Catalan, spoken by some 10 million people primarily in Catalonia, an autonomous community of Spain, occupies a unique place in the Romance family. It straddles the features of both the Ibero‑Romance and the Gallo‑Romance branches. According to the eLinguistics.net analysis using specific software modules to assess linguistic relationships, the five languages most similar to Catalan are Galician, Portuguese, Italian, Sicilian, and Venetian.
- Galician (90.8)
Both Galician and Catalan are regional Romance languages of Spain. They descended from late Latin via Vulgar Latin dialects spoken on the western edge of the Roman Empire. Around 85 % of basic vocabulary is cognate. Words like luna (moon), mà/man (hand), or poble/povo (people/town) show clear parallels. - Portuguese (90.4)
The Portuguese and Galician languages are quite similar, so it is no surprise they are on this list as well. Portuguese and Catalan have roughly 75 % cognate basic vocabulary—cap/cabeça (head), país/país (country). However, false friends exist. For example, Catalan pasta “money/pasta” vs. Portuguese pasta “folder”. - Italian (82.4)
Italy is located across the Mediterranean Sea from Catalonia. Italian and Catalan share a direct lineage from Late Latin dialects but split early, with Italian developing its own vowel reduction patterns. Approximately 70 % of their basic cognates are similar. Such as mare (sea) and padre/pare (father). - Sicilian (79.5)
The Sicilian language is primarily spoken on the island of Sicily. In fact, they share medieval Mediterranean contact. Catalan rulers governed Sicily in the 13th century, influencing local speech. As a result, much of their vocabulary is similar. Sicilian borrowed a number of Catalan words, especially in legal, maritime, and civic contexts. - Venetian (78.4)
Though separated by the Alps and the Mediterranean, Venetian and Catalan share a number of hallmarks inherited from their common Vulgar Latin roots and centuries of parallel Gallo‑Romance influence. Lexically, they share abundant cognates—casa (house), mare (sea/mother in Venetian), fórza/força (force) —that still look and sound strikingly similar today.
(to be considered for the list, the language must be spoken by at least one million people)