 Complete the following phrase:  Sardinian is a distinct branch of the Romance language family, going either by the same name or by Southern Romance: it is therefore a separate language rather than an Italian dialect, and it is also closer to its Latin roots than Italian itself. Sardinian has been formally recognized as one of Italys twelve historical ethnolinguistic minorities since 1997, by regional and Italian law. The language has been influenced by Catalan, Spanish and recently Italian, while the once spoken 