Why do Spain and Portugal have different languages?
Iberian siblings The Iberian Peninsula is where Portuguese and Spanish were ‘born’ (if languages can be born) and it is also the main reason why Portuguese and Spanish are much closer to each other than to the other major Romance languages: it has allowed them to develop in relative isolation.
Why are Spain and Portugal separate countries?
Thus, Portugal was already a separate and stable country when Spain came to be. The main reason why Portugal and Spain are different countries nowadays is the death of Miguel da Paz[1] , Infante de Portugal, Prince of Asturias and prince of Gerona; heir of the joint thrones of Portugal, Castile and Aragon.
What languages were spoken in the Roman Empire?
Latin was used throughout the Roman Empire, but it shared space with a host of other languages and dialects, including Greek, Oscan and Etruscan, which give us a unique perspective on the ancient world.
Why is Portuguese and Spanish so different?
Spanish has 5 vowel sounds, while Portuguese is leading with 9. The vowels with a nasal sound don’t found in Spanish. Portuguese has much more complex phonology than Spanish with many extra sounds. And this is the one reason that Portuguese speakers have an easier time understanding spoken Spanish than vice versa.
How did the Romans affect the languages spoken in Europe?
How did the Romans affect the languages spoken in Europe? Roman soldiers, colonists, and merchants took their language to many parts of Europe. Over centuries these languages changed into new languages such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian. These languages are Romance languages.
What happened to the ancient languages of Spain?
All have now been lost to history (except perhaps Aquitanian, which may have survived in its possible daughter language, Basque, and which you can read about here) because Latin superseded them all in the new Roman province of Hispania.
Why did the Vulgar Latin language continue to survive?
However, the Vulgar Latin dialects continued to survive in large part because most of the population remained Christian despite now being subject to heavy Arabic influence. For this reason, the Vulgar Latin of this time is known as Mozarabic.
Why do different parts of the Roman Empire have different Latin versions?
Not all the reasons for the differences are known, but one main factor could be that different parts of the Empire had different indigenous languages that came into contact with Latin, and thus different parts of the Empire had different loanwords (and eventually vocabularies) in their versions of Vulgar Latin.
Why are the Portuguese and Spanish languages so similar?
The Iberian Peninsula is where Portuguese and Spanish were ‘born’ (if languages can be born) and it is also the main reason why Portuguese and Spanish are much closer to each other than to the other major Romance languages: it has allowed them to develop in relative isolation.