Ibero-Romance

If we assume that a division between 'Gallo-Romance' and 'Ibero-Romance' is valid, it is evident that French belongs to the former, Spanish and Portuguese to the latter. But how is Catalan to be treated, a language which exhibits features of both these groups? Is it essentially a Gallo-Romance or an Ibero-Romance language? The debate about this thorny question has occupied comparative Romance linguists for decades (see [..]). Badia i Margarit found a convincing solution to this long-standing problem with his frequently quoted formula that Catalan is a 'bridge language' between the Iberian Peninsula and France ([..]).

As is the case for Gallo-Romance, Spanish has been in linguistic contact with its Ibero-Romnce neighbor varieties throughout its history, especially considering their intertwined sociopolitical past. Although some have claimed that the impact of Ibero-Romance varieties on standard Spanish is fairly reduced (e.g., …), recent studies point out the need for more fine-grained historical research to determine the full extent of their (mutual) influence in the domain of morphosyntax where the influence of the eastern Ibero-Romance languages, in particular (Navarro-)Aragonese, appears to have been underestimated.

Although the classification of Occitan as Gallo-Romance and Catalan as Ibero-Romance is common, some scholars criticize the justification for this decision as superficial. … On this basis, "Occitano-Romance" has been proposed as a sub-language family in its own right, distinct from Gallo- and Ibero-Romance, or, in some cases, as a sub-grouping within Gallo-Romance.