16. In Cicero’s time, the sounds of the Latin language were denoted by
twenty-one letters (_DN._ 2, 93).
Character Name pronounced
#A# a _ah_
#B# be _bay_
#C# ce _kay_
#D# de _day_
#E# e _eh_
#F# ef _ef_
#G# ge _gay_
#H# ha _hah_
#I# i _ee_
#K# ka _kah_
#L# el _el_
#M# em _em_
#N# en _en_
#O# o _o_
#P# pe _pay_
#Q# qu _koo_
#R# er _air_
#S# es _ess_
#T# te _tay_
#V# u _oo_
#X# ix _eex_
The names given above are those employed by Roman grammarians. The sound
indicated by _-ay_ is only approximate; the true sound is that of the
French _ê_ in _fête_; see 39. The names of the letters are indeclinable;
for their gender, see 412.
17. Two other letters were also in use to represent Greek sounds in
Greek words; these were always called by their Greek names, and were
placed at the end of the alphabet; they are #Y#, named _ü_ (42), and
#Z#, named #zēta# (71).
18. ORIGIN OF THE ALPHABET. The Latin alphabet, which originally
consisted of capitals only, was adapted from the alphabet of Chalcidian
colonies in Italy.
19. SPELLING. The signs for the Greek sounds denoted by φ and χ, and
perhaps also that for θ, these three sounds being unknown in Latin, were
used as numerals (2407). In words borrowed from the Greek the Romans at
first represented θ by #t#, φ by #p#, and χ by #c#: as, #tūs#,
_incense_, for θύος; #Poenī#, _Punians_, for Φοίνικες; #calx#, _chalk_,
for χάλιξ. Occasionally also the Latin mute was doubled: as, #struppus#,
_strap_, for στρόφος. Later, about the middle of the second century
B.C., #th#, #ph#, and #ch# begin to be used: as, #cothurnus#, _boot_,
for κόθορνος; #amphora#, _jar_, for ἀμφόρα; #Achaea# for Ἀχαιά. In some
instances these aspirates were next introduced even into words purely
Latin: as, #chommodus#, _affable_, for #commodus#, an affectation
ridiculed by Catullus (Cat. 84) and disapproved by Quintilian
(1, 5, 20). But #pulcher#, _pretty_, is the usual spelling for #pulcer#
(formed by the suffix #-cro-# from the stem of the verb #poliō#, _I
polish_). Even Cicero (_O._ 160) aspirated the #c# in this word as a
concession to popular usage, as he did the #t# in #Cethēgus#,
#Karthāgō#, and the #p# in #triumphus#, while he retained the
unaspirated explosive in the proper names #Orcīvius#, _name of a
‘gens,’_ #Matō#, #Otō#, #Caepiō#, and in #sepulcrum#, _tomb_; #corōna#,
_crown_; and #lacrima#, _tear_. In a similar manner Greek ρ was at first
transcribed by #r#: as, #rumpia#, _a kind of weapon_, for ῥομφαία; but
later by #rh#: as, #rhētor#, _rhetorician_, for ῥητωρ.
20. The letters #C# (first written #<#) and #K# were at an early period
used promiscuously, and #C# stood for both unvoiced #k# and voiced #g#:
as, VIRCO, #virgō#, _virgin_. Afterwards #K# dropped out of general use
except in the abbreviations #K.# or #Kal.# for #kalendae#, _first of the
month_, and #K.# for the proper name #Kaesō# (Quint. 1, 7, 10). About
300 B.C. the sign #<# or #C# was used for the unvoiced _k_ alone, while
a separate sign, which became #G#, was set apart for the voiced _g_. But
#C# continued to be used for _g_ in the abbreviations #C# for #Gāius#,
#Ↄ# for #Gāia#, and #Cn.# for #Gnaeus#. Occasionally #q# is written for
#c#, almost always before the vowels #o# and #u#: as, #qum# for #cum#,
_with_; #qolunt# for #colunt#, _they cultivate_; #peqūnia#, _money_. But
ordinarily #q# is found before unsyllabic (consonantal) #u# (#v#) only
(22).
21. Before the introduction of #Y# and #Z# (17), #u# was used for the
Greek υ: as, #Burrus#, later #Pyrrhus# (Cic. _O._ 160); and #s#, or, as
a medial, #ss#, for ζ: as, #sōna#, _belt_, later #zōna#; #massa#,
_lump_, for μᾶζα; #malacissō#, _I soften_, for μαλακίζω. By a blunder,
#y# was occasionally introduced in words of Latin origin: as, #lacryma#,
_tear_, for #lacrima#, which was wrongly supposed to be derived from
Greek δάκρυ.
22. The characters #I# and #V# represent not only the two vowels #i# and
#u#, but also their cognate semivowels (52) #i̭# and #ṷ# (83), called
commonly _consonant_ #i# and #u#, but with less ambiguity _unsyllabic_
#i# and #u# (82; 83). They are equivalent to the English _y_ and _w_
respectively.
23. In words like #maior#, simple #i# was commonly written for the sound
of #i̭i̭# (153, 2; 82; 83). But Cicero in such cases wrote #ii#: as,
#aiiō#, _I say_, #Maiia#, #Troiia# (Quint. 1, 4, 11). In the same way
Lucretius spelled #Graiiugenārum#, _of Greek-born men_, and EIIVS, _of
him_, CVIIVS, _whose_, occur in inscriptions. Sometimes the same sound
is represented by a taller letter, ‘_i longa_,’ especially in the
imperial age: as, MAIOR, _greater_. There are also cases in which the
two designations were confounded, a double #i# being written, and one or
the other letter made taller: as, EIIVS or EIIVS, _of him_.
24. The tall #i#, #I longa#, was used not only to represent unsyllabic
#i# (22), but, beginning with Sulla’s time, also for long vowel #i#
(29, 2, _b_): as, SIGNA, _signs_; QVINQVE, _five_. It also represents
sometimes double #i#: as, VIS for VIĪS, _in the roads_. At the beginning
of words it occurs without reference to quantity for both short and long
#i#, and, by mistake, #I# is elsewhere found for short #i#.
25. The emperor Claudius (A.D. 41-54) introduced a separate sign for
unsyllabic #u# (22), restricting the sign #v# to the vowel #u# (Quint.
1, 7, 26; Ta. 11, 14); but it did not become current.
26. In schoolbooks and most texts of the authors, the vowel #u# is
printed #U#, #u#, and the consonant #V#, #v#. A character, #J#, #j#, was
introduced in the 17th century, to indicate the consonant #i#. But this
character is no longer usual in editions of the authors or in
schoolbooks.
27. The distinction between #u# and #v# is not always made very
consistently: #q# has regularly, and #g# and #s# have sometimes, an
aftersound of _w_, best represented by #v#; but the usual practice is to
write #u#, as in the following disyllables: #quōrum#, _of whom_;
#anguis#, _snake_; #suāvis#, _sweet_. #qu# is always counted as a single
sound (177). See also 2504.
28. For the intermediate sound (103) between #i# and #u#, as in the
first syllable of #lubet#, #libet#, _it pleases_, and in the second
syllable of #optimus#, #optumus#, _best_ (Quint. 1, 4, 8; 7, 21), the
emperor Claudius invented a separate character. It failed of acceptance,
as did also the sign which he attempted to introduce for #ps#.
29. The same characters were ordinarily used to denote both long and
short vowels. But at different periods long vowels were sometimes
indicated in inscriptions thus:
(1.) Long #a#, #e#, or #u# was sometimes doubled: as, AARA, _altar_;
PAASTORES, _shepherds_; LEEGE, _by law_; IVVS, _right_. This doubling,
which was never frequent, seems to have been introduced into Latin from
the Oscan by the poet Accius. It occurs most frequently in inscriptions
about the year 150 B.C., but sporadically much later: as, CONVENTVVS,
_of the assembly_; ARBITRATVV, _by the decree_; and in other stems in
#-u-# (593).
(2.) Long #i# was often denoted (_a._) By the spelling #ei# (after the
pronunciation of this diphthong had been changed to #ī#, 98): as, DAREI,
_be given_; REDIEIT, _hath come back_; INTERIEISTI, _hast died_. Some
Roman grammarians prescribed this spelling for every long #i#; others
tried to regulate the use of #ei# for #ī# by special rules. At the end
of the republic, the spelling EI had given way to uniform I. (_b._)
Since the time of Sulla, by a taller letter (‘_i longa_’): as, FIXA,
_fastened_ (23, 24).
(3.) A mark called an _apex_ ([illustration]) was often put over a long
vowel: as, FE͆CIT, _made_; HORTE͆NSIVS; DVV͆MVIRATVS, _duumvirate_. The
apex was written ´ in the imperial age; the form -, which occurs in an
inscription, was adopted by the grammarians, and is still in use to mark
the long vowels. It may be mentioned that inscriptions which employ the
apex are by no means consistent in its use, and that late inscriptions
have it over short and long vowels, apparently for decorative purposes.
Quintilian 1, 7, 2 prescribes it only for cases which otherwise might be
ambiguous: as, MÁLVS (#mālus#), _mast_, to distinguish it from MALVS
(#malus#), _bad_.
30. In schoolbooks, a long vowel is indicated by a horizontal line over
it: as, #āra#, _altar_; #mēnsis#, _month_; #ōrdō#, _series_. A short
vowel is sometimes indicated by a curved mark: as, #pĕr#, _through_;
#dŭx#, _leader_; but this mark is unnecessary if long vowels are
systematically marked. Usually the quantity of the vowels in each word
is definitely fixed; but in a few cases the same vowel may be now short,
now long, as in English the _ee_ of _been_ is pronounced long by some
(_bean_), short by others (_bin_). Thus (2446) #mihi#, #ibi# were
sometimes pyrrhics (⏑, 2522), sometimes iambi (⏑ -, 2521). See for other
cases 134, 2443, 2452, 2453. Such vowels of variable quantity are termed
_common_ and marked ⏓ or ⏒: as #mihī̆#, _to me_ (2514).