Here's a breakdown of the reasons:
* Common ancestor: Both languages directly descend from Vulgar Latin. While they diverged over centuries, they still share a significant amount of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
* Geographical proximity: The Roman Empire's influence reached both the Italian peninsula and the region that is now Romania (formerly known as Dacia). This close proximity facilitated the spread of Latin and its subsequent evolution into distinct languages.
* Limited external influence: Unlike some other Romance languages that were heavily influenced by Germanic or other languages, Romanian and Italian retained many of the original Latin features, preserving their similarities.
While the two languages have clear similarities, they also have distinct differences:
* Pronunciation: Romanian has a more complex system of vowels and consonants than Italian.
* Grammar: Romanian has a more complex system of verb conjugation and uses a definite article before nouns, unlike Italian.
* Vocabulary: While a large portion of vocabulary is shared, there are also significant differences in words borrowed from other languages (e.g., Slavic influence in Romanian, Germanic influence in Italian).
Overall, the similarities between Romanian and Italian stem from their shared Latin origin and relatively limited external influences. However, the two languages developed distinctive characteristics over time, making them distinct yet still recognizable as part of the same Romance family.