Latin
Alphabet
Latin Forum
Latin Alphabet
Latin Dictionary
Latin Texts/English Translation:
Caesar, Gallic Wars, Bk 1
Caesar, Gallic Wars, Bk 6
Horace, Satires, Bk 1
Livy, ab Urbe Condita, Bk 1
Cicero, In Catilinam, 1
Cicero, Pro Cornelio Balbo Oratio, a quote
Latin Forum Posts
|
|
Latin >> Latin Alphabet, Latin Language Alphabet
Latin Language Alphabet
There were twenty three letters in the Latin alphabet:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
X
Y
Z
Each letter in the Latin alphabet above links to a list of Latin phrases starting with the same letter as itself.
In early times, letter 'C' in Latin alphabet represented a sound like hard 'g'. Rare remains of this pronunciation are found in the abbreviations 'C.' for 'Gaius' and 'Cn.' for 'Gnaeus'.
Later, 'C' was used for a 'k' sound: the 'g' sound was then represented by C with an added stroke, i.e., 'G'. K went out of use and was practically non-present in the Latin alphabet, except in a few words (e.g., Kalendae).
The small letters of the Latin alphabet did not come into general use until the Middle Ages. They were originally a cursive or a running-hand variation of the capitals. The small form of Latin 'V' was 'u'.
The letters 'Y' and 'Z' were added to Latin alphabet in Cicero's times. They were used only in words from the Greek, just as French uses 'W' in words taken from English.
|
|
|
