flaubertian:Firstly, the usage of a verb such as derive suggests the existence of a “mother language
flaubertian:Firstly, the usage of a verb such as derive suggests the existence of a “mother language” (Latin) from which several neo-Latin “daughter languages” would have been born. But languages are not biological organisms; for them, we cannot talk about birth, life and death in the traditional sense. Italian does not derive (that is, it is not born) from Latin, rather it is a continuation of it, an uninterrupted tradition which ties the language of ancient Rome to the language of modern Rome, from the far-off times of the foundation to the present day. In essence, it can be said that Italian is the Latin employed in Italy today, just like Portuguese, Spanish and French are the Latins employed today in Portugal, Spain and France.From Lineamenti di grammatica storica dell’italiano by Giuseppe Patota. -- source link
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