The linguistic landscape of central Italy at the beginning of Roman expansion
A number of phases of the language have been recognized, each distinguished by subtle differences in vocabulary, usage, spelling, and syntax. There are no hard and fast rules of classification; different scholars emphasize different features. As a result, the list has variants, as well as alternative names.
TheLapis Niger, probably the oldest extant Latin inscription, from Rome,c. 600 BC during the semi-legendaryRoman Kingdom
The earliest known form of Latin is Old Latin, also called Archaic or Early Latin, which was spoken from theRoman Kingdom, traditionally founded in 753 BC, through the later part of theRoman Republic, up to 75 BC, i.e. before the age ofClassical Latin.[4] It is attested both in inscriptions and in some of the earliest extant Latin literary works, such as the comedies ofPlautus andTerence. TheLatin alphabet was devised from theEtruscan alphabet. The writing later changed from what was initially either aright-to-left or aboustrophedon[5][6] script to what ultimately became a strictly left-to-right script.[7]
During the late republic and into the first years of the empire, from about 75 BC to AD 200, a newClassical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and otherliterate men, who wrote the great works ofclassical literature, which were taught ingrammar andrhetoric schools. Today's instructional grammars trace their roots to suchschools, which served as a sort of informal language academy dedicated to maintaining and perpetuating educated speech.[8][9]
Philological analysis of Archaic Latin works, such as those ofPlautus, which contain fragments of everyday speech, gives evidence of an informal register of the language, Vulgar Latin (termedsermo vulgi 'the speech of the masses', byCicero). Some linguists, particularly in the nineteenth century, believed this to be a separate language, existing more or less in parallel with the literary or educated Latin, but this is now widely dismissed.[10]
The term 'Vulgar Latin' remains difficult to define, referring both to informal speech at any time within the history of Latin, and the kind of informal Latin that had begun to move away from the written language significantly in the post-Imperial period, that led ultimately to theRomance languages.
During the Classical period, informal language was rarely written, so philologists have been left with only individual words and phrases cited by classical authors, inscriptions such asCurse tablets and those found asgraffiti. In theLate Latin period, language changes reflecting spoken (non-classical) norms tend to be found in greater quantities in texts.[11]As it was free to develop on its own, there is no reason to suppose that the speech was uniform either diachronically or geographically. On the contrary, Romanised European populations developed their own dialects of the language, which eventually led to the differentiation ofRomance languages.[12]
Late Latin is a kind of written Latin used in the 3rd to 6th centuries. This began to diverge from Classical forms at a faster pace. It is characterised by greater use of prepositions, and word order that is closer to modern Romance languages, for example, while grammatically retaining more or less the same formal rules as Classical Latin.
Ultimately, Latin diverged into a distinct written form, where the commonly spoken form was perceived as a separate language, for instance early French or Italian dialects, that could be transcribed differently. It took some time for these to be viewed as wholly different from Latin however.
While the written form of Latin was increasingly standardized into a fixed form, the spoken forms began to diverge more greatly. Currently, the five most widely spoken Romance languages by number of native speakers areSpanish,Portuguese,French,Italian, andRomanian. Despite dialectal variation, which is found in any widespread language, the languages of Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy have retained a remarkable unity in phonological forms and developments, bolstered by the stabilising influence of their commonChristian (Roman Catholic) culture.
It was not until theMuslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711, cutting off communications between the major Romance regions, that the languages began to diverge seriously.[14] The spoken Latin that would later become Romanian diverged somewhat more from the other varieties, as it was largely separated from the unifying influences in the western part of the Empire.
Spoken Latin began to diverge into distinct languages by the 9th century at the latest, when the earliest extant Romance writings begin to appear. They were, throughout the period, confined to everyday speech, as Medieval Latin was used for writing.[15][16]
For many Italians using Latin, though, there was no complete separation between Italian and Latin, even into the beginning of theRenaissance.Petrarch for example saw Latin as a literary version of the spoken language.[17]
Medieval Latin is the written Latin in use during that portion of the post-classical period when no corresponding Latinvernacular existed, that is from around 700 to 1500 AD. The spoken language had developed into the various Romance languages; however, in the educated and official world, Latin continued without its natural spoken base. Moreover, this Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as the Germanic and Slavic nations. It became useful for international communication between the member states of theHoly Roman Empire and its allies.
Without the institutions of the Roman Empire that had supported its uniformity, Medieval Latin was much more liberal in its linguistic cohesion: for example, in classical Latinsum anderam are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect and pluperfect passive, which are compound tenses. Medieval Latin might usefui andfueram instead.[18] Furthermore, the meanings of many words were changed and new words were introduced, often under influence from the vernacular. Identifiable individual styles of classically incorrect Latin prevail.[18]
Renaissance Latin, in use from around 1300 to 1500, and the classicised Latin that followed through to the present are often grouped together asNeo-Latin, or New Latin, which have in recent decades become a focus ofrenewed study, given their importance for the development of European culture, religion and science.[20][21] The vast majority of written Latin belongs to this period, but its full extent is unknown.[22]
TheRenaissance reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken and written language by the scholarship by theRenaissance humanists.Petrarch and others began to change their usage of Latin as they explored the texts of the Classical Latin world. Skills of textual criticism evolved to create much more accurate versions of extant texts through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some important texts were rediscovered. Comprehensive versions of authors' works were published byIsaac Casaubon,Joseph Scaliger and others.[23] Nevertheless, despite the careful work of Petrarch,Politian and others, first the demand for manuscripts, and then the rush to bring works into print, led to the circulation of inaccurate copies for several centuries following.[24]
Neo-Latin literature was extensive and prolific, but less well known or understood today. Works covered poetry, prose stories and early novels, occasional pieces and collections of letters, to name a few. Famous and well regarded writers included Petrarch, Erasmus,Salutati,Celtis,George Buchanan andThomas More.[25] Non fiction works were long produced in many subjects, including the sciences, law, philosophy, historiography and theology. Famous examples includeIsaac Newton'sPrincipia. Latin was also used as a convenient medium for translations of important works first written in a vernacular, such as those ofDescartes.
Latin education underwent a process of reform to classicise written and spoken Latin. Schooling remained largely Latin medium until approximately 1700. Until the end of the 17th century, the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin.[26] Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (aRomance language) and later native or other languages.[27] Education methods gradually shifted towards written Latin, and eventually concentrating solely on reading skills. The decline of Latin education took several centuries and proceeded much more slowly than the decline in written Latin output.
The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is theCatholic Church. The Catholic Church required that Mass be carried out in Latin until theSecond Vatican Council of 1962–1965, which permitted the use of thevernacular. Latin remains the language of theRoman Rite. TheTridentine Mass (also known as the Extraordinary Form or Traditional Latin Mass) is celebrated in Latin. Although theMass of Paul VI (also known as the Ordinary Form or the Novus Ordo) is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, it can be and often is said in Latin, in part or in whole, especially at multilingual gatherings. It is the official language of theHoly See, the primary language of itspublic journal, theActa Apostolicae Sedis, and the working language of theRoman Rota.Vatican City is also home to the world's onlyautomatic teller machine that gives instructions in Latin.[28] In thepontifical universities postgraduate courses ofCanon law are taught in Latin, and papers are written in the same language.
There are a small number of Latin services held in the Anglican church. These include an annual service in Oxford, delivered with a Latin sermon; a relic from the period when Latin was the normal spoken language of the university.[29]
The polyglotEuropean Union has adopted Latin names in the logos of some of its institutions for the sake of linguistic compromise, an "ecumenical nationalism" common to most of the continent and as a sign of the continent's heritage (such as theEU Council:Consilium).
In the Western world, many organizations, governments and schools use Latin for their mottos due to its association with formality, tradition, and the roots ofWestern culture.[30]
Canada's mottoA mari usque ad mare ("from sea to sea") and mostprovincial mottos are also in Latin. TheCanadian Victoria Cross is modelled after the BritishVictoria Cross which has the inscription "For Valour". Because Canada is officially bilingual, the Canadian medal has replaced the English inscription with the LatinPro Valore.
Spain's mottoPlus ultra 'even further', or figuratively "Further!", is also Latin in origin.[31] It is taken from the personal motto ofCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (as Charles I), and is a reversal of the original phraseNon terrae plus ultra ("No land further beyond", "No further!"). According to legend, this phrase was inscribed as a warning on thePillars of Hercules, the rocks on both sides of theStrait of Gibraltar and the western end of the known, Mediterranean world. Charles adopted the motto following the discovery of the New World by Columbus, and it also has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence.
In the United States the unofficial national motto until 1956 wasE pluribus unum meaning "Out of many, one". The motto continues to be featured on theGreat Seal. It also appears on the flags and seals of both houses of congress and the flags of the states of Michigan, North Dakota, New York, and Wisconsin. The motto's 13 letters symbolically represent the original Thirteen Colonies which revolted from the British Crown. The motto is featured on all presently minted coinage and has been featured in most coinage throughout the nation's history.
Some colleges and universities have adopted Latin mottos, for exampleHarvard University's motto isVeritas ("truth"). Veritas was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn, and the mother of Virtue.
Switzerland has adopted the country's Latin short nameHelvetia on coins and stamps, since there is no room to use all of the nation'sfour official languages. For a similar reason, it adopted the international vehicle and internet codeCH, which stands forConfoederatio Helvetica, the country's full Latin name.
The continued instruction of Latin is seen by some as a highly valuable component of a liberal arts education. Latin is taught at many high schools, especially in Europe and the Americas. It is most common in Britishpublic schools and grammar schools, the Italianliceo classico andliceo scientifico, the GermanHumanistischesGymnasium and the Dutchgymnasium.
QDP Ep 84 – De Ludo "Mysterium": A Latin-language podcast
Occasionally, some media outlets, targeting enthusiasts, broadcast in Latin. Notable examples includeRadio Bremen in Germany,YLE radio in Finland (theNuntii Latini broadcast from 1989 until it was shut down in June 2019),[32] and Vatican Radio & Television, all of which broadcast news segments and other material in Latin.[33][34][35]
A variety of organisations, as well as informal Latincirculi 'circles', have been founded in more recent times to support the use of spoken Latin.[36] Moreover, a number of university classics departments have begun incorporating communicative pedagogies in their Latin courses. These include the University of Kentucky, the University of Oxford and also Princeton University.[37][38]
There are many websites and forums maintained in Latin by enthusiasts. TheLatin Wikipedia has more than 140,000 articles.
Julius Caesar'sCommentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of thispatrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in thefloruit of theRoman Republic.
The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part, in substantial works or in fragments to be analyzed inphilology. They are in part the subject matter of the field ofclassics. Their works were published in manuscript form before the invention of printing and are now published in carefully annotated printed editions, such as theLoeb Classical Library, published byHarvard University Press, or theOxford Classical Texts, published byOxford University Press.[citation needed]
Some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, theCorpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL). Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same: volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating theprovenance and relevant information. The reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field ofepigraphy. About 270,000 inscriptions are known.
TheLatin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. In theMiddle Ages, borrowing from Latin occurred from ecclesiastical usage established by SaintAugustine of Canterbury in the 6th century or indirectly after theNorman Conquest, through theAnglo-Norman language. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed "inkhorn terms", as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, but some useful ones survived, such asimbibe andextrapolate. Many of the most commonpolysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium ofOld French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and Dutch vocabularies.[41][42][43] Those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included.
Range of the Romance languages, the modern descendants of Latin, in Europe
The influence of Roman governance andRoman technology on the less-developed nations under Roman dominion led to the adoption of Latin phraseology in some specialized areas, such as science, technology, medicine, and law. For example,the Linnaean system of plant and animal classification was heavily influenced byHistoria Naturalis, an encyclopedia of people, places, plants, animals, and things published byPliny the Elder. Roman medicine, recorded in the works of such physicians asGalen, established that today'smedical terminology would be primarily derived from Latin and Greek words, the Greek being filtered through the Latin. Roman engineering had the same effect onscientific terminology as a whole. Latin law principles have survived partly in a longlist of Latin legal terms.
Throughout European history, an education in the classics was considered crucial for those who wished to join literate circles. This also was true in the United States where many of the nation's founders obtained a classically based education in grammar schools or from tutors.[45] Admission to Harvard in the Colonial era required that the applicant "Can readily make and speak or write true Latin prose and has skill in making verse"[46] Latin Study and the classics were emphasized in American secondary schools and colleges well into the Antebellum era.[47]
Instruction in Latin is an essential aspect. In today's world, a large number of Latin students in the United States learn fromWheelock's Latin: The Classic Introductory Latin Course, Based on Ancient Authors. This book, first published in 1956,[48] was written byFrederic M. Wheelock.Wheelock's Latin has become the standard text for many American introductory Latin courses.
The numbers of people studying Latin varies significantly by country. In the United Kingdom, Latin is available in around 2.3% of state primary schools, representing a significant increase in availability.[49] In Germany, over 500,000 students study Latin each year, representing a decrease from over 800,000 in 2008. Latin is still required for some University courses, but this has become less frequent.[50]
TheLiving Latin movement attempts to teach Latin in the same way that living languages are taught, as a means of both spoken and written communication. It is available in Vatican City and at some institutions in the US, such as theUniversity of Kentucky andIowa State University. The BritishCambridge University Press is a major supplier of Latin textbooks for all levels, such as theCambridge Latin Course series. It has also published a subseries of children's texts in Latin by Bell & Forte, which recounts the adventures of a mouse calledMinimus.
Latin was or is the official language of several European states. It had official status in theKingdom of Hungary from the 11th to mid-19th centuries, whenHungarian became the exclusive official language in 1844.[55] The best known Latin language poet of Hungarian origin wasJanus Pannonius.
Croatia – Latin was the official language ofCroatian Parliament from the 13th to the 19th century (1847).[56] The oldest preserved records of the parliamentary sessions (Congregatio Regni totius Sclavonie generalis) – held in Zagreb (Zagabria), Croatia – date from 19 April 1273. An extensiveCroatian Latin literature exists. Latin was used on Croatian coins on even years until 1 January 2023, when Croatia adopted the Euro as its official currency.[57]
In theKingdom of Poland Latin was officially recognised and widely used[58][59][60][61] between the 10th and 18th centuries, commonly used in foreign relations and popular as a second language among some of thenobility.[61]
Audio of a person with a German accent reading in LatinAve Maria read in Ecclesiastical Latin
The ancient pronunciation of Latin has been reconstructed; among the data used for reconstruction are explicit statements about pronunciation by ancient authors, misspellings, puns, ancient etymologies, the spelling of Latin loanwords in other languages, and the historical development of Romance languages.[62]
/z/ was not native to Classical Latin. It appeared in Greek loanwords startingc. the 1st century BC, when it was probably pronounced (at least by educated speakers)[z] initially anddoubled[zz] between vowels, in accordance with its pronunciation inKoine Greek. In Classical Latin poetry, the letter⟨z⟩ between vowels always counts as two consonants for metrical purposes.[64][65] The consonant ⟨b⟩ usually sounds as [b]; however, when ⟨t⟩ or ⟨s⟩ follows ⟨b⟩ then it is pronounced as in [pt] or [ps]. In Latin, ⟨q⟩ is always followed by thevowel ⟨u⟩. Together they make a [kʷ] sound.[66]
In Old and Classical Latin, the Latin alphabet had no distinction betweenuppercase and lowercase, and the letters⟨J U W⟩ did not exist. In place of⟨J U⟩,⟨I V⟩ were used, respectively;⟨I V⟩ represented both vowels and consonants. Most of the letter forms were similar to modern uppercase, as can be seen in the inscription from the Colosseum shown at the top of the article.
The spelling systems used in Latin dictionaries and modern editions of Latin texts, however, normally use⟨j u⟩ in place of Classical-era⟨i v⟩. Some systems use⟨j v⟩ for the consonant sounds/jw/ except in the combinations⟨gu su qu⟩ for which⟨v⟩ is never used.
Some notes concerning the mapping of Latin phonemes to English graphemes are given below:
Notes
Latin grapheme
Latin phoneme
English examples
⟨c⟩,⟨k⟩
[k]
Always ask insky (/skaɪ/)
⟨t⟩
[t]
Ast instay (/steɪ/)
⟨s⟩
[s]
Ass insay (/seɪ/)
⟨g⟩
[ɡ]
Always asg ingood (/ɡʊd/)
[ŋ]
Before⟨n⟩, asng insing (/sɪŋ/)
⟨n⟩
[n]
Asn inman (/mæn/)
[ŋ]
Before⟨c⟩,⟨x⟩, and⟨g⟩, asng insing (/sɪŋ/)
⟨l⟩
[l]
When doubled⟨ll⟩ and before⟨i⟩, as"light L",[l̥] inlink ([l̥ɪnk]) (l exilis)[67][68]
[ɫ]
In all other positions, as"dark L",[ɫ] inbowl ([boʊɫ]) (l pinguis)
⟨qu⟩
[kʷ]
Similar toqu insquint (/skwɪnt/)
⟨u⟩
[w]
Sometimes at the beginning of a syllable, or after⟨g⟩ and⟨s⟩, as/w/ inwine (/waɪn/)
⟨i⟩
[j]
Sometimes at the beginning of a syllable, asy (/j/) inyard (/jɑɹd/)
[ij]
"y" (/j/), in between vowels, becomes "i-y", being pronounced as parts of two separate syllables, as incapiō (/kapiˈjo:/)
⟨x⟩
[ks]
A letter representing⟨c⟩ +⟨s⟩: asx in Englishaxe (/æks/)
In Classical Latin, as in modern Italian, double consonant letters were pronounced aslong consonant sounds distinct from short versions of the same consonants. Thus thenn in Classical Latinannus 'year' (and in Italiananno) is pronounced as a doubled/nn/ as in Englishunnamed. (In English, distinctive consonant length or doubling occurs only at the boundary between two words ormorphemes, as in that example.)
In Classical Latin,⟨U⟩ did not exist as a letter distinct from⟨V⟩; the written form⟨V⟩ was used to represent both a vowel and a consonant.⟨Y⟩ was adopted to representupsilon in loanwords fromGreek, but it was pronounced like⟨u⟩ and⟨i⟩ by some speakers. It was also used in native Latin words by confusion with Greek words of similar meaning, such assylva andὕληhū́lē.
Classical Latin distinguished betweenlong and short vowels. Then, long vowels, except for⟨i⟩, were frequently marked using theapex, which was sometimes similar to anacute accent⟨Á É Ó V́ Ý⟩. Long/iː/ was written using a taller version of⟨I⟩, calledi longa 'longI':⟨ꟾ⟩. In modern texts, long vowels are often indicated by amacron⟨ā ē ī ō ū⟩, and short vowels are usually unmarked except when it is necessary to distinguish between words, when they are marked with abreve⟨ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ⟩. However, they would also signify a long vowel by writing the vowel larger than other letters in a word or by repeating the vowel twice in a row.[66] The acute accent, when it is used in modern Latin texts, indicates stress, as in Spanish, rather than length.
Although called long vowels, their exact quality in Classical Latin is different from short vowels. The difference is described in the table below:
Pronunciation of Latin vowels
Grapheme
Phone
Modern examples
⟨a⟩
[a]
Similar to thea inpart (/paɹt/)
[aː]
Similar to thea infather (/fɑːðəɹ/)
⟨e⟩
[ɛ]
Ase inpet (/pɛt/)
[ɛː]
ɛ but longer
⟨i⟩
[i]
iː but shorter
[iː]
Similar toi inmachine (/məʃiːn/)
⟨o⟩
[ɔ]
Aso inport (/pɔɹt/)
[ɔː]
ɔ but longer
⟨u⟩
[u]
uː but shorter
[uː]
Similar toue intrue (/tɹuː/)
⟨y⟩
[ʏ]
Does not exist in English, closest approximation is theu inmule
[ʏː]
ʏ but longer.
This difference in quality is posited byW. Sidney Allen in his bookVox Latina. However,Andrea Calabrese has disputed this assertion, based in part upon the observation that in Sardinian and some Lucanian dialects, each long and short vowel pair merged, as opposed to in Italo-Western languages in which short /i/ and /u/ merged with long/eː/ and /o:/ (cf. Latinsiccus, Italiansecco, and Sardiniansiccu).[71]
A vowel letter followed by⟨m⟩ at the end of a word, or a vowel letter followed by⟨n⟩ before⟨s⟩ or⟨f⟩, represented a shortnasal vowel, as inmonstrum[mõːstrũ].
Classical Latin had severaldiphthongs. The two most common were⟨ae au⟩. The former is pronounced like thei inmine, and the latter like theow inpower.⟨oe⟩ was fairly rare, and⟨ui eu ei⟩ were very rare, at least in native Latin words.[72] There has also been debate over whether⟨ui⟩ is truly a diphthong in Classical Latin, due to its rarity, absence in works of Roman grammarians, and the roots of Classical Latin words (e.g.hui ce tohuic,quoi tocui) not matching or being similar to the pronunciation of classical words if⟨ui⟩ were to be considered a diphthong.[73]
The sequences sometimes did not represent diphthongs.⟨ae⟩ and⟨oe⟩ also represented a sequence of two vowels in different syllables inaēnus[aˈeː.nʊs] 'bronze' andcoēpit[kɔˈeː.pɪt] 'began', and⟨au ui eu ei ou⟩ represented sequences of two vowels or of a vowel and one of the semivowels/jw/, incavē[ˈka.weː] 'beware!',cuius[ˈkʊj.jʊs] 'whose',monuī[ˈmɔn.ʊ.iː] 'I warned',solvī[ˈsɔɫ.wiː] 'I released',dēlēvī[deːˈleː.wiː] 'I destroyed',eius[ˈɛj.jʊs] 'his', andnovus[ˈnɔ.wʊs] 'new'.
Old Latin had more diphthongs, but most of them changed into long vowels in Classical Latin. The Old Latin diphthong⟨ai⟩ and the sequence⟨āī⟩ became Classical⟨ae⟩. Old Latin⟨oi⟩ and⟨ou⟩ changed to Classical⟨ū⟩, except in a few words whose⟨oi⟩ became Classical⟨oe⟩. These two developments sometimes occurred in different words from the same root: for instance, Classicalpoena "punishment" andpūnīre "to punish".[72] Early Old Latin⟨ei⟩ usually monophthongized to a later Old Latin⟨ē⟩, to Classical⟨ī⟩.[74]
By the late Roman Empire,⟨ae oe⟩ had merged with⟨e ē⟩. During the Classical period this sound change was present in some rural dialects, but deliberately avoided by well-educated speakers.[72]
Syllables in Latin are signified by the presence of diphthongs andvowels. The number of syllables is the same as the number of vowel sounds.[66]
Further, if a consonant separates two vowels, it will go into the syllable of the second vowel. When there are two consonants between vowels, the last consonant will go with the second vowel. An exception occurs when aphonetic stop and liquid come together. In this situation, they are thought to be a single consonant, and as such, they will go into the syllable of the second vowel.[66]
Syllables in Latin are considered eitherlong or short (less often called "heavy" and "light" respectively). Within a word, a syllable may either be long by nature or long by position.[66] A syllable is long by nature if it has a diphthong or a long vowel. On the other hand, a syllable is long by position if the vowel is followed by more than one consonant.[66]
The number of letters in the Latin alphabet has varied. When it was first derived from the Etruscan alphabet, it contained only 21 letters.[76] Later,G was added to represent/ɡ/, which had previously been spelledC, andZ ceased to be included in the alphabet, as the language then had novoiced alveolar fricative.[77] The letters K,Y, andZ were later added to represent Greek letterskappa,upsilon, andzeta respectively, in Greek loanwords.[77]
W was created in the 11th century fromVV in some areas andUU in others. It represented/w/ in Germanic languages, not Latin, which still usesV for the purpose.J was distinguished from the originalI only during the late Middle Ages, as was the letterU fromV.[77] Although some Latin dictionaries useJ, it is rarely used for Latin text, as it was not used in classical times, but many other languages use it.
Classical Latin did not contain sentencepunctuation, letter case,[78] orinterword spacing, butapices were sometimes used to distinguish length in vowels and theinterpunct was used at times to separate words.
A modern Latin text written in the Old Roman Cursive inspired by theVindolanda tablets, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain. The wordRomani 'Romans' is at bottom left.
TheRoman cursive script is commonly found on the manywax tablets excavated at sites such as forts, an especially extensive set having been discovered at Vindolanda onHadrian's Wall in Britain. Most notable is the fact that while most of theVindolanda tablets show spaces between words, spaces were avoided in monumental inscriptions from that era.
Occasionally, Latin has been written in other scripts:
ThePraeneste fibula is a 7th-century BC pin with an Old Latin inscription written using the Etruscan script.
The rear panel of the early 8th-centuryFranks Casket has an inscription that switches fromOld English inAnglo-Saxon runes to Latin in Latin script and to Latin in runes.
Latin inflection can result in words with much ambiguity: For example,amābit 'he/she/it will love', is formed fromamā-, a future tense morpheme-bi- and a third person singular morpheme,-t, the last of which-t does not express masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. A major task in understanding Latin phrases and clauses is to clarify such ambiguities by an analysis of context.Latin word order is relatively free because inflections disambiguate semantic connections, but different word orders can indicate different nuances of meaning.
A regular Latin noun belongs to one of five main declensions, a group of nouns with similar inflected forms. The declensions are identified by the genitive singular form of the noun.
The first declension, with a predominant ending letter ofa, is signified by the genitive singular ending of-ae.
The second declension, with a predominant ending letter ofus, is signified by the genitive singular ending of-ī.
The third declension, with a predominant ending letter ofi, is signified by the genitive singular ending of-is.
The fourth declension, with a predominant ending letter ofu, is signified by the genitive singular ending of-ūs.
The fifth declension, with a predominant ending letter ofe, is signified by the genitive singular ending of-eī.
There are seven Latin noun cases, which also apply to adjectives and pronouns and mark a noun's syntactic role in the sentence by means of inflections. Thus,word order in Latin is not as important as it is in English, which is less inflected. The general structure and word order of a Latin sentence can therefore vary. The cases are as follows:
Genitive – used when the noun is the possessor of or connected with an object: "the horse of the man", or "the man's horse"; in both instances, the wordman would be in thegenitive case when it is translated into Latin. It also indicates thepartitive, in which the material is quantified: "a group of people"; "a number of gifts":people andgifts would be in the genitive case. Some nouns are genitive with special verbs and adjectives: The cup is full of wine. (Pōculum plēnum vīnī est.) The master of the slave had beaten him. (Dominus servī eum verberāverat.)
Dative – used when the noun is the indirect object of the sentence, with special verbs, with certain prepositions, and if it is used as agent, reference, or even possessor: The merchant hands thestola to the woman. (Mercātor fēminae stolam trādit.)
Accusative – used when the noun is the direct object of the subject, as the object of a preposition demonstrating place to which, and sometimes to indicate a duration of time: The man killed the boy. (Vir puerum necāvit.)
Ablative – used when the noun demonstrates separation or movement from a source, cause,agent orinstrument or when the noun is used as the object of certain prepositions, and to indicate a specific place in time.; adverbial: You walked with the boy. (Cum puerō ambulāvistī.)
Vocative – used when the noun is used in a direct address. The vocative form of a noun is often the same as the nominative, with the exception of second-declension nouns ending in-us. The-us becomes an-e in the vocative singular. If it ends in-ius (such asfīlius), the ending is just-ī (filī), as distinct from the nominative plural (filiī) in the vocative singular: "Master!" shouted the slave. ("Domine!" clāmāvit servus.)
Locative – used to indicate a location (corresponding to the Englishin orat. It is far less common than the other six cases of Latin nouns and usually applies to cities and small towns and islands along with a few common nouns, such as the wordsdomus 'house',humus 'ground', andrus 'country'. In the singular of the first and second declensions, its form coincides with the genitive (Roma becomesRomae 'in Rome'. In the plural of all declensions and the singular of the other declensions, it coincides with the ablative (Athēnae becomesAthēnīs, 'at Athens'. In the fourth-declension worddomus, the locative form,domī 'at home' differs from the standard form of all other cases.
Latin lacks both definite and indefinitearticles sopuer currit can mean either 'the boy is running' or 'a boy is running'.
There are two types of regular Latin adjectives: first- and second-declension and third-declension. They are so-called because their forms are similar or identical to first- and second-declension and third-declension nouns, respectively. Latin adjectives also havecomparative and superlative forms. There are also a number of Latinparticiples.
Latin numbers are sometimes declined as adjectives; see§ Numbers.
First- and second-declension adjectives are declined like first-declension nouns for the feminine forms and like second-declension nouns for the masculine and neuter forms. For example, formortuus, mortua, mortuum 'dead',mortua is declined like a regular first-declension noun (such aspuella 'girl',mortuus is declined like a regular second-declension masculine noun (such asdominus 'lord, master', andmortuum is declined like a regular second-declension neuter noun (such asauxilium 'help'.
Third-declension adjectives are mostly declined like normal third-declension nouns, with a few exceptions. In the plural nominative neuter, for example, the ending is-ia (omnia 'all, everything', and for third-declension nouns, the plural nominative neuter ending is-a or-ia (capita 'heads',animalia 'animals'. They can have one, two or three forms for the masculine, feminine, and neuter nominative singular.
Latin participles, like English participles, are formed from a verb. There are a few main types of participles: Present Active Participles, Perfect Passive Participles, Future Active Participles, and Future Passive Participles.
Latin sometimes uses prepositions, depending on the type of prepositional phrase being used. Most prepositions are followed by a noun in either the accusative or ablative case:apud puerum 'with the boy', withpuerum being the accusative form ofpuer 'boy', andsine puero 'without the boy' – puero being the ablative form. A fewadpositions, however, govern a noun in the genitive, such asgratia andtenus.
A regular verb in Latin belongs to one of four mainconjugations. A conjugation is "a class of verbs with similar inflected forms".[79] The conjugations are identified by the last letter of the verb's present stem. The present stem can be found by omitting the -re (-rī in deponent verbs) ending from the present infinitive form. The infinitive of the first conjugation ends in-ā-re or-ā-ri (active and passive respectively):amāre 'to love',hortārī 'to exhort'; of the second conjugation by-ē-re or-ē-rī:monēre 'to warn',verērī 'to fear', of the third conjugation by-ere,-ī:dūcere 'to lead',ūtī 'to use'; of the fourth by-ī-re,-ī-rī:audīre 'to hear',experīrī 'to attempt'.[80] The stem categories descend fromIndo-European and can therefore be compared to similar conjugations in other Indo-European languages.
Irregular verbs are verbs that do not follow the regular conjugations in the formation of the inflected form. Irregular verbs in Latin areesse 'to be';velle 'to want';ferre 'to carry';edere 'to eat';dare 'to give 'ire 'to go';posse 'to be able';fieri 'to happen'; and their compounds.[80]
There are six simpletenses in Latin (present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect and future perfect), threemoods (indicative, imperative and subjunctive, in addition to theinfinitive,participle,gerund,gerundive andsupine), threepersons (first, second and third), two numbers (singular and plural), twovoices (active and passive) and twoaspects (perfective and imperfective). Verbs are described by four principal parts:
The first principal part is the first-person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative mood form of the verb. If the verb is impersonal, the first principal part will be in the third-person singular.
The second principal part is the present active infinitive.
The third principal part is the first-person singular, perfect active indicative form. Like the first principal part, if the verb is impersonal, the third principal part will be in the third-person singular.
The fourth principal part is the supine form, or alternatively, the nominative singular of the perfect passive participle form of the verb. The fourth principal part can show one gender of the participle or all three genders (-usfor masculine, -a for feminine and -um for neuter) in the nominative singular. The fourth principal part will be the future participle if the verb cannot be made passive. Most modern Latin dictionaries, if they show only one gender, tend to show the masculine; but many older dictionaries instead show the neuter, as it coincides with the supine. The fourth principal part is sometimes omitted for intransitive verbs, but strictly in Latin, they can be made passive if they are used impersonally, and the supine exists for such verbs.
The six simpletenses of Latin are divided into two systems: the present system, which is made up of the present, imperfect and future forms, and the perfect system, which is made up of the perfect, pluperfect and future perfect forms. Each simple tense has a set of endings corresponding to the person, number, and voice of the subject. Subject (nominative) pronouns are generally omitted for the first (I, we) and second (you) persons except for emphasis.
The table below displays the common inflected endings for the indicative mood in the active voice in all six tenses. For the future tense, the first listed endings are for the first and second conjugations, and the second listed endings are for the third and fourth conjugations:
As Latin is an Italic language, most of its vocabulary is likewise Italic, ultimately from the ancestralProto-Indo-European language. However, because of close cultural interaction, the Romans not only adapted the Etruscan alphabet to form the Latin alphabet but also borrowed someEtruscan words into their language, includingpersona 'mask' andhistrio 'actor'.[81] Latin also included vocabulary borrowed fromOscan, another Italic language.
After theFall of Tarentum in 272 BC, the Romans began Hellenising, or adopting features of Greek culture, including the borrowing of Greek words, such ascamera 'vaulted roof',sumbolum 'symbol', andbalineum 'bath'.[81] This Hellenisation led to the addition ofY andZ to the alphabet to represent Greek sounds.[82] Subsequently, the Romans transplantedGreek art, medicine, science and philosophy to Italy, paying almost any price to entice Greek skilled and educated persons to Rome and sending their youth to be educated in Greece. Thus, many Latin scientific and philosophical words were Greek loanwords or had their meanings expanded by association with Greek words, asars 'craft' andtekhne 'art'.[83]
Because of the Roman Empire's expansion and subsequent trade with outlying European tribes, the Romans borrowed some northern and central European words, such asbeber 'beaver', of Germanic origin, andbracae 'breeches', of Celtic origin.[83] The specific dialects of Latin across Latin-speaking regions of the former Roman Empire after its fall were influenced by languages specific to the regions. The dialects of Latin evolved into different Romance languages.
During and after the adoption of Christianity into Roman society, Christian vocabulary became a part of the language, either from Greek or Hebrew borrowings or as Latin neologisms.[84] Into the Middle Ages, Latin incorporated many more words from surrounding languages, includingOld English and otherGermanic languages.
Over the ages, Latin-speaking populations produced new adjectives, nouns, and verbs byaffixing orcompounding meaningfulsegments.[85] For example, the compound adjective,omnipotens 'all-powerful', was produced from the adjectivesomnis 'all', andpotens 'powerful', by dropping the finals ofomnis and concatenating. Often, the concatenation changed the part of speech, and nouns were produced from verb segments or verbs from nouns and adjectives.[86]
In ancient times, numbers in Latin were written only with letters. Today, the numbers can be written with theArabic numbers as well as withRoman numerals. The numbers 1, 2 and 3 and every whole hundred from 200 to 900 are declined as nouns and adjectives, with some differences.
ūnus, ūna, ūnum (masculine, feminine, neuter)
I
one
duo, duae, duo (m., f., n.)
II
two
trēs, tria (m./f., n.)
III
three
quattuor
IIIIor IV
four
quīnque
V
five
sex
VI
six
septem
VII
seven
octō
IIXor VIII
eight
novem
VIIIIor IX
nine
decem
X
ten
quīnquāgintā
L
fifty
centum
C
one hundred
quīngentī, quīngentae, quīngenta (m., f., n.)
D
five hundred
mīlle
M
one thousand
The numbers from 4 to 100 do not change their endings. As in modern descendants such as Spanish, the gender for naming a number in isolation is masculine, so that "1, 2, 3" is counted asūnus, duo, trēs.
Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt. Gallos ab Aquitanis Garumna flumen, a Belgis Matrona et Sequana dividit. Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt, minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent important, proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt. Qua de causa Helvetii quoque reliquos Gallos virtute praecedunt, quod fere cotidianis proeliis cum Germanis contendunt, cum aut suis finibus eos prohibent aut ipsi in eorum finibus bellum gerunt. Eorum una pars, quam Gallos obtinere dictum est, initium capit a flumine Rhodano, continetur Garumna flumine, Oceano, finibus Belgarum; attingit etiam ab Sequanis et Helvetiis flumen Rhenum; vergit ad septentriones. Belgae ab extremis Galliae finibus oriuntur; pertinent ad inferiorem partem fluminis Rheni; spectant in septentrionem et orientem solem. Aquitania a Garumna flumine ad Pyrenaeos montes et eam partem Oceani quae est ad Hispaniam pertinet; spectat inter occasum solis et septentriones.
The same text may be marked for all long vowels (before any possible elisions at word boundary) withapices over vowel letters, including customarily beforenf andns where a long vowel is automatically produced:
Gallia est omnis dívísa in partés trés, quárum únam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquítání, tertiam quí ipsórum linguá Celtae, nostrá Gallí appellantur. Hí omnés linguá, ínstitútís, légibus inter sé differunt. Gallós ab Aquítánís Garumna flúmen, á Belgís Mátrona et Séquana dívidit. Hórum omnium fortissimí sunt Belgae, proptereá quod á cultú atque húmánitáte próvinciae longissimé absunt, miniméque ad eós mercátórés saepe commeant atque ea quae ad efféminandós animós pertinent important, proximíque sunt Germánís, quí tráns Rhénum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt. Quá dé causá Helvétií quoque reliquós Gallós virtúte praecédunt, quod feré cotídiánís proeliís cum Germánís contendunt, cum aut suís fínibus eós prohibent aut ipsí in eórum fínibus bellum gerunt. Eórum úna pars, quam Gallós obtinére dictum est, initium capit á flúmine Rhodanó, continétur Garumná flúmine, Óceanó, fínibus Belgárum; attingit etiam ab Séquanís et Helvétiís flúmen Rhénum; vergit ad septentriónés. Belgae ab extrémís Galliae fínibus oriuntur; pertinent ad ínferiórem partem flúminis Rhéní; spectant in septentriónem et orientem sólem. Aquítánia á Garumná flúmine ad Pýrénaeós montés et eam partem Óceaní quae est ad Hispániam pertinet; spectat inter occásum sólis et septentriónés.
An example of Late Latin is the Latin Vulgate by Saint Jerome. Below is Psalm One (Psalmum Unum) from the Clementine Vulgate.
1 Beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum, et in via peccatorum non stetit, et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit; 2 sed in lege Domini voluntas ejus, et in lege ejus meditabitur die ac nocte. 3 Et erit tamquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum, quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo : et folium ejus non defluet; et omnia quaecumque faciet prosperabuntur. 4 Non sic impii, non sic; sed tamquam pulvis quem projicit ventus a facie terrae. 5 Ideo non resurgent impii in judicio, neque peccatores in concilio justorum,
^Collier's Encyclopedia: With Bibliography and Index. Collier. 1 January 1958. p. 412.Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved15 February 2016.In Italy, all alphabets were originally written from right to left; the oldest Latin inscription, which appears on the lapis niger of the seventh century BC, is in boustrophedon, but all other early Latin inscriptions run from right to left.
^Pope, Mildred K (1966).From Latin to modern French with especial consideration of Anglo-Norman; phonology and morphology. Publications of the University of Manchester, no. 229. French series, no. 6. Manchester: Manchester university press. p. 3.
^Monroe, Paul (1902).Source book of the history of education for the Greek and Roman period. London, New York:Macmillan & Co. pp. 346–352.
^Herman 2000, p. 5 "Comparative scholars, especially in the nineteenth century ... tended to see Vulgar Latin and literary Latin as two very different kinds of language, or even two different languages altogether ... but [this] is now out of date"
^"When we talk about "Neo-Latin", we refer to the Latin ... from the time of the early Italian humanist Petrarch (1304–1374) up to the present day"Knight & Tilg 2015, p. 1
^"Neo-Latin is the term used for the Latin which developed in Renaissance Italy ... Its origins are normally associated with Petrarch""What is Neo-Latin?". Archived fromthe original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved9 October 2016.
^Sawicka, Irena."A Crossroad Between West, East and Orient–The Case of Albanian Culture."Archived 27 September 2021 at theWayback Machine Colloquia Humanistica. No. 2. Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 2013. Page 97: "Even according to Albanian linguists, Albanian vocabulary is composed in 60 percent of Latin words from different periods... When albanological studies were just emerging, it happened that Albanian was classified as a Romance language. Already there exists the idea of a common origin of both Albanian and Rumanian languages. The Rumanian grammar is almost identical to that of Albanian, but it may be as well the effect of later convergence within the Balkan Sprachbund.."
^Of the eighty-nine men who signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Constitutional Convention, thirty-six went to a Colonial college, all of which offered only the classical curriculum. Richard M. Gummere, The American Colonial Mind and the Classical Tradition, p.66 (1963).
^Meyer Reinhold, Classica Americana: The Greek and Roman Heritage in the United States, p.27 (1984). Harvard's curriculum was patterned after those of Oxford and Cambridge, and the curricula of other Colonial colleges followed Harvard's. Lawrence A. Cremin, American Education: The Colonial Experience, 1607–1783, pp. 128–129 (1970), and Frederick Rudolph, Curriculum: A History of the American Undergraduate Course of Study Since 1636, pp.31–32 (1978).
^Beard, Mary (10 July 2006)."Does Latin "train the brain"?".The Times Literary Supplement. Archived fromthe original on 14 January 2012.No, you learn Latin because of what was written in it – and because of the sexual side of life direct access that Latin gives you to a literary tradition that lies at the very heart (not just at the root) of Western culture.
^Who only knows Latin can go across the whole Poland from one side to the other one just like he was at his own home, just like he was born there. So great happiness! I wish a traveler in England could travel without knowing any other language than Latin!, Daniel Defoe, 1728
^Anatol Lieven, The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Path to Independence, Yale University Press, 1994,ISBN0-300-06078-5, Google Print, p.48
^Kevin O'Connor, Culture And Customs of the Baltic States, Greenwood, 2006,ISBN0-313-33125-1, Google Print, p.115
^Husband, Richard (1910). "The Diphthong -ui in Latin".Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association.41:19–23.doi:10.2307/282713.ISSN0065-9711.JSTOR282713.
^Norberg, Dag (2004) [1980]."Latin at the End of the Imperial Age".Manuel pratique de latin médiéval. Translated by Johnson, Rand H. University of Michigan. Archived fromthe original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved20 May 2015.
Allen, William Sidney (1978) [1965].Vox Latina – a Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-22049-1.OL4483781M.
Bergin, Thomas G.; Law, Jonathan; Speake, Jennifer, eds. (2004).Encyclopedia of the Renaissance and Reformation. Facts On File.ISBN0-8160-5451-7.OL3681138M.
Clark, Victor Selden (1900).Studies in the Latin of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Lancaster: New Era.
Deneire, Thomas, ed. (2014).Dynamics of Neo-Latin and the Vernacular: Language and Poetics, Translation and Transfer. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill.ISBN9789004269071.
Diringer, David (1996) [1947].The Alphabet – A Key to the History of Mankind. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.ISBN978-81-215-0748-6.
Holmes, Urban Tigner; Schultz, Alexander Herman (1938).A History of the French Language. New York: Biblo-Moser.ISBN978-0-8196-0191-9.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
Knight, Sarah; Tilg, Stefan, eds. (2015).The Oxford Handbook of Neo-Latin. New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-088699-8.OL28648475M.
Levy, Harry Louis (1973).A Latin reader for colleges. University of Chicago Press.ISBN0-226-47602-2.
Jenks, Paul Rockwell (1911).A Manual of Latin Word Formation for Secondary Schools. New York: D. C. Heath.
Sihler, Andrew L. (2008).New comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. New York: Oxford University Press.
"Latin Dictionary Headword Search".Perseus Hopper. Tufts University. Searches Lewis & Short'sA Latin Dictionary and Lewis'sAn Elementary Latin Dictionary. Online results.
Whittaker, William."Words". Notre Dame Archives. Archived fromthe original on 18 June 2006. Identifies Latin words entered. Translates English words entered.
"Alpheios". Alpheios Project. Combines Whittakers Words, Lewis and Short, Bennett's grammar and inflection tables in a browser addon.
der Millner, Evan (2007)."Latinum".Latin Latin Course on YouTube and audiobooks. Molendinarius. Retrieved2 February 2012.
Byrne, Carol (1999)."Simplicissimus"(PDF). The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 30 April 2011. Retrieved20 April 2011. (a course inecclesiastical Latin).
The latin library, ancient Latin books and writings (without translations) ordered by author
LacusCurtius, a small collection of Greek and Roman authors along with their books and writings (original texts are in Latin and Greek, translations in English and occasionally in a few other languages are available)
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