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Re: A language by any other name



David Starner <dstarner98@aasaa.ofe.org> writes:

> > if french and spanish were actually dialects of italian, then
> > probably.  but they're not, so it's a moot point. all three are
> > distant derivatives of latin, not derivatives of
> > italian. portugese is different enough that it really shouldn't be
> > lumped in with french, spanish, or italian.

> Huh? From what I've read, Italian, Spanish and Portugese are so
> close that you can speak Spanish or Italian to Portugese speakers
> and be understood without much problem.

Sort of, but not really - not without speaking quite slowly.  Reading
is a different matter - it's possible to read Spanish if you speak
Italian.  Portuguse is a bit more difficult, but still legible.

> A language is just a dialect with an army.

Yep.

> Why is Spain's Spanish the original "real" version? It's just one of
> a series of dialects deviating from the first Latin dialect spoken
> in Spain that was different enough from Latin to be a distinct
> language.  What makes one dialect of medieval Spanish more
> "original", more "real" than the next?

A lot of people in Latin America seem to refer to Spanish as Castillan
- I'm not sure why.
 
-- 
David N. Welton
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