The termLatin alphabet may refer to either the alphabet used to write Latin (as described in this article) or other alphabets based on theLatin script, which is the basic set of letters common to the various alphabets descended from the classical Latin alphabet, such as theEnglish alphabet. TheseLatin-script alphabets may discard letters, like theRotokas alphabet, or add new letters, like theDanish andNorwegian alphabets.Letter shapes have evolved over the centuries, including the development inMedieval Latin oflower-case, forms which did not exist in the Classical period alphabet.
Although Latin did not use diacritical marks, apart from theapex andsicilicus, signs of truncation of words (often placed above or at the end of the truncated word) were very common. Furthermore, abbreviations or smaller overlapping letters were often used. This meant that if the text was engraved on stone, the number of letters to be engraved was reduced, while if it was written on paper or parchment, it saved precious space. This custom continued in the Middle Ages: hundreds of symbols and abbreviations exist, varying from century to century.[2]
Latin included 21 different characters. The letter⟨C⟩ was the western form of the Greekgamma, but it was used for the sounds/ɡ/ and/k/ alike, possibly under the influence ofEtruscan, which might have lacked any voicedplosives. Later, probably during the 3rd century BC, the letter⟨Z⟩ – not needed to write Latin properly – was replaced with the new letter⟨G⟩, a⟨C⟩ modified with a small vertical stroke, which took its place in the alphabet. From then on,⟨G⟩ represented thevoiced plosive/ɡ/, while⟨C⟩ was generally reserved for the voiceless plosive/k/. The letter⟨K⟩ was used only rarely, in a small number of words such asKalendae, often interchangeably with⟨C⟩.
After theRoman conquest of Greece in the 1st century BC, Latin adopted the Greek letters⟨Y⟩ and⟨Z⟩ (or readopted, in the latter case) to writeGreek loanwords, placing them at the end of the alphabet. An attempt by the emperorClaudius to introduce threeadditional letters⟨Ↄ, Ⅎ, Ⱶ⟩ did not last. Thus, it was during theclassical Latin period that the Latin alphabet contained 21 letters and 2 foreign letters:
Theapices in this first-century inscription are very light. (There is one over theó in the first line.) The vowelI is written taller rather than taking an apex. Theinterpuncts are comma-shaped, an elaboration of a more typical triangular shape. From the shrine of theAugustales atHerculaneum.
The Latin names of some of these letters are disputed; for example,⟨H⟩ may have been called[ˈaha] or[ˈaka].[4] In general the Romans did not use the traditional (Semitic-derived) names as in Greek: the names of theplosives were formed by adding/eː/ to their sound (except for⟨K⟩ and⟨Q⟩, which needed different vowels to be distinguished from⟨C⟩) and the names of thecontinuants consisted as a rule either of the bare sound, or the sound preceded by/e/.
The letter⟨Y⟩ when introduced was probably called "hy"/hyː/ as in Greek, the nameupsilon not being in use yet, but this was changed toi Graeca ("Greek i") as Latin speakers had difficulty distinguishing its foreign sound/y/ from/i/.⟨Z⟩ was given its Greek name,zeta. This scheme has continued to be used by most modern European languages that have adopted the Latin alphabet. For the Latin sounds represented by the various letters seeLatin spelling and pronunciation; for the names of the letters in English seeEnglish alphabet.
Diacritics were not regularly used, but they did occur sometimes, the most common being theapex used to marklong vowels, which had previously sometimes been written doubled. However, in place of taking an apex, the letter i was writtentaller:⟨á é ꟾ ó v́⟩. For example, what is today transcribedLūciī a fīliī was written⟨lv́ciꟾ·a·fꟾliꟾ⟩ in the inscription depicted.Some letters have more than one form inepigraphy.Latinists have treated some of them especially such as⟨Ꟶ⟩, a variant of⟨H⟩ found inRoman Gaul.
Inscription with triangle-shaped interpunct
The primary mark of punctuation was theinterpunct, which was used as aword divider, though it fell out of use after 200 AD.
Old Roman cursive script, also calledmajuscule cursive and capitalis cursive, was the everyday form of handwriting used for writing letters, by merchants writing business accounts, by schoolchildren learning the Latin alphabet, and even emperors issuing commands. A more formal style of writing was based onRoman square capitals, but cursive was used for quicker, informal writing. It was most commonly used from about the 1st century BC to the 3rd century, but it probably existed earlier than that. It led toUncial, amajuscule script commonly used from the3rd to8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes.Tironian notes were ashorthand system consisting of thousands of signs.
New Roman cursive script, also known asminuscule cursive, was in use from the 3rd century to the 7th century, and uses letter forms that are more recognizable to modern eyes;⟨a⟩,⟨b⟩,⟨d⟩, and⟨e⟩ had taken a more familiar shape, and the other letters were proportionate to each other. This script evolved into a variety of regional medieval scripts (for example, theMerovingian,Visigothic andBenevantan scripts), to be later supplanted by theCarolingian minuscule.
It was not until theMiddle Ages that the letter⟨W⟩ (originally aligature of two⟨V⟩s) was added to the Latin alphabet, to represent sounds from theGermanic languages which did not exist in medieval Latin, and only after theRenaissance did the convention of treating⟨I⟩ and⟨U⟩ asvowels, and⟨J⟩ and⟨V⟩ asconsonants, become established. Prior to that, the former had been merelyallographs of the latter.[citation needed]
With the fragmentation of political power, thestyle of writing changed and varied greatly throughout the Middle Ages, even after the invention of theprinting press. Early deviations from the classical forms were theuncial script, a development of theOld Roman cursive, and various so-called minuscule scripts that developed fromNew Roman cursive, of which theinsular script developed by Irishliterati and derivations of this, such asCarolingian minuscule were the most influential, introducing thelower case forms of the letters, as well as other writing conventions that have since become standard.
The languages that use theLatin script generally usecapital letters to begin paragraphs and sentences andproper nouns. The rules forcapitalization have changed over time, and different languages have varied in their rules for capitalization.Old English, for example, was rarely written with even proper nouns capitalized, whereasModern English writers and printers of the 17th and 18th century frequently capitalized most and sometimes all nouns;[5] for example, from the preamble of theUnited States Constitution:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
This is still systematically done in modernGerman.
Jensen, Hans (1970).Sign Symbol and Script. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.ISBN0-04-400021-9. Transl. ofJensen, Hans (1958).Die Schrift in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart.Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften., as revised by the author
Rix, Helmut (1993). "La scrittura e la lingua". InCristofani, Mauro (hrsg.) (ed.).Gli etruschi – Una nuova immagine. Firenze: Giunti. pp. S.199–227.
Sampson, Geoffrey (1985).Writing systems. London (etc.): Hutchinson.
Wachter, Rudolf (1987).Altlateinische Inschriften: sprachliche und epigraphische Untersuchungen zu den Dokumenten bis etwa 150 v.Chr. Bern (etc.).: Peter Lang.
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