39. Passing now to a survey of the condition of the language at various
epochs and in the different authors, we find the earliest monument of it
yet discovered in a donative inscription on a fibula or brooch found in
a tomb of the 7th century B.C. at Praeneste. It runs "Manios med
fhefhaked Numasioi," i.e. "Manios made me for Numasios." The use of _f_
(_fh_) to denote the sound of Latin _f_ supplied the explanation of the
change of the symbol _f_ from its Greek value (= Eng. _w_) to its Latin
value _f_, and shows the Chalcidian Greek alphabet in process of
adaptation to the needs of Latin (see WRITING). The reduplicated
perfect, its 3rd sing. ending -_ed_, the dative masculine in -_oi_ (this
is one of the only two recorded examples in Latin), the -_s_- between
vowels (§ 25, 1), and the -_a_- in what was then (see §§ 9, 10)
certainly an unaccented syllable and the accusative _med_, are all
interesting marks of antiquity.[2]
40. The next oldest fragment of continuous Latin is furnished by a
vessel dug up in the valley between the Quirinal and the Viminal early
in 1880. The vessel is of a dark brown clay, and consists of three small
round pots, the sides of which are connected together. All round this
vessel runs an inscription, in three clauses, two nearly continuous, the
third written below; the writing is from right to left, and is still
clearly legible; the characters include one sign not belonging to the
later Latin alphabet, namely [symbol] for R, while the M has five
strokes and the Q has the form of a Koppa.