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== Linguistic Descendants ==
== Linguistic Descendants ==
The modern Romance languages are almost entirely descended from Vulgar Latin, which was Latin spoken by the common people in the later centuries of the Roman Empire. Changes from Classical to Vulgar Latin included the merger of long /e:/ and /o:/ with short /i/ and /u/, respectively, the loss of /h/ and the accusative nasalization, and the replacement of cases, tenses, and voices with periphrastic constructions (this change occurred across western Europe).<ref>[http://www.lrc.columbia.edu/lrc/?q=node/194 Columbia University Language Resource Center]</ref> Latin has also given us the alphabet used to write most Western European languages, including English.
The modern Romance languages are almost entirely descended from Vulgar Latin, which was Latin spoken by the common [[human|people]] in the later centuries of the Roman Empire. Changes from Classical to Vulgar Latin included the merger of long /e:/ and /o:/ with short /i/ and /u/, respectively, the loss of /h/ and the accusative nasalization, and the replacement of cases, tenses, and voices with periphrastic constructions (this change occurred across western Europe).<ref>[http://www.lrc.columbia.edu/lrc/?q=node/194 Columbia University Language Resource Center]</ref> Latin has also given us the alphabet used to write most Western European languages, including English.
Direct modern descendants of Latin include French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Italian and a variety of less well known languages. Collectively, these are known as Romance languages. In addition, many other languages, such as English and German, have large numbers of Latin loanwords that have been absorbed into the language.
Direct modern descendants of Latin include French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian, Italian and a variety of less well known languages. Collectively, these are known as Romance languages. In addition, many other languages, such as English and German, have large numbers of Latin loanwords that have been absorbed into the language.