Latin

Head of the Italic branch of the Aryan family of languages, and closely allied to Oscan , Samnite , and Umbrian ; originally the vernacular speech or idiom of old Italic, spoken in Latium, a small state S. of the basin of the R. Tiber. It originated the six so-called Romance languages, viz.: (1) Italian, (2) Spanish, (3) Portuguese, (4) Wall a chi an, (5) Romansch, of the canton Grisons, and (6) French, the latter being further sub-divided into two principal divisions, viz., Northern-French and Provençal. The Northern-French was called by Roque fort “La Langue Romaine”; the Provençal was called by Raynouard “La Langue Roman,”—both titles are misnomers.     W. W. S.