Latin-Faliscan: Latin

Latin is the only language of the Italic family that is known completely in the technical sense. The earliest inscriptions from Rome are on the lapis niger found under the Forum. From a sixth century brooch we have MANOS MED FHEFHAKED NUMASIOI or in classical Latin Manius me fecit Numasio.

The spoken Latin, in general use throughout the Roman empire,was far removed from the Latin of the classical authors. All the languages of the Romance group can be derived from its late, spoken versions using well known rules. The Romance languages are not therefore, debased versions of classical Latin but rather regular developments from the spoken Latin.

The fact that not much is known about spoken Latin at any period makes the emergence of the Romance languages when the are first recorded something of a shock.

In the Roman province of Gaul late spoken Latin differentiated into the Langue d'Oc and the Langue d'Oeil which turn developed into Occitan and the northern French languages including that of the Isle de France, which became the standard French, and Wallon.

In Iberia, Castillian developed in the north central region to become, centuries later, the standard Spanish. The Latin dialect of ancient Gallicia was expanded by the reconquista to the whole of Portugal where it became the standard Portuguese. Astride the French - Spanish border in the east, Catalan developed centered on Barcelona.

Italian dialects, closest of all to late Latin, developed throughout the peninsular with Florentine version becoming the standard Italian. In the east, Dalmatian was spoken on that coast until extinguished in competition with the Slavonic. The old Roman province of Dacia was the birthplace of Rumanian still recognizably a Romance language despite its vocabulary heavily influenced by Slavonic and Turkish, to name but two.

High in the Alps, the late Latin of the old province of Rhaetia became Rhaeto-Romance which still survives tenaciously among the German and Italian speakers.