answer 5

Latin is a dead language spoken by the Romans, Spanish is one of the Romance languages meaning that it was developed with Latin as a base. Celt-Iberians, Carthaginians, Greeks,Romans, Vandals, Suevi, Goths, and Moors to mention a few but not all are peoples who contributed to its development. Just like English(American) has many Native American words incorporated into it and English(British) has had Norman French incorporated into it. Language is almost alive it grows in many directions, it is beautiful. Latin America speaks Spanish but their form of it, they have different phrases. Then there is Portuguese, from Portugal and in Brazil.

Answer 6

Latin and Spanish are both languages, although latin is sometimes referred to as a "dead language" meaning it isn't spoken anymore.

Answer 7

Latin is the mother language of other modern ones, like Spanish, Italian, French, Portugeish...
In LatinAmerica they speak Spanish (and Brasilian in Brasil)

Answer 8

latin is a form of language used way back in roman times, spanish is spanish

Answer 9

Yes to both. Latin is a "dead" language. This means that it is not commonly spoken anymore. Languages that are "in use" evolve & change so that translations are not always accurate but a "dead" language does not change in this way.
Spanish is still a "live" language as it is currently "in use".

Answer 10

Latin is a dead language. Spainish, as well as other languages such as French and Italian are called Romance Languages which means that they were derived from Latin.