Similarities between Latin and Italian?

Question

Im taking Latin this year(school has already started for a week),and my teacher said that we're going to learn classical latin.My question is: Ive heard that Italian is very similar to Latin,but which one is it closer to?Classical Latin,or Vulgar Latin?And how close is it to both?

Thanks =)

Answer 1

Most Italian words derive from Latin, but grammar and specially syntax and phrasing pattern changed dramatically.

For a Italian native speaker English is easier to learn than Latin.

Modern Languages derived from Latin (romance languages) * bear more similarities among them than with classical Latin.

Probably a common language derived from Classical Latin even before Latin took different forms in different parts of the Empire

Answer 2

No-one knows much about vulgar Latin, but Italian evolved from vulgar Latin, as did all the romance languages.

You can get a head start with your Latin here:

http://latinum.mypodcast.com

Answer 3

Latin and Italian aren't similar.

Many words are similar, but grammar is completely different. French is more similar to Latin, but also in this case the difference is big.

Answer 4

So... italian words are similar to latin word, in fact in a translation we can understand pretty the half of the words, cos only  they're similar.

ex: amare (latin verb means to love)  italian: amare

fortis, forte (adj means strong) italian: forte

filius, filii (n means son) italian: figlio

There're also some false friends:

Horto (n means garden) italian: giardino (and 'orto' that means kitchen-garden in italian)

The grammar, instead, is more similar to german than italian...

Anyway, it sounds different... If I had heard a latin speaking, I wouldn't understan nothing!  

Answer 5

I'm from Italy. Yes, there is a similarity to classical latin, because the origin of many words is latin. However it's just a little similarity, not the same language

Answer 6

I didn't find it very similar. I did Italian for 2 years and got a GCSE in it, and then I decided to start up Latin 5 years after everyone else so I had to study it in my summer holidays. Everyone else said it is meant to be just like Italian but it really isn't.

(still managed a very good mark though!)  

Edit: What I learnt was classical latin.