The Most Similar Languages to French

French is a Romance language. It evolved over centuries in France, but is also natively spoken in Switzerland and Belgium, among other nations. According to the eLinguistics.net analysis using specific software modules to assess linguistic relationships, the five languages most similar to Spanish are Italian, Piedmontese, Venetian, Sicilian, and Catalan.

1. Italian (79.8)
   Both Italian and French evolved from Vulgar Latin spoken in the Roman Empire. The lexical similarity between French and Italian is significant, with many words bearing close resemblance in both languages. Phonetically, Italian and French share many sounds, though Italian tends to have a more consistent pronunciation compared to French.
2. Piedmontese (79.5)
   The Piedmont is the region of Italy that borders France, so it is no wonder that the Piedmontese language is also quite similar to French. The influence of French is evident in many Piedmontese words and phrases, although this language is still much more similar to Italian.
3. Venetian (78.6)
   Another language spoken in Northern Italy is Venetian. It shares historical ties with French through trade and cultural exchanges. The maritime republic of Venice had extensive interactions with French-speaking regions. In fact, Venetian vocabulary and grammar have notable parallels with French.
4. Sicilian (76.9)
   Sicilian, a Romance language spoken in Sicily and parts of southern Italy, is another language with notable similarities to French. Its unique evolution, influenced by various cultures and languages over centuries, has resulted in a rich linguistic tapestry that shares many features with French.
5. Catalan (76.7)
   The Catalonia region of Spain borders France. As a result, Catalan has been greatly influenced by French due to historical, cultural, and political connections. Catalan and French share a considerable number of cognates—words that have a common etymological origin.

(to be considered for the list, the language must be spoken by at least one million people, otherwise Asturian would have been included in this list)