A pan-Romance language or Romance interlanguagePosner (1996), p. 344.Not to confuse with the interlanguage of a second language learner. Blanke (1985: 154), dealing with the Slavic equivalent, speaks of "Interslavic language", which avoids the possible confusion. is a codified linguistic variety which synthesizes the variation of the Romance languages and is representative of these as a whole. It can be seen as a standard language proposal for the whole language familyLewaszkiewicz (1977), p. 46. Here, Lewaszkiewicz deals with Slavic projects. but is generally considered a zonal constructed language because it's the result of intense codification (that is, more construction, planning, design, engineering, manipulation than what regular standard languages usually require). Zonal languages are, according to interlinguist Detlev Blanke,Blanke (1985), p. 153. constructed languages which "arise by choosing or mixing linguistic elements in a language group" (meaning elements from one same language family, for example Slavic or Germanic).
Several pan-Romance languages have been developed by different individuals or groups in different times (since the 19th century) and places (Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, etc.). They are so similar to each other that they have been considered variations of a same language: 'dialects' is how Campos Lima, one of the developers, refers to several projects of his time.Campos Lima (1947), p. 20-21The same has been said of a close group of languages, the naturalistic constructed languages based on the international vocabulary, which include elements from different languages families but are mainly Latin/Romance due to the origin of that vocabulary. According to Blanke (1985: 160), they show similarities with each other to the point that ‘they appear like dialects of a language’. This author also shows that the developers of pan-Romance language projects are generally aware of each other, are in contact and even collaborate, which is another sign of unity.
Pan-Romance languages are parallel to pan-Slavic languagesSakaguchi (1998: 51–52) deals with ‘pan-Slavic languages’: ‘language projects with a common Slavic basis’ ("gemeinslawischer Grundlage", in her German original text). She presents several projects, but only describes the structure of one of them (Ruski jezik, by Juraj Križanić, 1666): it's ‘a naturalistic synthesis of Slavic languages’ (Russian, Croatian and Church Slavonic with 55 to 60% of words common to all Slavic languages, a ‘sort of a reconstruct of proto-Slavic’. She doesn't equal pan-Slavic languages to zonal auxiliary languages nor mentions this concept/term. She is here specifically interested in languages created with the intention to unify multiple peoples.
The pan-Slavic language Ruski jezik is also based on Polish, according to Meyer (2016: 293).Blanke (1985: 154), after defining what zonal constructed languages are, gives four examples. As Germanic examples he offers a project (Tutonish) based on English with other –mainly German– elements; and another project (Euronord) based on northern Germanic vocabulary. Amongst his Slavic examples, he offers a project (Neuslavische Sprache) based on Slovenian with many Russian elements; and another project (Mežduslavjanski jezik) based on ‘the most important common characteristics of the Slavic languages in Grammar and Vocabulary’. From all these 4 examples, he only qualifies as an ‘Interslavic constructed language’ the last one, which means that not all Slavic zonal constructed languages are Interslavic. and pan-Germanic languages.Klaus Schubert (1989: 9–10) says that ‘pan-Slavic’ and ‘pan-Germanic languages’ unify ethnic languages, they are a compromise of ethnic languages. He doesn't equal them to zonal auxiliary languages, a concept/term that he doesn't mention even though he refers to Blanke (1985), who presents and defines the category.
Uses and benefits A pan-Romance language is typically intended for communication amongst (or with) speakers of Romance languages, that is as a regional international auxiliary language, for the Latin world. Its vocabulary and grammar are codified to be as communicative as possible for Romance speakers. Words, for example, are chosen preferably if they have cognates among many Romance languages, especially if the meaning is the same or similar. As a result, and thanks to intercomprehension, it's potentially understandable by an audience of up to 800 million speakers of Romance languages. In addition, it can complement Romance intercomprehension in situations where this communication strategy isn't so effective (for example, between French and Romanian speakers).
A pan-Romance language can be meant, in some -especially older- projects, to become a global international auxiliary language, to replace English in that role, which is also the aim of Esperanto and Interlingua (IALA). In this case, the reason for its Latin/Romance basis is that much international vocabulary (that is, words which are common to the most internationally influential languages, many of which are European) is of Latin origin. In the opinion of the developers of these pan-Romance languages,Campos Lima (1948), p. 14 the most natural and coherent grammar to use with this international vocabulary is that of the Romance languages, which evolved from Latin and are, furthermore, spoken by millions of people on different continents.
A pan-Romance language can even be intended, in certain projects, as an artistic language (as a means of artistic expression in poetry, music, etc., as part of a fantasy world in novels, films, etc. or just for the pleasure of creating it).
In addition, developers of pan-Romance languages suggest other uses and benefits:Cassany Bates (2017), p. 9 the language can benefit from contributions from Romance's different varieties, which improve and enrich it (with regularizations, expressive means, etc.); it can be a shelter for speakers of Romance languages which are vanishing, like Occitan or Sardinian; it could be effective as a middle step in machine translation between Romance languages; it can be used as a bridge to Romance languages (present and old) and Latin; and it can be practical for foreign speakers as an introduction to Romance.
Background
Latin's descendants, the Romance languages, have developed important differences but share so many traits that they have been considered a unity (a "type") by Romance linguist .Metzeltin (2004) p. 45: "Pese a la gran variación que ofrecen los idiomas románicos, su evolución y sus estructuras presentan tantos rasgos comunes que se puede hablar de un tipo lingüística románico". He explains the cohesion of the family by its shared Vulgar Latin inheritance, the use and influence of standard Latin until recently and the constant exchanges between Neolatin peoples.
The language family as a whole can be referred to as 'Romance',Romance: 'The Romance languages considered as a group' (Lexico Dictionary, powered by Oxford University Press: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/romance ). and it still functions as one language or macrolanguage in some present-day situations, where intercomprehension or accommodation (partial assimilation) take place. For example, some adverts (or parts of them) are published in foreign Romance languages (the attached image shows an advert in Italian on a bus in Barcelona). And mixed varieties like Portuñol or Frespañol arise spontaneously to communicate with speakers of other Romance languages, for example while visiting their country. All this shows that spoken and written communication amongst Romance speakers is still a reality and that, to some extent, they are a linguistic community.
A manifestation of the tight relationship between different Romance speakers and peoples are the migration flows between Latin countries: Romanians, for example, emigrate preferably to Italy and Spain. And Neolatin countries created in 1954 the Latin Union, an international organization of nations that use Romance languages, which functioned until 2012.
Despite these tight connections, since French has been largely displaced as an international auxiliary language by English, which is a Germanic language, the Latin world lacks a common native language model for the first time in history.
The idea of a pan-Romance language since the Middle Ages Standard Latin, which preceded French as an international auxiliary language, undergoes lexical modernization to the present dayFor example, with Karl Egger's Neues Latein Lexicon / Lexicon recentis Latinitatis (1992–97), containing more than 15,000 words for contemporary everyday life. but is based on Classical Latin, the language stage of the late Roman Republic to middle Roman Empire (75 BC to AD 3rd century). The idea of substituting it by a common Romance standard language can be traced back to Dante Alighieri (c. 1265–1321), who in his essay De vulgari eloquentia deals with the problem of identifying a vernacular language (that is, not Latin) which could be suitable for literary purposes. He starts by compiling a map of the languages he knows, dividing the European territory into three parts: one to the east, with Greek; one to the north, with Germanic (which he believed included Hungarian and Slavic); one to the south, with Romance. He chooses Romance, for being his language, and then carries on his search by distinguishing in Romance three smaller languages, which he identifies by their word for 'yes': oc language, oïl language and sì language. He chooses the last variety, arguing that it's more similar to Latin, the literary language of the moment, and has more poets. He then assesses the many Italian varieties in which he subdivides the sì language, but considers no variety suitable. Dante comes to the conclusion that the illustrious vernacular (volgare illustre) which he seeks must still be developed, combining elements from the various Italian varieties.According to Albani and Buonarroti (2001: 33), Dante pursued a vernacular language for global use. In any case, he is generally considered as the "father" of the Italian language, for example in Zygmunt G. Barański and Simon Gilson (eds.) (2018). The Cambridge Companion to Dante's Commedia. Cambridge University Press, p. 108.
After Dante, many other people have conceived independently the idea of a common Romance standard language or even a pan-Romance language, and not only the developers of the projects presented here. For example, Romance scholar Rebecca Posner (University of Oxford) declared that "It is not impossible to conceive a Romance interlanguage"Posner (1996), p. 344 and interlinguist Detlev Blanke (Humboldt University of Berlin) spoke of a "Hochromanisch" (in reference to Hochdeutsch, the standard variety of German).Blanke (1985), p. 160.
Pan-Romance languages in the 19th and 20th centuries
Lingua Romana Lingua RomanaAlbani, Buonarroti (2001) is an artistic language which the German poet Stefan George (1868–1933) used in part of his lyrical work. He started using Lingua Romana, a mixed Romance language, at a young age, in 1889. It is his own artistic creation, closest to Spanish but with elements from Italian and (Vulgar) Latin. The combinations are motivated by their sound effect in the poems, according to Radaelli.Radaelli (2016) George himself explains Lingua Romana with these words (in Spanish): "La idea que desde mi juventud me atormenta [...][es] concebir yo mismo una lengua literaria para mis propios fines a partir de material claro, románico, de similar sonoridad así como fácilmente comprensible." Some of his poems in Lingua Romana are La Rosa Galba and Paz, which he later translated into German.
Lingua Romana was later codified and proposed for pan-Latin communication in 1991 (see Romano, further down).
Sample text in Lingua Romana
Neolatino (Ørberg)