British Latin or
British Vulgar Latin was the
Vulgar Latin spoken in
Great Britain in the
Roman and
sub-Roman periods. While Britain formed part of the
Roman Empire, Latin became the principal language of the elite, especially in the more Romanized southern and eastern parts of the island. However, it never substantially replaced the
Brittonic language of the indigenous
Britons, especially in the less Romanized north and west. In recent years, scholars have debated the extent to which British Latin was distinguishable from its continental counterparts, which developed into the
Romance languages.