Latin spelling varied somewhat with the changes in the language and was never absolutely settled in all details.
Thus, we find
lubet
,
vortō
, as earlier, and
libet
,
vertō
, as later forms. Other variations are
optumus
and
optimus
,
gerundus
and
gerendus
.
The spelling of the first century of our era, known chiefly from inscriptions, is tolerably uniform, and is commonly used in modern editions of the classics.
After
v
(consonant
u
),
o
was anciently used instead of
u
(
voltus
,
servos
), and this spelling was not entirely given up until the middle of the first century of our era.
The older
quo
became
cu
in the Augustan period; in the second century of our era the spelling
quu
established itself in some words:—
-
cum
, older
quom
;
The spelling
quum
is very late and without authority.
equos
,
ecus
, later
equus
;
sequontur
,
secuntur
, later
sequuntur
;
similarly
exstinguont
,
exstingunt
, later
exstinguunt
.
In most modern editions the spelling
quu
is adopted, except in
cum
.
Between consonant
i
and a preceding
a
,
e
,
o
, or
u
, an
i
was developed as a transient sound, thus producing a diphthong
ai
,
ei
, etc., before the consonant
i
. In such cases but one
i
was written: as,
âiō
(for †
ai-iō
),
mâius
(for †
mai-ius
),
pêius
(for †
pei-ius
).
Similarly in compounds of
iaciō
but one
i
was written (as,
con-iciō
, not
con-iiciō
); but the usual pronunciation probably showed consonant
i
followed by vowel
i
(see §
11
.
e
).
Some variations are due to later changes in Latin itself, and these are not now recognized in classical texts.
-
Unaccented
ti
and
ci
, when followed by a vowel, came to be pronounced alike; hence
nūntiō
was later spelled with a c and
diciō
with a t.
-
The sound of
h
was after
a
time lost and hence this letter was often omitted (as,
arēna
for
harēna
) or mistakenly written (as,
hūmor
for
ūmor
).
-
The diphthong
ae
early in the time of the Empire acquired the value of long open e (about like English
e
in
there
), and similarly
oe
after a time became a long close
e
(about like the English
ey
in
they
); and so both were often confused in spelling with e: as,
coena
or
caena
for the correct form
cēna
.
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