Latin alphabet

Latin
Latin;
Script type	Alphabet
Time period	c. 700 BC–present
Official script	Roman RepublicandRoman Empire(withGreek alphabetused in the east)
Languages	Latin
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic alphabet Phoenician alphabet Greek alphabet Old Italic script Latin; ; ; ; ;
Child systems	NumerousLatin alphabets;also more divergent derivations such asOsage
Sister systems	Cyrillic; Coptic; Armenian; Georgian; Runic (Futhark);
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Latn(215),Latin
Unicode
Unicode alias	Latin
Unicode range	SeeLatin characters in Unicode
	This article containsphonetic transcriptionsin theInternational Phonetic Alphabet(IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA.For the distinction between[ ],/ /and ⟨⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

TheLatin alphabet,also known as theRoman alphabet,is the collection of letters originally used by theancient Romansto write theLatin language.Largely unaltered with the exception of a couple splits (of the letters⟨I⟩from⟨J⟩,and⟨U⟩from⟨V⟩), additions (such as⟨W⟩), and extensions (such as letters withdiacritics), it forms theLatin scriptthat is used to write most languages of modernEurope,Africa,AmericaandOceania.Its basic modernrepertoireis standardised as theISO basic Latin alphabet.

This article containsspecial characters.Without properrendering support,you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols.

Etymology

The termLatin alphabetmay 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 alphabetsmay discard letters, like theRotokas alphabet,or add new letters, like theDanishandNorwegianalphabets.Lettershapes have evolved over the centuries, including the development inMedieval Latinoflower-case,forms which did not exist in the Classical period alphabet.

Evolution

The Latin alphabet evolved from the visually similarEtruscan alphabet,which evolved from theCumaean Greek versionof theGreek alphabet,which was itself descended from thePhoenician alphabet,which in turn derived fromEgyptian hieroglyphs.^[1]TheEtruscans ruled early Rome;their alphabet evolved in Rome over successive centuries to produce the Latin alphabet. During theMiddle Ages,the Latin alphabet was used (sometimes with modifications) for writingRomance languages,which are direct descendants ofLatin,as well asCeltic,Germanic,Balticand someSlavic languages.With theage of colonialismandChristian evangelism,theLatin scriptspread beyondEurope,coming into use for writing indigenousAmerican,Australian,Austronesian,AustroasiaticandAfrican languages.More recently,linguistshave also tended to prefer the Latin script or theInternational Phonetic Alphabet(itself largely based on the Latin script) when transcribing or creating written standards for non-European languages, such as theAfrican reference alphabet.

Signs and abbreviations

Although Latin did not use diacritical marks, 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 was due to the fact that if the text was engraved on stone, the number of letters to be written was reduced, while if it was written on paper or parchment, it saved precious space. This habit continued even in the Middle Ages. Hundreds of symbols and abbreviations exist, varying from century to century.^[2]

History

Origins

It is generally believed that the Latin alphabet used by theRomanswas derived from theOld Italic alphabetused by theEtruscans.^[3] That alphabet was derived from theEuboean alphabetused by theCumae,which in turn was derived from thePhoenician alphabet.^{[citation needed]}

Old Italic alphabet

TheDuenos inscription,dated to the 6th century BC, shows the earliest known form of theOld Latinalphabet.

Old Italic alphabet
Letters	𐌀	𐌁	𐌂	𐌃	𐌄	𐌅	𐌆	𐌇	𐌈	𐌉	𐌊	𐌋	𐌌	𐌍	𐌎	𐌏	𐌐	𐌑	𐌒	𐌓	𐌔	𐌕	𐌖	𐌗	𐌘	𐌙	𐌚
Transliteration	A	B	C	D	E	V	Z	H	Θ	I	K	L	M	N	Ξ	O	P	Ś	Q	R	S	T	Y	X	Φ	Ψ	F

Archaic Latin alphabet

Archaic Latin alphabet
As Old Italic	𐌀	𐌁	𐌂	𐌃	𐌄	𐌅	𐌆	𐌇	𐌉	𐌊	𐌋	𐌌	𐌍	𐌏	𐌐	𐌒	𐌓	𐌔	𐌕	𐌖	𐌗
As Latin	A	B	C	D	E	F	Z	H	I	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	V	X

Old Latin alphabet

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 thevoicedplosive/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⟩.

Old Latin alphabet
Letter	A	B	C	D	E	F	Z	G	H	I	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	V	X

Classical Latin alphabet

After theRoman conquest of Greecein the 1st century BC, Latin adopted the Greek letters⟨Y⟩and⟨Z⟩(or readopted, in the latter case) to writeGreekloanwords, placing them at the end of the alphabet. An attempt by the emperorClaudiusto introduce threeadditional lettersdid not last. Thus it was during theclassical Latinperiod that the Latin alphabet contained 21 letters and 2 foreign letters:

Classical Latin alphabet
Letter	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	T	V	X	Y	Z
Latin name (majus)	á	bé	cé	dé	é	ef	gé	há	ꟾ	ká	el	em	en	ó	pé	qv́	er	es	té	v́	ix	ꟾ graeca	zéta
Transliteration	ā	bē	cē	dē	ē	ef	gē	hā	ī	kā	el	em	en	ō	pē	qū	er	es	tē	ū	ix	ī Graeca	zēta
Latin pronunciation (IPA)	aː	beː	keː	deː	eː	ɛf	ɡeː	haː	iː	kaː	ɛl	ɛm	ɛn	oː	peː	kuː	ɛr	ɛs	teː	uː	iks	iː ˈɡraɪka	ˈdzeːta

Theapicesin this first-century inscription are very light. (There is one over theóin the first line.) The vowelIis written taller rather than taking an apex. Theinterpunctsare comma-shaped, an elaboration of a more typical triangular shape. From the shrine of theAugustalesatHerculaneum.

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 theplosiveswere 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 thecontinuantsconsisted 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 nameupsilonnot 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.

Diacriticswere not regularly used, but they did occur sometimes, the most common being theapexused 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 fīliīwas 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.

The primary mark of punctuation was theinterpunct,which was used as aword divider,though it fell out of use after 200 AD.

Old Roman cursivescript, also calledmajusculecursive 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,amajusculescript commonly used from the3rdto8thcenturies AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Tironian noteswere ashorthandsystem consisting of thousands of signs.

New Roman cursivescript, also known asminusculecursive, 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,VisigothicandBenevantanscripts), to be later supplanted by theCarolingian minuscule.

Medieval and later developments

De chalcographiae inventione(1541,Mainz) with the 23 letters.J,UandWare missing.

JetonfromNuremberg,c. 1553

It was not until theMiddle Agesthat the letter⟨W⟩(originally aligatureof two⟨V⟩s) was added to the Latin alphabet, to represent sounds from theGermanic languageswhich did not exist in medieval Latin, and only after theRenaissancedid the convention of treating⟨I⟩and⟨U⟩asvowels,and⟨J⟩and⟨V⟩asconsonants,become established. Prior to that, the former had been merelyallographsof the latter.^{[citation needed]}

With the fragmentation of political power, thestyle of writingchanged 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 scriptdeveloped by Irishliteratiand derivations of this, such asCarolingian minusculewere the most influential, introducing thelower caseforms of the letters, as well as other writing conventions that have since become standard.

The languages that use theLatin scriptgenerally usecapital lettersto begin paragraphs and sentences andproper nouns.The rules forcapitalizationhave 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 Englishwriters and printers of the 17th and 18th century frequently capitalized most and sometimes all nouns,^[5]e.g. in the preamble and all 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.

References

^Michael C. Howard (2012),Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies. p. 23.
^Cappelli, Adriano (1990).Dizionario di Abbreviature Latine ed Italiane.Milano: Editore Ulrico Hoepli.ISBN 88-203-1100-3.
^"Etruscan alphabet | Etruscan Writing, Ancient Scripts & Language".Britannica.Retrieved17 October2023.
^Liberman, Anatoly (7 August 2013)."Alphabet soup, part 2: H and Y".Oxford Etymologist.Oxford University Press.Retrieved3 October2013.
^Crystal, David (4 August 2003).The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 9780521530330– via Google Books.

External links

Library resourcesabout
Latin alphabet

[1] Michael C. Howard (2012),Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies. p. 23.

[2] Cappelli, Adriano (1990).Dizionario di Abbreviature Latine ed Italiane.Milano: Editore Ulrico Hoepli.ISBN 88-203-1100-3.

[3] "Etruscan alphabet | Etruscan Writing, Ancient Scripts & Language".Britannica.Retrieved17 October2023.

[4] Liberman, Anatoly (7 August 2013)."Alphabet soup, part 2: H and Y".Oxford Etymologist.Oxford University Press.Retrieved3 October2013.

[5] Crystal, David (4 August 2003).The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 9780521530330– via Google Books.

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