The Rhaeto-Romance language continuum of the Alpine region

M4arint:

This map shows the historical extent of the Rhaeto-Romance linguistic continuum (roughly 6th–15th centuries) compared to its modern remnants.

Today, this group survives in three main forms:

• Romansch (Switzerland)

• Ladin (Dolomites)

• Friulian (northeastern Italy)

However, linguistic and historical evidence suggests that these were once part of a much broader and more continuous language speaking area across the Alpine region and into the northeastern Adriatic.

Over time, this continuum fragmented due to the expansion of Germanic and Slavic languages, as well as the growing influence of Venetian in the Adriatic area.

What we see today are the surviving “islands” of what was once a much larger Romance linguistic space.

Collection: languages - Tags: languages - Source: reddit.com