Why do italians not speak latin now when the roman empire did, which really is not that long ago ?

Answer 1

Same reason that the Greeks speak modern Greek and not ancient Greek, the languages have evolved. English would have sounded alot diffferent a few hundered years ago too.

Answer 2

I do not believe latin is still a viable language since Rome fell. However there has been found pockets of communities that were shut off from communication by land conditions that still speak a form of latin dialect. I do not remember the area, but it is a location or locations in Switzwerland. Even the proper name for the Swiss is not something swiss languagey, it is roman latin. Helvitzia. That was the present day information as far as which countries spoke latin, umm well. The Empire of Rome. All citizens under the empirical authority was required to learn latin if they didn't already know it. However since the fall of Rome, the latin language has evolved and the evolved languages are refered to as romantic languages (not romantic like love, romantic like rome) French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian,. I'm sure there are others I am leaving out. Even English was heavily influenced by latins remnants, mostly because of trade and war with France. Also the scientific community utilizes latin as specific classifications. Whereas the medical community utilizes Greek forms of words.

Answer 3

Well, the Italian language (along with other european languages such as french, spanish, portuguese etc...) is actually derived from the latin. A language can change a great deal due to time and geography. The vast area which the roman empire covered even up to its 'downfall' probably led to there being variations in dialect. That combined with the influx of Germanic Tribes would have created many local dialects which, with time, led to different languages which all have a common 'ancestor' in the Latin language.

As for how it has changed so much since the roman empire, think about the english language. The language spoken, even in Shakespearean times differs greatly from the language spoken today. The middle English in the Canterbury tales by Chaucer is another good example! Look then earlier to the Old English in use from the 5th century until around the 11th century. This is a language derived from the influx of western germanic tribes, the Anglo-Saxons. This language is barely recognisable as 'english' as we know it and is closer to its germanic origins.

English has a strong latin influence from this same time also, apparent in the massive number of Latin words in use today.

Answer 4

All languages change and evolve. It is for largely the same reason the Anglo-Saxons in England do not speak Low German.

Language is influenced by exchange and contact with other languages (which is why Spanish and French do not sound like Latin either, having been influenced by "barbarian" tribes in those parts of Europe). Of course there is a great deal of exchange has taken place for centuries with Mediterranean and now nations even beyond.

Language is influence also by geography. One might contend that the Romanian tongue more closely resembles Latin because it is more isolated than other romantic-language speaking nations.

Language is influenced by modernization and technology. Descendants of the Romans did not always have the words that they needed to describe things, and so borrowed words.

Language is influenced by ease of pronundiation and speaking. The separate formal and informal "you" that persists in Latin-based languages once existed in English, for example, but it slowly fell out of use over the last 400 years. This happens with words in any language, especially High Latin, which was not used by the masses on a day-to-day basis.

Answer 5

After tjhe Roman came the Goths , Visgoths, Vandels, Germans, Gauls, In the eastern Empire , Turks Arabs , Moors, Mongols , Im afraid Latin died out with the Romans and was mixed with many other races , but there is still quit a lot left in the Italian language

Answer 6

Roman empire not that long ago? Try reading Beowulf in the Old English, The Canterbury Tales in Middle English, and Shakespeare's Renaissance English. All these works are much closer to the present than then Roman Empire, and they're very different from the English written and spoken today.

Answer 7

Latin is eternal and still alive through the five Romance languages- Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian In fact, 75% of the English language is made up of Latin.
Vatican City is the only location using Latin.

Answer 8

Languages are alive and evolve. Latin evolved and in Italy was influenced by the previous local dialects (substratum) and the new influences (superstratum), the people, their every day life and became Italian. It took more than 1000 years to have the first document in Italian language. In the same way Latin evolved in France and became French ...

Answer 9

Not everyone in what is now Italy was a Roman. Romans spoke Latin, but Italians did not.

Answer 10

only the educated class spoke latin - as they did in all the roman provinces. Its been over 1500 years since the Roman Empire fell -

Answer 11

Italians, French people, Spaniards, Portuguse people still speak Latin, an evolved form of Latin.