For the Old Latin Bible used before the Vulgate, see Vetus Latina.

The Forum inscription is one of the oldest known Latin inscriptions. It is written boustrophedon (alternating right-to-left and left-to-right), albeit irregularly: reading from top to bottom, lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16 run from right to left; lines 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 15, from left to right; 8, 9, and 16 are upside down. (From a rubbing by Domenico Comparetti.)

Old Latin (also called Early Latin or Archaic Latin) refers to the Latin language in the period before the age of Classical Latin; that is, all Latin before 75 BC. Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus Roman provinces on the eve of the assassination of Julius Caesar, c. ... An extinct language is a language which no longer has any native speakers, in contrast to a dead language, which is is a language which has stopped changing in grammar, vocabulary, and the complete meaning of a sentence. ... Classical Latin is the language used by the principal exponents of that language in what is usually regarded as classical Latin literature. ... Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ... The Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in the Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and Central Asia. ... The Italic subfamily is a member of the Centum branch of the Indo-European language family. ... The Latino-Faliscan languages are a group of languages that belong to the Italic language family of the Indo-European languages. ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. ... ISO 639-3 is an international standard for language codes. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Unicode is an industry standard designed to allow text and symbols from all of the writing systems of the world to be consistently represented and manipulated by computers. ... The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century version in Latin, partly revised and partly translated by Jerome on the orders of Pope Damasus I in 382. ... Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jeromes Vulgate bible became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western Christians. ... Image File history File links This is a turn-of-the-century rubbing of the Forum inscription, which dates to the 5th century BCE and is one of the oldest known Latin inscriptions. ... Boustrophedon is an ancient way of writing manuscripts and other inscriptions in which, rather than going from left to right as in modern English, or right to left as in Arabic, alternate lines must be read in opposite directions. ... Domenico Comparetti (June 27, 1835 - January 20, 1927), Italian scholar, was born at Rome. ... Classical Latin is the language used by the principal exponents of that language in what is usually regarded as classical Latin literature. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC - 70s BC - 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC Years: 80 BC 79 BC 78 BC 77 BC 76 BC - 75 BC - 74 BC 73 BC 72...

Phonological characteristics of older Latin are the case endings -os and -om (later Latin -us and -um), as well as the existence of diphthongs such as oi and ei (later Latin ū or oe, and ī). Also the letter C is used to represent both Classical C and G.^{[citation needed]} In many locations, classical Latin turned intervocalic /s/ into /r/, which is called Rhotacism. This Rhotacism had implications for declension: early classical Latin, honos, honoris; Classical honor, honoris ("honor"). Some Old Latin texts preserve /s/ in this position, such as the Carmen Arvale's lases for lares. In phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds, or with two tones) is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... Rhotacism may refer to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r (whether as an alveolar tap, alveolar trill, or the rarer uvular trill). ... In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns and adjectives to indicate such features as number (typically singular vs. ... The Carmen Arvale is the preserved chant of the Arval priests or Fratres Arvales of ancient Rome. ... Lares (pl. ...

Notable Old Latin fragments:

• The Forum inscription (illustration, right) (circa 550 BC)
• The Duenos inscription (circa 500 BC)
• The Castor-Pollux dedication (circa 500 BC)
• The Garigliano Bowl (circa 500 BC)
• The preserved fragments of the laws of the Twelve Tables (traditionally, 449 BC, attested much later)
• The Tibur pedestal (circa 400 BC)
• The Senatusconsultum de Bacchanalibus (186 BC)
• The Lapis Satricanus
• The Vase Inscription from Ardea
• The Corcolle Altar fragments
• The Carmen Arvale
• The Carmen Saliare
• The Scipionum Elogia

Writers of later, but still early Latin: Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC Events and Trends Carthage conquers Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica 559 BC - King Cambyses I of Anshan dies... The Duenos inscription, as recorded by Heinrich Dressel. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... The Garigliano bowl is a small impasto bowl with bucchero glaze likely to have been produced around 500 B.C., with an early Latin inscript. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law The Law of the Twelve Tables (Lex Duodecim Tabularum, more informally simply Duodecim Tabulae) was the ancient legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC 450s BC - 440s BC - 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 454 BC 453 BC 452 BC 451 BC 450 BC 449 BC 448 BC 447 BC 446... The Celtics claim Vienna, Austria. ... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC - 180s BC - 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC Years: 191 BC 190 BC 189 BC 188 BC 187 BC - 186 BC - 185 BC 184 BC... The Lapis Satricanus, or, stone of Satricum, was a yellow stone found in the ruins of the ancient Satricum, near Borgo Montello, a village of southern Lazio, dated late 6th century to early 5th century BC. It reads: (?)IEI STETERAI POPLIOSIO VALESIOSIO SVODALES MAMARTEI or, The (?) dedicated this, as companions... The Carmen Arvale is the preserved chant of the Arval priests or Fratres Arvales of ancient Rome. ... The Carmen Saliare is a scarcely intelligible fragment of archaic Latin, which played a part in the rituals performed by the Salii or Salian priests, the jumping priests, of ancient Rome. ...

• Plautus (3rd–2nd century BC)
• Cato the Elder (234–149 BC)

Titus Macchius Plautus, generally referred to simply as Plautus, was a playwright of Ancient Rome. ... The 3rd century BC started the first day of 300 BC and ended the last day of 201 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. ... (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium) The 2nd century BC started on January 1, 200 BC and ended on December 31, 101 BC. // Coin of Antiochus IV. Reverse shows Apollo seated on an omphalos. ... Marcus Porcius Cato (Latin: M·PORCIVS·M·F·CATO[1]) (234 BC, Tusculum–149 BC) was a Roman statesman, surnamed the Censor (Censorius), Sapiens, Priscus, or the Elder (Major), to distinguish him from Cato the Younger (his great-grandson). ... Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 280s BC 270s BC 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC - 230s BC - 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC Years: 239 BC 238 BC 237 BC 236 BC 235 BC - 234 BC - 233 BC 232 BC... Centuries: 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC Decades: 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC - 140s BC - 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC Years: 154 BC 153 BC 152 BC 151 BC 150 BC - 149 BC - 148 BC 147 BC...

Grammar and Morphology (Differences from Classical Latin)

Nouns

First declension (a)

The 'A-Stem Declension'. Nouns of this declension usually end in –a and are typically feminine.

In linguistics, grammatical number is a morphological category characterized by the expression of quantity through inflection or agreement. ... The nominative case is a grammatical case for a noun. ... The vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed, found in Latin among other languages. ... The term accusative may be used in the following contexts: A form of morphosyntactic alignment, as found in nominative-accusative languages. ... The genitive case is a grammatical case that indicates a relationship, primarily one of possession, between the noun in the genitive case and another noun. ... Dative has several meanings. ... In linguistics, the ablative case is a noun case found in several languages, including Latin, Sanskrit and in the Finno_Ugric languages. ... Locative is a case which indicates a location. ...

Second declension (b)

The 'O-Stem Declension'. Nouns of this declension are either masculine or neuter.

Note the genitive plural ending has two endings: the earlier -ōm, almost exactly like the Ancient Greek -ōn, and the later Archaic Latin form -ōsom. Due to the fact that in Archaic Latin /r/'s and /s/'s were often interchangeable, a phenomenon known as Rhotacism, the later -ōsom evolved into the Classical Latin -ōrum. Rhotacism may refer to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r (whether as an alveolar tap, alveolar trill, or the rarer uvular trill). ...

Third declension (c)

The 'E-Stem ' and 'I-Stem ' Declension. This declension contains nouns that are masculine, feminine, and neuter.

The nominative as regs instead of rex shows a common feature in Old Latin; the letter x was seldom used alone to designate the /ks/ or /gs/ sound, but instead, written as either 'ks', 'cs', or even 'xs'. Look up rex in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Personal Prounouns

Personal pronouns are among the most common thing found in Old Latin inscriptions. Note how in all three persons, the ablative singular ending is identical to the accusative singular.

The Relative Prounoun

In Old Latin, the relative pronoun is also another common concept, especially in inscriptions. Unfortunately, the forms are quite inconsistent and leave much to be reconstructed by scholars.

Verbs

Old Present and Perfects

There is not much actual proof of the morphology of Old Latin verb forms, and even these scant carvings hold many inconsistencies between forms. Therefore, the forms below are ones that are both proven by scholars through Old Latin carvings, and recreated by scholars based on other early Indo-European languages such as Greek, Oscan, Umbrian, and other Italic dialects. Denarius of Marsican Confederation with Oscan legend. ... Languages in Iron Age Italy, 6th century BC Umbrian, an Italic language, is a dead language formerly spoken in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. ...

Interestingly, many Old Latin forms bear a closer resemblance to those of Modern Spanish than the Classical Latin forms do, however, it is just an independent phonetical coincidence that historically has nothing to do with the Old Latin forms: e.g. Spanish somos is from Classical Latin sumus, as it is a fact that Latin short u evolutioned to o in Modern Spanish, just like Latin short i converted to e, as in Spanish fue from Classical Latin fuit.

See also

• Saturnian (verse form)

The tomb of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, erected around 150 BC, contains an Old Latin inscription in Saturnian metre. ... In literature, meter or metre (sometimes known as prosody) is a term used in the scansion (analysis into metrical patterns) of poetry, usually indicated by the kind of feet and the number of them. ...

External links

• Old Latin Inscriptions