Is Catalan closer to Spanish or French?

[Rudel]

It's not the reixa we're talking about, though, but the reixat, the railings, an iron gate. The cognate in Spanish would be enrejado, but I'd say verja is much more common. At least I've always heard verja in Spanish.

In Provençal (Mistralian orthography), it's uno rièjo (would be una rieja in normalized I think). But griho/grasiho (grilha/grasilha) seems more common.



(For reference : http://www.lexilogos.com/provencal/felibrige.php http://www.locongres.org/index.php?o...id=168&lang=fr )

[Xochi]

One can force the language to make it closer to Spanish or to French, just like you can make English look more Germanic or Romance.

English is closer to Germanic (specifically West Germanic) in this sentence:

English: I eat bread and cheese with my friends
Dutch: Ik eet brood en kaas met mijn vrienden
German: Ich esse Brot und Käse mit meinen Freunden
Afrikaans: Ek eet brood en kaas met my vriende
Swedish:Jag äter bröd och ost med mina vänner
Danish:Jeg spiser brød og ost med mine venner
Norwegian: Jeg spiser brød og ost med mine venner
-
Now closer to Romance:

English: I am a scientist
French: Je suis un scientifique
Spanish: Soy un científico
Portuguese: Eu sou um cientista
Afrikaans: Ek is 'n wetenskaplike
Dutch: Ik ben een wetenschapper
Danish: Jeg er en videnskabsmand

Now, it looks like neither.

English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Afrikaans: Alle menslike wesens word gebore vry en gelyk in waardigheid en regte.
Dutch: Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren.
German: Alle Menschen sind frei und gleich an Würde und Rechten geboren.
Norwegian: Alle mennesker er født frie og med samme menneskeverd og menneskerettigheter.
Danish: Alle mennesker er født frie og lige i værdighed og rettigheder.
Swedish: Alla människor är födda fria och lika i värde och rättigheter.

French: Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits.
Spanish: Todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales en dignidad y derechos.
Portuguese: Todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e direitos.
Italian: Tutti gli esseri umani nascono liberi ed eguali in dignità e diritti.

[Comte Arnau]

English is closer to Germanic (specifically West Germanic) in this sentence:

English: I eat bread and cheese with my friends
Dutch: Ik eet brood en kaas met mijn vrienden
German: Ich esse Brot und Käse mit meinen Freunden
Afrikaans: Ek eet brood en kaas met my vriende
Swedish:Jag äter bröd och ost med mina vänner
Danish:Jeg spiser brød og ost med mine venner
Norwegian: Jeg spiser brød og ost med mine venner

Actually, English, German and Dutch are using an old Latin loanword, cheese/Käse/kaas. The Nordic ones are using a real Germanic one. English should be using yeast instead of cheese.
-

Now, it looks like neither.

English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Human, equal and dignity are clearly Romance/Latin.

In real Germanic English it should be: All men are born free and alike/even in worthiness and rights.

[Tooting Carmen]

Here is an ideal test to see whether a language is Germanic or Romance - translate All the me in the world.

[Xochi]

Human, equal and dignity are clearly Romance/Latin.

In real Germanic English it should be: All men are born free and alike/even in worthiness and rights.

I am guessing these are Germanic.

EN: all (alle/alla)
EN: free (fry/vrij/frei/frie/fria)
etc

[Xochi]

English: Henry Churches is a singer of mixed Spanish and Filipino background.
Swedish: Henry kyrkor är en sångerska av blandad spanska och filippinska bakgrund.
Spanish: Enrique Iglesias es un cantante de fondo mixto español y filipino.

The Swedish 'blandad' kind of resembles the English 'blender' 'blend' when you mix ingredients.

[Mens-Sarda]

English is closer to Germanic (specifically West Germanic) in this sentence:

English: I eat bread and cheese with my friends
Dutch: Ik eet brood en kaas met mijn vrienden
German: Ich esse Brot und Käse mit meinen Freunden
Afrikaans: Ek eet brood en kaas met my vriende
Swedish:Jag äter bröd och ost med mina vänner
Danish:Jeg spiser brød og ost med mine venner
Norwegian: Jeg spiser brød og ost med mine venner
-
Now closer to Romance:

English: I am a scientist
French: Je suis un scientifique
Spanish: Soy un científico
Portuguese: Eu sou um cientista
Afrikaans: Ek is 'n wetenskaplike
Dutch: Ik ben een wetenschapper
Danish: Jeg er en videnskabsmand

Now, it looks like neither.

English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

Afrikaans: Alle menslike wesens word gebore vry en gelyk in waardigheid en regte.
Dutch: Alle mensen worden vrij en gelijk in waardigheid en rechten geboren.
German: Alle Menschen sind frei und gleich an Würde und Rechten geboren.
Norwegian: Alle mennesker er født frie og med samme menneskeverd og menneskerettigheter.
Danish: Alle mennesker er født frie og lige i værdighed og rettigheder.
Swedish: Alla människor är födda fria och lika i värde och rättigheter.

French: Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits.
Spanish: Todos los seres humanos nacen libres e iguales en dignidad y derechos.
Portuguese: Todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e direitos.
Italian: Tutti gli esseri umani nascono liberi ed eguali in dignità e diritti.

Sardinian (Logudoresu) : Totu sos esseres humanos naschen liberos ed eguales in dignidade e derettos

[B01AB20]

English: Henry Churches is a singer of mixed Spanish and Filipino background.
Swedish: Henry kyrkor är en sångerska av blandad spanska och filippinska bakgrund.
Spanish: Enrique Iglesias es un cantante de fondo mixto español y filipino.

de fondo mixto... well, it's original, but... but... but... yeah, it's original.