Latin - Wikipedia





	
	

	
	

	Latin

	
		From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

		

		

		
		

		Jump to navigation
		Jump to search
		Indo-European language of the Italic family

For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation).




	Latin
	lingua latīna
	Latin inscription, in the Colosseum of Rome, Italy

	Pronunciation	[laˈtiːna]
	Native to		Latium
	Roman Kingdom / Republic / Empire



	Ethnicity	Latins
	Era	Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, 6th to 9th centuries; the formal language continued as the scholarly lingua franca of medieval Europe and Cilicia, as well as the liturgical language of the Catholic Church.
	Language family
	Indo-European
	
Italic	Latino-Faliscan	Latin







	Writing system
	Latin alphabet 
	Official status
	Regulated by		Antiquity: Roman schools of grammar/rhetoric[1]
	Today: Pontifical Academy for Latin



	Language codes
	ISO 639-1	la
	ISO 639-2	lat
	ISO 639-3	lat
	Glottolog	impe1234
lati1261
	Linguasphere	51-AAB-aa to 51-AAB-ac
	Map indicating the greatest extent of the Roman Empire under Emperor Trajan (c. 117 AD) and the area governed by Latin speakers (dark red). Many languages other than Latin were spoken within the empire.

	Range of the Romance languages, the modern descendants of Latin, in Europe.

	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.


Latin (latīnum, [laˈtiːnʊ̃] or lingua latīna, [ˈlɪŋɡʷa laˈtiːna]) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken in the area around Rome, known as Latium.[2] Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language in Italy, and subsequently throughout the western Roman Empire. Latin has contributed many words to the English language. In particular, Latin (and Ancient Greek) roots are used in English descriptions of theology, the sciences, medicine, and law. 

By the late Roman Republic (75 BC), Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin. Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence[3] and author Petronius. Late Latin is the written language from the 3rd century; its colloquial form Vulgar Latin developed in the 6th to 9th centuries into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Sardinian, Venetian, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Piedmontese, Lombard, French, Franco-Provençal, Occitan, Corsican, Ladin, Friulan, Romansh, Catalan/Valencian, Aragonese, Spanish, Asturian, Galician, and Portuguese. Medieval Latin was used as a literary language from the 9th century to the Renaissance which used Renaissance Latin. Later, Early Modern Latin and New Latin evolved. Latin was the language of international communication, scholarship and science until well into the 18th century, when vernaculars (including the Romance languages) supplanted it. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the official language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.

Latin is a highly inflected language, with three distinct genders, six or seven noun cases, five declensions, four verb conjugations, six tenses, three persons, three moods, two voices, two or three aspects, and two numbers. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets and ultimately from the Phoenician alphabet.


Contents


	1 History
	1.1 Old Latin
	1.2 Classical Latin
	1.3 Vulgar Latin
	1.4 Medieval Latin
	1.5 Renaissance Latin
	1.6 New Latin
	1.7 Contemporary Latin
	1.7.1 Religious use
	1.7.2 Use of Latin for mottos
	1.7.3 Other modern uses






	2 Legacy
	2.1 Inscriptions
	2.2 Literature
	2.3 Influence on present-day languages
	2.4 Education
	2.5 Official status



	3 Phonology
	3.1 Consonants
	3.2 Vowels
	3.2.1 Simple vowels
	3.2.2 Diphthongs



	3.3 Syllables
	3.3.1 Length
	3.3.2 Stress






	4 Orthography
	4.1 Alternative scripts



	5 Grammar
	5.1 Nouns
	5.2 Adjectives
	5.2.1 First and second-declension adjectives
	5.2.2 Third declension adjectives
	5.2.3 Participles



	5.3 Prepositions
	5.4 Verbs
	5.4.1 Deponent verbs






	6 Vocabulary
	7 Phrases (Neo-Latin)
	8 Numbers
	9 Example text
	10 See also
	11 References
	12 Bibliography
	13 External links
	13.1 Language tools
	13.2 Courses
	13.3 Grammar and study
	13.4 Phonetics
	13.5 Latin language news and audio
	13.6 Latin language online communities









History[edit]

Main article: History of Latin

  
The linguistic landscape of Central Italy at the beginning of Roman expansion



A number of historical phases of the language have been recognized, each distinguished by subtle differences in vocabulary, usage, spelling, morphology, and syntax. There are no hard and fast rules of classification; different scholars emphasize different features. As a result, the list has variants, as well as alternative names.

In addition to the historical phases, Ecclesiastical Latin refers to the styles used by the writers of the Roman Catholic Church from Late Antiquity onward, as well as by Protestant scholars.

After the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 and Germanic kingdoms took its place, the Germanic people adopted Latin as a language more suitable for legal and other, more formal uses.[citation needed]




Old Latin[edit]

Main article: Old Latin

  
The Lapis Niger, probably the oldest extant Latin inscription, from Rome, c. 600 BC during the semi-legendary Roman Kingdom



The earliest known form of Latin is Old Latin, which was spoken from the Roman Kingdom to the later part of the Roman Republic period. It is attested both in inscriptions and in some of the earliest extant Latin literary works, such as the comedies of Plautus and Terence. The Latin alphabet was devised from the Etruscan alphabet. The writing later changed from what was initially either a right-to-left or a boustrophedon[4][5] script to what ultimately became a strictly left-to-right script.[6]


Classical Latin[edit]

Main article: Classical Latin

During the late republic and into the first years of the empire, a new Classical Latin arose, a conscious creation of the orators, poets, historians and other literate men, who wrote the great works of classical literature, which were taught in grammar and rhetoric schools. Today's instructional grammars trace their roots to such schools, which served as a sort of informal language academy dedicated to maintaining and perpetuating educated speech.[7][8]


Vulgar Latin[edit]

Main articles: Vulgar Latin, Late Latin, and Romance languages

Philological analysis of Archaic Latin works, such as those of Plautus, which contain snippets of everyday speech, indicates that a spoken language, Vulgar Latin (termed sermo vulgi, "the speech of the masses", by Cicero), existed concurrently with literate Classical Latin. The informal language was rarely written, so philologists have been left with only individual words and phrases cited by classical authors and those found as graffiti.[9]
As it was free to develop on its own, there is no reason to suppose that the speech was uniform either diachronically or geographically. On the contrary, romanised European populations developed their own dialects of the language, which eventually led to the differentiation of Romance languages.[10] The decline of the Roman Empire meant a deterioration in educational standards that brought about Late Latin, a postclassical stage of the language seen in Christian writings of the time. It was more in line with everyday speech, not only because of a decline in education but also because of a desire to spread the word to the masses.[citation needed]

Despite dialectal variation, which is found in any widespread language, the languages of Spain, France, Portugal, and Italy retained a remarkable unity in phonological forms and developments, bolstered by the stabilising influence of their common Christian (Roman Catholic) culture. It was not until the Moorish conquest of Spain in 711, cutting off communications between the major Romance regions, that the languages began to diverge seriously.[11] The Vulgar Latin dialect that would later become Romanian diverged somewhat more from the other varieties, as it was largely separated from the unifying influences in the western part of the Empire.

One key marker of whether a given Romance feature was found in Vulgar Latin is to compare it with its parallel in Classical Latin. If it was not preferred in Classical Latin, then it most likely came from the undocumented contemporaneous Vulgar Latin. For example, the Romance for "horse" (Italian cavallo, French cheval, Spanish caballo, Portuguese cavalo and Romanian cal) came from Latin caballus. However, Classical Latin used equus. Therefore, caballus was most likely the spoken form.[12]

Vulgar Latin began to diverge into distinct languages by the 9th century at the latest, when the earliest extant Romance writings begin to appear. They were, throughout the period, confined to everyday speech, as Medieval Latin was used for writing.[13][14]


Medieval Latin[edit]

Main article: Medieval Latin

  
The Latin Malmesbury Bible from 1407.



Medieval Latin is the written Latin in use during that portion of the postclassical period when no corresponding Latin vernacular existed. The spoken language had developed into the various incipient Romance languages; however, in the educated and official world, Latin continued without its natural spoken base. Moreover, this Latin spread into lands that had never spoken Latin, such as the Germanic and Slavic nations. It became useful for international communication between the member states of the Holy Roman Empire and its allies.

Without the institutions of the Roman empire that had supported its uniformity, medieval Latin lost its linguistic cohesion: for example, in classical Latin sum and eram are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect and pluperfect passive, which are compound tenses. Medieval Latin might use fui and fueram instead.[15] Furthermore, the meanings of many words have been changed and new vocabularies have been introduced from the vernacular. Identifiable individual styles of classically incorrect Latin prevail.[15]


Renaissance Latin[edit]

Main article: Renaissance Latin

  
Most 15th-century printed books (incunabula) were in Latin, with the vernacular languages playing only a secondary role.[16]



The Renaissance briefly reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken language by its adoption by the Renaissance Humanists. Often led by members of the clergy, they were shocked by the accelerated dismantling of the vestiges of the classical world and the rapid loss of its literature. They strove to preserve what they could and restore Latin to what it had been and introduced the practice of producing revised editions of the literary works that remained by comparing surviving manuscripts. By no later than the 15th century they had replaced Medieval Latin with versions supported by the scholars of the rising universities, who attempted, by scholarship, to discover what the classical language had been.[17][13]


New Latin[edit]

Main article: New Latin

During the Early Modern Age, Latin still was the most important language of culture in Europe. Therefore, until the end of the 17th century the majority of books and almost all diplomatic documents were written in Latin. Afterwards, most diplomatic documents were written in French (a Romance language) and later native or other languages.


Contemporary Latin[edit]

Main articles: Contemporary Latin and Ecclesiastical Latin

Despite having no native speakers, Latin is still used for a variety of purposes in the contemporary world.


Religious use[edit]

  
The signs at Wallsend Metro station are in English and Latin as a tribute to Wallsend's role as one of the outposts of the Roman Empire.



The largest organisation that retains Latin in official and quasi-official contexts is the Catholic Church. Latin remains the language of the Roman Rite; the Tridentine Mass is celebrated in Latin. Although the Mass of Paul VI is usually celebrated in the local vernacular language, it can be and often is said in Latin, in part or in whole, especially at multilingual gatherings. It is the official language of the Holy See, the primary language of its public journal, the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, and the working language of the Roman Rota. Vatican City is also home to the world's only automatic teller machine that gives instructions in Latin.[18] In the pontifical universities postgraduate courses of Canon law are taught in Latin, and papers are written in the same language.

In the Anglican Church, after the publication of the Book of Common Prayer of 1559, a Latin edition was published in 1560 for use in universities such as Oxford and the leading "public schools" (English private academies), where the liturgy was still permitted to be conducted in Latin.[19] There have been several Latin translations since, including a Latin edition of the 1979 USA Anglican Book of Common Prayer.[20]


  
The polyglot European Union has adopted Latin names in the logos of some of its institutions for the sake of linguistic compromise, an "ecumenical nationalism" common to most of the continent and as a sign of the continent's heritage (such as the EU Council: Consilium)



Use of Latin for mottos[edit]

In the Western world, many organizations, governments and schools use Latin for their mottos due to its association with formality, tradition, and the roots of Western culture.[citation needed]

Canada's motto A mari usque ad mare ("from sea to sea") and most provincial mottos are also in Latin. The Canadian Victoria Cross is modelled after the British Victoria Cross which has the inscription "For Valour". Because Canada is officially bilingual, the Canadian medal has replaced the English inscription with the Latin Pro Valore.

Spain's motto PLVS VLTRA, meaning "further beyond", is also Latin in origin.[21] It is taken from the personal motto of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (as Charles I), and is a reversal of the original phrase Non terrae plus ultra ("No land further beyond"). This was said to have been inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar, which marked the edge of the known world. Charles adopted the motto following the discovery of the New World by Columbus, and it also has metaphorical suggestions of taking risks and striving for excellence.

Several states of the United States have Latin mottos: such as Connecticut's motto Qui transtulit sustinet ("He who transplanted sustains"); Kansas's Ad astra per aspera ("To the stars through hardships"); Colorado's Nil sine numine ("Nothing without providence"); Michigan's Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice ("If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you"); Missouri's Salus populi suprema lex esto ("The health of the people should be the highest law"); North Carolina's Esse quam videri ("To be rather than to seem"); Virginia's Sic semper tyrannis ("Thus always to tyrants"); and West Virginia's Montani semper liberi ("Mountaineers are always free").

Many military organizations today have Latin mottos, such as Semper paratus ("always ready"), the motto of the United States Coast Guard; Semper fidelis ("always faithful"), the motto of the United States Marine Corps; Semper Supra (“always above”), the motto of the United States Space Force; and Per ardua ad astra ("Through adversity/struggle to the stars"), the motto of the Royal Air Force (RAF).

Some colleges and universities have adopted Latin mottos, for example Harvard University's motto is Veritas ("truth"). Veritas was the goddess of truth, a daughter of Saturn, and the mother of Virtue.


Other modern uses[edit]

Switzerland has adopted the country's Latin short name Helvetia on coins and stamps, since there is no room to use all of the nation's four official languages. For a similar reason, it adopted the international vehicle and internet code CH, which stands for Confœderatio Helvetica, the country's full Latin name.

Some films of ancient settings, such as Sebastiane and The Passion of the Christ, have been made with dialogue in Latin for the sake of realism. Occasionally, Latin dialogue is used because of its association with religion or philosophy, in such film/television series as The Exorcist and Lost ("Jughead"). Subtitles are usually shown for the benefit of those who do not understand Latin. There are also songs written with Latin lyrics. The libretto for the opera-oratorio Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky is in Latin.

The continued instruction of Latin is often seen as a highly valuable component of a liberal arts education. Latin is taught at many high schools, especially in Europe and the Americas. It is most common in British public schools and grammar schools, the Italian liceo classico and liceo scientifico, the German Humanistisches Gymnasium and the Dutch gymnasium.

Occasionally, some media outlets, targeting enthusiasts, broadcast in Latin. Notable examples include Radio Bremen in Germany, YLE radio in Finland (the Nuntii Latini broadcast from 1989 until it was shut down in June 2019),[22] and Vatican Radio & Television, all of which broadcast news segments and other material in Latin.[23][24][25]

There are many websites and forums maintained in Latin by enthusiasts. The Latin Wikipedia has more than 100,000 articles.


Legacy[edit]

Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, Romansh, and other Romance languages are direct descendants of Latin. There are also many Latin derivatives in English as well as a few in German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish. Latin is still spoken in Vatican City, a city-state situated in Rome that is the seat of the Catholic Church.


Inscriptions[edit]

Some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL). Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same: volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance and relevant information. The reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. About 270,000 inscriptions are known.


Literature[edit]

  
Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico is one of the most famous classical Latin texts of the Golden Age of Latin. The unvarnished, journalistic style of this patrician general has long been taught as a model of the urbane Latin officially spoken and written in the floruit of the Roman Republic.



The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part, in substantial works or in fragments to be analyzed in philology. They are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. Their works were published in manuscript form before the invention of printing and are now published in carefully annotated printed editions, such as the Loeb Classical Library, published by Harvard University Press, or the Oxford Classical Texts, published by Oxford University Press.

Latin translations of modern literature such as The Hobbit, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Paddington Bear, Winnie the Pooh, The Adventures of Tintin, Asterix, Harry Potter,  Le Petit Prince, Max and Moritz, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, "fabulae mirabiles", are intended to garner popular interest in the language. Additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissner's Latin Phrasebook.


Influence on present-day languages[edit]

The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. In the Middle Ages, borrowing from Latin occurred from ecclesiastical usage established by Saint Augustine of Canterbury in the 6th century or indirectly after the Norman Conquest, through the Anglo-Norman language. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed "inkhorn terms", as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, but some useful ones survived, such as 'imbibe' and 'extrapolate'. Many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and Dutch vocabularies.[26][27][28] Those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included.

The influence of Roman governance and Roman technology on the less-developed nations under Roman dominion led to the adoption of Latin phraseology in some specialized areas, such as science, technology, medicine, and law. For example, the Linnaean system of plant and animal classification was heavily influenced by Historia Naturalis, an encyclopedia of people, places, plants, animals, and things published by Pliny the Elder. Roman medicine, recorded in the works of such physicians as Galen, established that today's medical terminology would be primarily derived from Latin and Greek words, the Greek being filtered through the Latin. Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole. Latin law principles have survived partly in a long list of Latin legal terms.

A few international auxiliary languages have been heavily influenced by Latin. Interlingua is sometimes considered a simplified, modern version of the language.[dubious  – discuss] Latino sine Flexione, popular in the early 20th century, is Latin with its inflections stripped away, among other grammatical changes.

The Logudorese dialect of the Sardinian language is the closest contemporary language to Latin.[29]


Education[edit]

  
A multivolume Latin dictionary in the University Library of Graz.



Throughout European history, an education in the classics was considered crucial for those who wished to join literate circles. Instruction in Latin is an essential aspect. In today's world, a large number of Latin students in the US learn from Wheelock's Latin: The Classic Introductory Latin Course, Based on Ancient Authors. This book, first published in 1956,[30] was written by Frederic M. Wheelock, who received a PhD from Harvard University. Wheelock's Latin has become the standard text for many American introductory Latin courses.

The Living Latin movement attempts to teach Latin in the same way that living languages are taught, as a means of both spoken and written communication. It is available at the Vatican and at some institutions in the US, such as the University of Kentucky and Iowa State University. The British Cambridge University Press is a major supplier of Latin textbooks for all levels, such as the Cambridge Latin Course series. It has also published a subseries of children's texts in Latin by Bell & Forte, which recounts the adventures of a mouse called Minimus.


  
Latin and Ancient Greek at Duke University, 2014.



In the United Kingdom, the Classical Association encourages the study of antiquity through various means, such as publications and grants. The University of Cambridge,[31] the Open University,[32] a number of prestigious independent schools, for example Eton, Harrow, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Merchant Taylor’s School, Via Facilis and Rugby,[33] a London-based charity, run Latin courses. In the United States and in Canada, the American Classical League supports every effort to further the study of classics. Its subsidiaries include the National Junior Classical League (with more than 50,000 members), which encourages high school students to pursue the study of Latin, and the National Senior Classical League, which encourages students to continue their study of the classics into college. The league also sponsors the National Latin Exam. Classicist Mary Beard wrote in The Times Literary Supplement in 2006 that the reason for learning Latin is because of what was written in it.[34]


Official status[edit]

Latin was or is the official language of European states:


	 Hungary – Latin was an official language in the Kingdom of Hungary from the 11th century to the mid 19th century, when Hungarian became the exclusive official language in 1844. The best known Latin language poet of Croatian-Hungarian origin was Janus Pannonius.
	 Croatia – Latin was the official language of Croatian Parliament (Sabor) from the 13th to the 19th century (1847). The oldest preserved records of the parliamentary sessions (Congregatio Regni totius Sclavonie generalis) – held in Zagreb (Zagabria), Croatia – date from 19 April 1273. An extensive Croatian Latin literature exists. Latin is still used on Croatian coins on even years.[35]
	 Poland, Kingdom of Poland – officially recognised and widely used[36][37][38][39] between the 10th and 18th centuries, commonly used in foreign relations and popular as a second language among some of the nobility.[39]


Phonology[edit]

Main article: Latin phonology and orthography

The ancient pronunciation of Latin has been reconstructed; among the data used for reconstruction are explicit statements about pronunciation by ancient authors, misspellings, puns, ancient etymologies, the spelling of Latin loanwords in other languages, and the historical development of Romance languages.[40]


Consonants[edit]

The consonant phonemes of Classical Latin are as follows:[41]


	
	Labial
	Dental
	Palatal
	Velar
	Glottal

	plain
	labial

	Plosive
	voiced
	b
	d
	
	ɡ
	ɡʷ
	

	voiceless
	p
	t
	
	k
	kʷ
	

	Fricative
	voiced
	
	(z)
	
	
	
	

	voiceless
	f
	s
	
	
	
	h

	Nasal
	m
	n
	
	(ŋ)
	
	

	Rhotic
	
	r
	
	
	
	

	Approximant
	
	l
	j
	
	w
	



/z/ was not native to Classical Latin. It appeared in Greek loanwords starting around the first century BC, when it was probably pronounced [z] initially and doubled [zz] between vowels, in contrast to Classical Greek [dz] or [zd]. In Classical Latin poetry, the letter ⟨z⟩ between vowels always counts as two consonants for metrical purposes.[42][43] The consonant b usually sounds as [b]; however, when a t or s precedes b then it is pronounced as in [pt] or [ps]. Further, consonants do not blend together. So, ch, ph, and th are all sounds that would be pronounced as [ch], [ph], and [th]. In Latin, q is always followed by the vowel u. Together they make a [kw] sound.[44]

In Old and Classical Latin, the Latin alphabet had no distinction between uppercase and lowercase, and the letters ⟨J U W⟩ did not exist. In place of ⟨J U⟩, ⟨I V⟩ were used, respectively; ⟨I V⟩ represented both vowels and consonants. Most of the letterforms were similar to modern uppercase, as can be seen in the inscription from the Colosseum shown at the top of the article.

The spelling systems used in Latin dictionaries and modern editions of Latin texts, however, normally use ⟨j u⟩ in place of Classical-era ⟨i v⟩. Some systems use ⟨j v⟩ for the consonant sounds /j w/ except in the combinations ⟨gu su qu⟩ for which ⟨v⟩ is never used.

Some notes concerning the mapping of Latin phonemes to English graphemes are given below:


Notes
	Latin
grapheme	Latin
phoneme	English examples

	⟨c⟩, ⟨k⟩
	[k]
	Always as k in sky (/skaɪ/)

	⟨t⟩
	[t]
	As t in stay (/steɪ/)

	⟨s⟩
	[s]
	As s in say (/seɪ/)

	⟨g⟩
	[ɡ]
	Always as g in good (/ɡʊd/)

	[ŋ]
	Before ⟨n⟩, as ng in sing (/sɪŋ/)

	⟨n⟩
	[n]
	As n in man (/mæn/)

	[ŋ]
	Before ⟨c⟩, ⟨x⟩, and ⟨g⟩, as ng in sing (/sɪŋ/)

	⟨l⟩
	[l]
	When doubled ⟨ll⟩ and before ⟨i⟩, as "light L", [l̥] in link ([l̥ɪnk]) (l exilis)[45][46]

	[ɫ]
	In all other positions, as "dark L", [ɫ] in bowl ([boʊɫ]) (l pinguis)

	⟨qu⟩
	[kʷ]
	Similar to qu in quick (/kwɪk/)

	⟨u⟩
	[w]
	Sometimes at the beginning of a syllable, or after ⟨g⟩ and ⟨s⟩, as /w/ in wine (/waɪn/)

	⟨i⟩
	[j]
	Sometimes at the beginning of a syllable, as y (/j/) in yard (/jaɹd/)

	[ij]
	"y" (/j/), in between vowels, becomes "i-y", being pronounced as parts of two separate syllables, as in capiō (/kapiˈjo:/)

	⟨x⟩
	[ks]
	A letter representing ⟨c⟩ + ⟨s⟩: as x in English axe (/æks/)



In Classical Latin, as in modern Italian, double consonant letters were pronounced as long consonant sounds distinct from short versions of the same consonants. Thus the nn in Classical Latin annus "year" (and in Italian anno) is pronounced as a doubled /nn/ as in English unnamed. (In English, distinctive consonant length or doubling occurs only at the boundary between two words or morphemes, as in that example.)


Vowels[edit]

Simple vowels[edit]

		Front	Central	Back

	Close
	iː ɪ		ʊ uː

	Mid
	eː ɛ		ɔ oː

	Open
		a aː	



In Classical Latin, ⟨U⟩ did not exist as a letter distinct from V; the written form ⟨V⟩ was used to represent both a vowel and a consonant. ⟨Y⟩ was adopted to represent upsilon in loanwords from Greek, but it was pronounced like ⟨u⟩ and ⟨i⟩ by some speakers. It was also used in native Latin words by confusion with Greek words of similar meaning, such as sylva and ὕλη.

Classical Latin distinguished between long and short vowels. Then, long vowels, except for ⟨I⟩, were frequently marked using the apex, which was sometimes similar to an acute accent ⟨Á É Ó V́ Ý⟩. Long /iː/ was written using a taller version of ⟨I⟩, called i longa "long I": ⟨ꟾ⟩. In modern texts, long vowels are often indicated by a macron ⟨ā ē ī ō ū⟩, and short vowels are usually unmarked except when it is necessary to distinguish between words, when they are marked with a breve ⟨ă ĕ ĭ ŏ ŭ⟩. However, they would also signify a long vowel by writing the vowel larger than other letters in a word or by repeating the vowel twice in a row.[44] The acute accent, when it is used in modern Latin texts, indicates stress, as in Spanish, rather than length.

Long vowels in Classical Latin are, technically, pronounced as entirely different from short vowels. The difference is described in the table below:


Pronunciation of Latin vowels
	Latin
grapheme
	Latin
phone
	modern examples

	⟨a⟩
	[a]
	similar to the last a in attack (/ətæk/)

	[aː]
	similar to a in father (/fɑːðəɹ/)

	⟨e⟩
	[ɛ]
	as e in pet (/pɛt/)

	[eː]
	similar to e in hey (/heɪ/)

	⟨i⟩
	[ɪ]
	as i in grid (/ɡɹɪd/)

	[iː]
	similar to i in machine (/məʃiːn/)

	⟨o⟩
	[ɔ]
	as o in cloth (/klɔθ/)

	[oː]
	similar to o in rose (/ɹoʊz/)

	⟨u⟩
	[ʊ]
	as oo in hood (/hʊd/)

	[uː]
	similar to ue in true (/tɹuː/)

	⟨y⟩
	[ʏ]
	does not exist in English; as ü in German Stück (/ʃtʏk/)

	[yː]
	does not exist in English; as üh in German früh (/fʀyː/)



This difference in quality is posited by W. Sidney Allen in his book Vox Latina. However, Andrea Calabrese has disputed that short vowels differed in quality from long vowels, based upon the observation that [ɪ] and [ʊ] do not exist even in very conservative Romance languages such as Sardinian, with the difference in vowel quality more associated with Germanic languages.

A vowel letter followed by ⟨m⟩ at the end of a word, or a vowel letter followed by ⟨n⟩ before ⟨s⟩ or ⟨f⟩, represented a long nasal vowel, as in monstrum [mõːstrũː].


Diphthongs[edit]

Classical Latin had several diphthongs. The two most common were ⟨ae au⟩. ⟨oe⟩ was fairly rare, and ⟨ui eu ei⟩ were very rare, at least in native Latin words.[47] There has also been debate over whether ⟨ui⟩ is truly a diphthong in Classical Latin, due to its rarity, absence in works of Roman grammarians, and the roots of Classical Latin words (i.e. hui ce to huic, quoi to cui, etc.) not matching or being similar to the pronunciation of classical words if ⟨ui⟩ were to be considered a diphthong.[48]

The sequences sometimes did not represent diphthongs. ⟨ae⟩ and ⟨oe⟩ also represented a sequence of two vowels in different syllables in aēnus [aˈeː.nʊs] "of bronze" and coēpit [kɔˈeː.pɪt] "began", and ⟨au ui eu ei ou⟩ represented sequences of two vowels or of a vowel and one of the semivowels /j w/, in cavē [ˈka.weː] "beware!", cuius [ˈkʊj.jʊs] "whose", monuī [ˈmɔn.ʊ.iː] "I warned", solvī [ˈsɔɫ.wiː] "I released", dēlēvī [deːˈleː.wiː] "I destroyed", eius [ˈɛj.jʊs] "his", and novus [ˈnɔ.wʊs] "new".

Old Latin had more diphthongs, but most of them changed into long vowels in Classical Latin. The Old Latin diphthong ⟨ai⟩ and the sequence ⟨āī⟩ became Classical ⟨ae⟩. Old Latin ⟨oi⟩ and ⟨ou⟩ changed to Classical ⟨ū⟩, except in a few words whose ⟨oi⟩ became Classical ⟨oe⟩. These two developments sometimes occurred in different words from the same root: for instance, Classical poena "punishment" and pūnīre "to punish".[47] Early Old Latin ⟨ei⟩ usually changed to Classical ⟨ī⟩.[49]

In Vulgar Latin and the Romance languages, ⟨ae oe⟩ merged with ⟨e ē⟩. During the Classical Latin period this form of speaking was deliberately avoided by well-educated speakers.[47]


Diphthongs classified by beginning sound
		Front	Back

	Close
		ui /ui̯/

	Mid
	ei /ei̯/
eu/eu̯/	oe /oe̯/
ou /ou̯/

	Open
	ae /ae̯/
au /au̯/



Syllables[edit]

Syllables in Latin are signified by the presence of diphthongs and vowels. The number of syllables is the same as the number of vowel sounds.[44]

Further, if a consonant separates two vowels, it will go into the syllable of the second vowel. When there are two consonants between vowels, the last consonant will go with the second vowel. An exception occurs when a phonetic stop and liquid come together. In this situation, they are thought to be a single consonant, and as such, they will go into the syllable of the second vowel.[44]


Length[edit]

Syllables can also be seen as long. Within a word, a syllable may either be long by nature or long by position.[44] A syllable that is long by nature has a long vowel or diphthong. On the other hand, a syllable that is long by position has a short vowel that is followed by more than one consonant.[44]


Stress[edit]

There are two rules that define which syllable is stressed in the Latin language.[44]


	In a word with only two syllables, the emphasis will be on the first syllable.
	In a word with more than two syllables, there are two cases.
	If the second-to-last syllable is long, that syllable will have stress.
	If the second-to-last syllable is not long, the syllable before that one will be stressed instead.[44]




Orthography[edit]

Main article: Latin alphabet

  
The Duenos Inscription, from the 6th century BC, is one of the earliest known Old Latin texts.



Latin was written in the Latin alphabet, derived from the Etruscan alphabet, which was in turn drawn from the Greek alphabet and ultimately the Phoenician alphabet.[50] This alphabet has continued to be used over the centuries as the script for the Romance, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic, Finnic, and many Slavic languages (Polish, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Bosnian and Czech); and it has been adopted by many languages around the world, including Vietnamese, the Austronesian languages, many Turkic languages, and most languages in sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, and Oceania, making it by far the world's single most widely used writing system.

The number of letters in the Latin alphabet has varied. When it was first derived from the Etruscan alphabet, it contained only 21 letters.[51] Later, G was added to represent /ɡ/, which had previously been spelled C, and Z ceased to be included in the alphabet, as the language then had no voiced alveolar fricative.[52] The letters Y and Z were later added to represent Greek letters, upsilon and zeta respectively, in Greek loanwords.[52]

W was created in the 11th century from VV. It represented /w/ in Germanic languages, not Latin, which still uses V for the purpose. J was distinguished from the original I only during the late Middle Ages, as was the letter U from V.[52] Although some Latin dictionaries use J, it is rarely used for Latin text, as it was not used in classical times, but many other languages use it.

Classical Latin did not contain sentence punctuation, letter case,[53] or interword spacing, but apices were sometimes used to distinguish length in vowels and the interpunct was used at times to separate words. The first line of Catullus 3, originally written as


	lv́géteóveneréscupꟾdinésqve ("Mourn, O Venuses and Cupids")


or with interpunct as


	
lv́géte·ó·venerés·cupꟾdinésqve


would be rendered in a modern edition as


	Lugete, o Veneres Cupidinesque


or with macrons


	Lūgēte, ō Venerēs Cupīdinēsque


or with apices


	Lúgéte, ó Venerés Cupídinésque.


  
A replica of the Old Roman Cursive inspired by the Vindolanda tablets, the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain.



The Roman cursive script is commonly found on the many wax tablets excavated at sites such as forts, an especially extensive set having been discovered at Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall in Britain. Most notable is the fact that while most of the Vindolanda tablets show spaces between words, spaces were avoided in monumental inscriptions from that era.


Alternative scripts[edit]

Occasionally, Latin has been written in other scripts:


	The Praeneste fibula is a 7th-century BC pin with an Old Latin inscription written using the Etruscan script.
	The rear panel of the early 8th-century Franks Casket has an inscription that switches from Old English in Anglo-Saxon runes to Latin in Latin script and to Latin in runes.


Grammar[edit]

Main articles: Latin grammar and Latin syntax

Latin is a synthetic, fusional language in the terminology of linguistic typology. In more traditional terminology, it is an inflected language, but typologists are apt to say "inflecting". Words include an objective semantic element and markers specifying the grammatical use of the word. The fusion of root meaning and markers produces very compact sentence elements: amō, "I love," is produced from a semantic element, ama-, "love," to which -ō, a first person singular marker, is suffixed.

The grammatical function can be changed by changing the markers: the word is "inflected" to express different grammatical functions, but the semantic element usually does not change. (Inflection uses affixing and infixing. Affixing is prefixing and suffixing. Latin inflections are never prefixed.)

For example, amābit, "he (or she or it) will love", is formed from the same stem, amā-, to which a future tense marker, -bi-, is suffixed, and a third person singular marker, -t, is suffixed. There is an inherent ambiguity: -t may denote more than one grammatical category: masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. A major task in understanding Latin phrases and clauses is to clarify such ambiguities by an analysis of context. All natural languages contain ambiguities of one sort or another.

The inflections express gender, number, and case in adjectives, nouns, and pronouns, a process called declension. Markers are also attached to fixed stems of verbs, to denote person, number, tense, voice, mood, and aspect, a process called conjugation. Some words are uninflected and undergo neither process, such as adverbs, prepositions, and interjections.


Nouns[edit]

Main article: Latin declension

A regular Latin noun belongs to one of five main declensions, a group of nouns with similar inflected forms. The declensions are identified by the genitive singular form of the noun. The first declension, with a predominant ending letter of a, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -ae. The second declension, with a predominant ending letter of us, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -i. The third declension, with a predominant ending letter of i, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -is. The fourth declension, with a predominant ending letter of u, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -ūs. The fifth declension, with a predominant ending letter of e, is signified by the genitive singular ending of -ei.

There are seven Latin noun cases, which also apply to adjectives and pronouns and mark a noun's syntactic role in the sentence by means of inflections. Thus, word order is not as important in Latin as it is in English, which is less inflected. The general structure and word order of a Latin sentence can therefore vary. The cases are as follows:


	Nominative – used when the noun is the subject or a predicate nominative. The thing or person acting: the girl ran: puella cucurrit, or cucurrit puella
	Genitive – used when the noun is the possessor of or connected with an object: "the horse of the man", or "the man's horse"; in both instances, the word man would be in the genitive case when it is translated into Latin. It also indicates the partitive, in which the material is quantified: "a group of people"; "a number of gifts": people and gifts would be in the genitive case. Some nouns are genitive with special verbs and adjectives: The cup is full of wine. (Poculum plēnum vīnī est.) The master of the slave had beaten him. (Dominus servī eum verberāverat.)
	Dative – used when the noun is the indirect object of the sentence, with special verbs, with certain prepositions, and if it is used as agent, reference, or even possessor: The merchant hands the stola to the woman. (Mercātor fēminae stolam trādit.)
	Accusative – used when the noun is the direct object of the subject and as the object of a preposition demonstrating place to which.: The man killed the boy. (Vir puerum necāvit.)
	Ablative – used when the noun demonstrates separation or movement from a source, cause, agent or instrument or when the noun is used as the object of certain prepositions; adverbial: You walked with the boy. (Cum puerō ambulāvistī.)
	Vocative – used when the noun is used in a direct address. The vocative form of a noun is often the same as the nominative, with the exception of second-declension nouns ending in -us. The -us becomes an -e in the vocative singular. If it ends in -ius (such as fīlius), the ending is just -ī (filī), as distinct from the nominative plural (filiī) in the vocative singular: "Master!" shouted the slave. ("Domine!" clāmāvit servus.)
	Locative – used to indicate a location (corresponding to the English "in" or "at"). It is far less common than the other six cases of Latin nouns and usually applies to cities and small towns and islands along with a few common nouns, such as the words domus (house), humus (ground), and rus (country). In the singular of the first and second declensions, its form coincides with the genitive (Roma becomes Romae, "in Rome"). In the plural of all declensions and the singular of the other declensions, it coincides with the ablative (Athēnae becomes Athēnīs, "at Athens"). In the fourth-declension word domus, the locative form, domī ("at home") differs from the standard form of all other cases.


Latin lacks both definite and indefinite articles so puer currit can mean either "the boy is running" or "a boy is running".


Adjectives[edit]

Main article: Latin declension

There are two types of regular Latin adjectives: first- and second- declension and third-declension. They are so-called because their forms are similar or identical to first- and second-declension and third-declension nouns, respectively. Latin adjectives also have comparative (more --, -er) and superlative (most --, est) forms. There are also a number of Latin participles.

Latin numbers are sometimes declined as adjectives. See Numbers below.


First and second-declension adjectives[edit]

First and second-declension adjectives are declined like first-declension nouns for the feminine forms and like second-declension nouns for the masculine and neuter forms. For example, for mortuus, mortua, mortuum (dead), mortua is declined like a regular first-declension noun (such as puella (girl)), mortuus is declined like a regular second-declension masculine noun (such as dominus (lord, master)), and mortuum is declined like a regular second-declension neuter noun (such as auxilium (help)).


Third declension adjectives[edit]

Third-declension adjectives are mostly declined like normal third-declension nouns, with a few exceptions. In the plural nominative neuter, for example, the ending is -ia (omnia (all, everything)), and for third-declension nouns, the plural nominative neuter ending is -a or -ia (capita (heads), animalia (animals)) They can have one, two or three forms for the masculine, feminine, and neuter nominative singular.


Participles[edit]

Latin participles, like English participles, are formed from a verb. There are a few main types of participles: Present Active Participles, Perfect Passive Participles, Future Active Participles, and Future Passive Participles.


Prepositions[edit]

Latin sometimes uses prepositions, depending on the type of prepositional phrase being used. Most prepositions are followed by a noun in either the accusative or ablative case: "apud puerum" (with the boy), with "puerum" being the accusative form of "puer", boy, and "sine puero" (without the boy, "puero" being the ablative form of "puer". A few adpositions, however, govern a noun in the genitive (such as "gratia" and "tenus").


Verbs[edit]

Main articles: Latin grammar and Latin conjugation

A regular verb in Latin belongs to one of four main conjugations. A conjugation is "a class of verbs with similar inflected forms."[54] The conjugations are identified by the last letter of the verb's present stem. The present stem can be found by omitting the -re (-rī in deponent verbs) ending from the present infinitive form. The infinitive of the first conjugation ends in -ā-re or -ā-ri (active and passive respectively): amāre, "to love," hortārī, "to exhort"; of the second conjugation by -ē-re or -ē-rī: monēre, "to warn", verērī, "to fear;" of the third conjugation by -ere, -ī: dūcere, "to lead," ūtī, "to use"; of the fourth by -ī-re, -ī-rī: audīre, "to hear," experīrī, "to attempt".[55]

Irregular verbs may not follow the types or may be marked in a different way. The "endings" presented above are not the suffixed infinitive markers. The first letter in each case is the last of the stem so the conjugations are also called a-conjugation, e-conjugation and i-conjugation. The fused infinitive ending is -re or -rī. Third-conjugation stems end in a consonant: the consonant conjugation. Further, there is a subset of the third conjugation, the i-stems, which behave somewhat like the fourth conjugation, as they are both i-stems, one short and the other long.[55] The stem categories descend from Indo-European and can therefore be compared to similar conjugations in other Indo-European languages.

There are six general "tenses" in Latin (present, imperfect, future, perfect, pluperfect and future perfect), three moods (indicative, imperative and subjunctive, in addition to the infinitive, participle, gerund, gerundive and supine), three persons (first, second and third), two numbers (singular and plural), two voices (active and passive) and two aspects (perfective and imperfective). Verbs are described by four principal parts:


	The first principal part is the first-person singular, present tense, active voice, indicative mood form of the verb. If the verb is impersonal, the first principal part will be in the third-person singular.
	The second principal part is the present active infinitive.
	The third principal part is the first-person singular, perfect active indicative form. Like the first principal part, if the verb is impersonal, the third principal part will be in the third-person singular.
	The fourth principal part is the supine form, or alternatively, the nominative singular of the perfect passive participle form of the verb. The fourth principal part can show one gender of the participle or all three genders (-us for masculine, -a for feminine and -um for neuter) in the nominative singular. The fourth principal part will be the future participle if the verb cannot be made passive. Most modern Latin dictionaries, if they show only one gender, tend to show the masculine; but many older dictionaries instead show the neuter, as it coincides with the supine. The fourth principal part is sometimes omitted for intransitive verbs, but strictly in Latin, they can be made passive if they are used impersonally, and the supine exists for such verbs.


There are six "tenses" in the Latin language. These are divided into two tense systems: the present system, which is made up of the present, imperfect and future tenses, and the perfect system, which is made up of the perfect, pluperfect and future perfect tenses. Each tense has a set of endings corresponding to the person, number, and voice of the subject. Subject (nominative) pronouns are generally omitted for the first (I, we) and second (you) persons except for emphasis.

The table below displays the common inflected endings for the indicative mood in the active voice in all six tenses. For the future tense, the first listed endings are for the first and second conjugations, and the second listed endings are for the third and fourth conjugations:


	Tense	Singular	Plural

	1st Person	2nd Person	3rd Person	1st Person	2nd Person	3rd Person

	Present
	-ō/m	-s	-t	-mus	-tis	-nt

	Future
	-bō, -am	-bis, -ēs	-bit, -et	-bimus, -ēmus	-bitis, -ētis
	-bunt, -ent

	Imperfect
	-bam	-bās	-bat	-bāmus	-bātis	-bant

	Perfect
	-ī	-istī	-it	-imus	-istis	-ērunt

	Future Perfect
	-erō	-eris/erīs	-erit	-erimus/-erīmus	-eritis/-erītis	-erint

	Pluperfect
	-eram	-erās	-erat	-erāmus	-erātis	-erant



Deponent verbs[edit]

Some Latin verbs are deponent, causing their forms to be in the passive voice but retain an active meaning: hortor, hortārī, hortātus sum (to urge).


Vocabulary[edit]

As Latin is an Italic language, most of its vocabulary is likewise Italic, ultimately from the ancestral Proto-Indo-European language. However, because of close cultural interaction, the Romans not only adapted the Etruscan alphabet to form the Latin alphabet but also borrowed some Etruscan words into their language, including persona "mask" and histrio "actor".[56] Latin also included vocabulary borrowed from Oscan, another Italic language.

After the Fall of Tarentum (272 BC), the Romans began Hellenising, or adopting features of Greek culture, including the borrowing of Greek words, such as camera (vaulted roof), sumbolum (symbol), and balineum (bath).[56] This Hellenisation led to the addition of "Y" and "Z" to the alphabet to represent Greek sounds.[57] Subsequently, the Romans transplanted Greek art, medicine, science and philosophy to Italy, paying almost any price to entice Greek skilled and educated persons to Rome and sending their youth to be educated in Greece. Thus, many Latin scientific and philosophical words were Greek loanwords or had their meanings expanded by association with Greek words, as ars (craft) and τέχνη (art).[58]

Because of the Roman Empire's expansion and subsequent trade with outlying European tribes, the Romans borrowed some northern and central European words, such as beber (beaver), of Germanic origin, and bracae (breeches), of Celtic origin.[58] The specific dialects of Latin across Latin-speaking regions of the former Roman Empire after its fall were influenced by languages specific to the regions. The dialects of Latin evolved into different Romance languages.

During and after the adoption of Christianity into Roman society, Christian vocabulary became a part of the language, either from Greek or Hebrew borrowings or as Latin neologisms.[59] Continuing into the Middle Ages, Latin incorporated many more words from surrounding languages, including Old English and other Germanic languages.

Over the ages, Latin-speaking populations produced new adjectives, nouns, and verbs by affixing or compounding meaningful segments.[60] For example, the compound adjective, omnipotens, "all-powerful," was produced from the adjectives omnis, "all", and potens, "powerful", by dropping the final s of omnis and concatenating. Often, the concatenation changed the part of speech, and nouns were produced from verb segments or verbs from nouns and adjectives.[61]


Phrases (Neo-Latin)[edit]

Main article: List of Latin phrases

The phrases are mentioned with accents to show where stress is placed.[62] In Latin, words are normally stressed either on the second-to-last (penultimate) syllable, called in Latin paenultima or syllaba paenultima,[63] or on the third-to-last syllable, called in Latin antepaenultima or syllaba antepaenultima.[63] In the following notation, accented short vowels have an acute diacritic, accented long vowels have a circumflex diacritic (representing long falling pitch), and unaccented long vowels are marked simply with a macron. This reflects the tone of the voice with which, ideally, the stress is phonetically realized; but this may not always be clearly articulated on every word in a sentence.[64] Regardless of length, a vowel at the end of a word may be significantly shortened or even altogether deleted if the next word begins with a vowel also (a process called elision), unless a very short pause is inserted. As an exception, the following words: est (English "is"), es ("[you (sg.)] are") lose their own vowel e instead.

sálvē to one person / salvête to more than one person – hello

ávē to one person / avête to more than one person – greetings

válē to one person / valête to more than one person – goodbye

cûrā ut váleās – take care

exoptâtus to male / exoptâta to female, optâtus to male / optâta to female, grâtus to male / grâta to female, accéptus to male / accépta to female – welcome

quômodo válēs?, ut válēs? – how are you?

béne – good

béne váleō – I'm fine

mále – bad

mále váleō – I'm not good

quaêsō (roughly: ['kwaeso:]/['kwe:so:]) – please

amâbō tē – please

íta, íta est, íta vêrō, sîc, sîc est, étiam – yes

nôn, mínimē – no

grâtiās tíbi, grâtiās tíbi ágō – thank you, I give thanks to you

mágnās grâtiās, mágnās grâtiās ágō – many thanks

máximās grâtiās, máximās grâtiās ágō, ingéntēs grâtiās ágō – thank you very much

áccipe sīs to one person / accípite sîtis to more than one person, libénter – you're welcome

quā aetâte es? – how old are you?

25 (vīgíntī quînque) ánnōs nâtus sumby male /25 ánnōs nâta sum by female – I am 25 years old

úbi lātrîna est? – where is the toilet?

scîs (tū) ... – do you speak (literally: "do you know") ... 


	Latînē? – Latin?
	Graêcē? (roughly: ['graeke:]/['gre:ke:]) – Greek?
	Ánglicē? – English?
	Itálicē? – Italian?
	Gállicē? – French?
	Hispânicē? – Spanish? (or: Hispânē)
	Lūsitânē? – Portuguese?
	Theodíscē?/Germânicē? – German? (sometimes also: Teutónicē)
	Sînicē? – Chinese?
	Iapônicē? – Japanese?
	Coreânē? – Korean?
	Arábicē? – Arabic?
	Pérsicē? – Persian?
	Índicē? – Hindi?
	Rússicē? – Russian? (sometimes Rutênicē)
	Cámbricē? – Welsh?
	Suêticē? – Swedish? (or: Suêcicē)
	Polônicē? – Polish?


ámō tē / tē ámō – I love you


Numbers[edit]

	
	This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.  (May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)



Further information: Latin numerals (linguistics)

In ancient times, numbers in Latin were written only with letters. Today, the numbers can be written with the Arabic numbers as well as with Roman numerals. The numbers 1, 2 and 3 and every whole hundred from 200 to 900 are declined as nouns and adjectives, with some differences.


	ūnus, ūna, ūnum (masculine, feminine, neuter)
	
	I
	
	one

	duo, duae, duo (m., f., n.)
	
	II
	
	two

	trēs, tria (m./f., n.)
	
	III
	
	three

	quattuor
	
	IIII or IV
	
	four

	quīnque
	
	V
	
	five

	sex
	
	VI
	
	six

	septem
	
	VII
	
	seven

	octō
	
	VIII
	
	eight

	novem
	
	VIIII or IX
	
	nine

	decem
	
	X
	
	ten

	quīnquāgintā
	
	L
	
	fifty

	centum
	
	C
	
	one hundred

	quīngentī, quīngentae, quīngenta (m., f., n.)
	
	D
	
	five hundred

	mīlle
	
	M
	
	one thousand



The numbers from 4 to 100 do not change their endings. As in modern descendants such as Spanish, the gender for naming a number in isolation is masculine, so that "1, 2, 3" is counted as ūnus, duo, trēs.


Example text[edit]

Commentarii de Bello Gallico, also called De Bello Gallico (The Gallic War), written by Gaius Julius Caesar, begins with the following passage:


Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt. Gallos ab Aquitanis Garumna flumen, a Belgis Matrona et Sequana dividit. Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae, propterea quod a cultu atque humanitate provinciae longissime absunt, minimeque ad eos mercatores saepe commeant atque ea quae ad effeminandos animos pertinent important, proximique sunt Germanis, qui trans Rhenum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt. Qua de causa Helvetii quoque reliquos Gallos virtute praecedunt, quod fere cotidianis proeliis cum Germanis contendunt, cum aut suis finibus eos prohibent aut ipsi in eorum finibus bellum gerunt. Eorum una pars, quam Gallos obtinere dictum est, initium capit a flumine Rhodano, continetur Garumna flumine, Oceano, finibus Belgarum; attingit etiam ab Sequanis et Helvetiis flumen Rhenum; vergit ad septentriones. Belgae ab extremis Galliae finibus oriuntur; pertinent ad inferiorem partem fluminis Rheni; spectant in septentrionem et orientem solem. Aquitania a Garumna flumine ad Pyrenaeos montes et eam partem Oceani quae est ad Hispaniam pertinet; spectat inter occasum solis et septentriones.


The same text may be marked for all long vowels (before any possible elisions at word boundary) with apices over vowel letters, including customarily before "nf" and "ns" where a long vowel is automatically produced:



Gallia est omnis dívísa in partés trés, quárum únam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquítání, tertiam quí ipsórum linguá Celtae, nostrá Gallí appellantur. Hí omnés linguá, ínstitútís, légibus inter sé differunt. Gallós ab Aquítánís Garumna flúmen, á Belgís Mátrona et Séquana dívidit. Hórum omnium fortissimí sunt Belgae, proptereá quod á cultú atque húmánitáte próvinciae longissimé absunt, miniméque ad eós mercátórés saepe commeant atque ea quae ad efféminandós animós pertinent important, proximíque sunt Germánís, quí tráns Rhénum incolunt, quibuscum continenter bellum gerunt. Quá dé causá Helvétií quoque reliquós Gallós virtúte praecédunt, quod feré cotídiánís proeliís cum Germánís contendunt, cum aut suís fínibus eós prohibent aut ipsí in eórum fínibus bellum gerunt. Eórum úna pars, quam Gallós obtinére dictum est, initium capit á flúmine Rhodanó, continétur Garumná flúmine, Óceanó, fínibus Belgárum; attingit etiam ab Séquanís et Helvétiís flúmen Rhénum; vergit ad septentriónés. Belgae ab extrémís Galliae fínibus oriuntur; pertinent ad ínferiórem partem flúminis Rhéní; spectant in septentriónem et orientem sólem. Aquítánia á Garumná flúmine ad Pýrénaeós montés et eam partem Óceaní quae est ad Hispániam pertinet; spectat inter occásum sólis et septentriónés.


See also[edit]


	Ancient Rome portal
	Language portal
	Catholicism portal




	Accademia Vivarium Novum
	Classical compound
	Contemporary Latin
	Greek and Latin roots in English
	Hybrid word
	Latin grammar
	Latin mnemonics
	Latin obscenity
	Latin school
	Latino sine flexione (Latin without Inflections)
	List of Greek and Latin roots in English
	List of Latin abbreviations
	List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
	List of Latin phrases
	List of Latin translations of modern literature
	List of Latin words with English derivatives
	List of Latinised names
	Lorem ipsum
	Romanization (cultural)
	Toponymy
	Vulgar Latin




References[edit]


	^ "Schools". Britannica (1911 ed.).

	^ 
Sandys, John Edwin (1910). A companion to Latin studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 811–812.

	^ Clark 1900, pp. 1–3

	^ Diringer 1996, pp. 533–4

	^ 
Collier's Encyclopedia: With Bibliography and Index. Collier. 1 January 1958. p. 412. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016. In Italy, all alphabets were originally written from right to left; the oldest Latin inscription, which appears on the lapis niger of the seventh century BC, is in bustrophedon, but all other early Latin inscriptions run from right to left.

	^ 
Sacks, David (2003). Language Visible: Unraveling the Mystery of the Alphabet from A to Z. London: Broadway Books. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-7679-1172-6.

	^ 
Pope, Mildred K (1966). From Latin to modern French with especial consideration of Anglo-Norman; phonology and morphology. Publications of the University of Manchester, no. 229. French series, no. 6. Manchester: Manchester university press. p. 3.

	^ 
Monroe, Paul (1902). Source book of the history of education for the Greek and Roman period. London, New York: Macmillan & Co. pp. 346–352.

	^ Herman & Wright 2000, pp. 17–18

	^ Herman & Wright 2000, p. 8

	^ 
Pei, Mario; Gaeng, Paul A. (1976). The story of Latin and the Romance languages (1st ed.). New York: Harper & Row. pp. 76–81. ISBN 978-0-06-013312-2.

	^ Herman & Wright 2000, pp. 1–3

	^ a b 
Pulju, Timothy. "History of Latin". Rice University. Retrieved 3 December 2019.

	^ 
Posner, Rebecca; Sala, Marius (1 August 2019). "Romance Languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 3 December 2019.

	^ a b 
Elabani, Moe (1998). Documents in medieval Latin. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 13–15. ISBN 978-0-472-08567-5.

	^ 
"Incunabula Short Title Catalogue". British Library. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.

	^ 
Ranieri, Luke (3 March 2019). "What is Latin? the history of this ancient language, and the proper way we might use it". YouTube. Retrieved 3 December 2019.

	^ 
Moore, Malcolm (28 January 2007). "Pope's Latinist pronounces death of a language". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 August 2009.

	^ 
"Liber Precum Publicarum, The Book of Common Prayer in Latin (1560). Society of Archbishop Justus, resources, Book of Common Prayer, Latin, 1560. Retrieved 22 May 2012". Justus.anglican.org. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.

	^ 
"Society of Archbishop Justus, resources, Book of Common Prayer, Latin, 1979. Retrieved 22 May 2012". Justus.anglican.org. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2012.

	^ 
"La Moncloa. Símbolos del Estado". www.lamoncloa.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2019.

	^ 
"Finnish broadcaster ends Latin news bulletins". RTÉ News. 24 June 2019. Archived from the original on 25 June 2019.

	^ 
"Latein: Nuntii Latini mensis lunii 2010: Lateinischer Monats rückblick" (in Latin). Radio Bremen. Archived from the original on 18 June 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.

	^ 
Dymond, Jonny (24 October 2006). "Finland makes Latin the King". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 3 January 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2011.

	^ 
"Nuntii Latini" (in Latin). YLE Radio 1. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.

	^ 
Finkenstaedt, Thomas; Dieter Wolff (1973). Ordered Profusion; studies in dictionaries and the English lexicon. C. Winter. ISBN 978-3-533-02253-4.

	^ Uwe Pörksen, German Academy for Language and Literature’s Jahrbuch [Yearbook] 2007 (Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2008, pp. 121-130)

	^ 
Loanwords in the World's Languages: A Comparative Handbook (PDF). Walter de Gruyter. 2009. p. 370. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.

	^ 
Pei, Mario (1949). Story of Language. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-397-00400-3.

	^ 
LaFleur, Richard A. (2011). "The Official Wheelock's Latin Series Website". The Official Wheelock's Latin Series Website. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2011.

	^ 
"University of Cambridge School Classics Project – Latin Course". Cambridgescp.com. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

	^ 
"Open University Undergraduate Course – Reading classical Latin". .open.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

	^ 
"The Latin Programme – Via Facilis". Thelatinprogramme.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

	^ 
Beard, Mary (10 July 2006). "Does Latin "train the brain"?". The Times Literary Supplement. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. No, you learn Latin because of what was written in it – and because of the sexual side of life direct access that Latin gives you to a literary tradition that lies at the very heart (not just at the root) of Western culture.

	^ 
"Coins". Croatian National Bank. 30 September 2016. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.

	^ Who only knows Latin can go across the whole Poland from one side to the other one just like he was at his own home, just like he was born there. So great happiness! I wish a traveler in England could travel without knowing any other language than Latin!, Daniel Defoe, 1728

	^ Anatol Lieven, The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Path to Independence, Yale University Press, 1994, 
ISBN 0-300-06078-5, Google Print, p.48

	^ Kevin O'Connor, Culture And Customs of the Baltic States, Greenwood Press, 2006, 
ISBN 0-313-33125-1, Google Print, p.115

	^ a b Karin Friedrich et al., The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569–1772, Cambridge University Press, 2000, 
ISBN 0-521-58335-7, Google Print, p.88 Archived 15 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine

	^ Allen 2004, pp. viii–ix

	^ 
Sihler, Andrew L. (1995). New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-508345-3. Archived from the original on 9 November 2016.

	^ Levy, p. 150 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFLevy (help)

	^ Allen 1978, pp. 45, 46 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFAllen1978 (help)

	^ a b c d e f g h 
Wheelock, Frederic M. (7 June 2011). Wheelock's Latin. LaFleur, Richard A. (7th ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-06-199721-1. OCLC 670475844.

	^ Sihler 2008, p. 174.

	^ Allen 2004, pp. 33–34

	^ a b c Allen 2004, pp. 60–63

	^ 
Husband, Richard (1910). "The Diphthong -ui in Latin". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 41: 19–23. doi:10.2307/282713. JSTOR 282713.[dead link]

	^ Allen 2004, pp. 53–55

	^ Diringer 1996, pp. 451, 493, 530

	^ Diringer 1996, p. 536

	^ a b c Diringer 1996, p. 538

	^ Diringer 1996, p. 540

	^ 
"Conjugation". Webster's II new college dictionary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1999.

	^ a b 
Wheelock, Frederic M. (2011). Wheelock's Latin (7th ed.). New York: CollinsReference.

	^ a b Holmes & Schultz 1938, p. 13

	^ 
Sacks, David (2003). Language Visible: Unraveling the Mystery of the Alphabet from A to Z. London: Broadway Books. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-7679-1172-6.

	^ a b Holmes & Schultz 1938, p. 14

	^ 
Norberg, Dag; Johnson, Rand H, Translator (2004) [1980]. "Latin at the End of the Imperial Age". Manuel pratique de latin médiéval. University of Michigan. Retrieved 20 May 2015.

	^ Jenks 1911, pp. 3, 46

	^ Jenks 1911, pp. 35, 40

	^ Ebbe Vilborg – Norstedts svensk-latinska ordbok – Second edition, 2009.

	^ a b Tore Janson – Latin – Kulturen, historien, språket – First edition, 2009.

	^ Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria (95 CE)





Bibliography[edit]



	
Allen, William Sidney (2004). Vox Latina – a Guide to the Pronunciation of Classical Latin (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-22049-1.
	
Baldi, Philip (2002). The foundations of Latin. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
	
Bennett, Charles E. (1908). Latin Grammar. Chicago: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 978-1-176-19706-0.
	
Buck, Carl Darling (1904). A grammar of Oscan and Umbrian, with a collection of inscriptions and a glossary. Boston: Ginn & Company.
	
Clark, Victor Selden (1900). Studies in the Latin of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Lancaster: The New Era Printing Company.
	
Diringer, David (1996) [1947]. The Alphabet – A Key to the History of Mankind. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Private Ltd. ISBN 978-81-215-0748-6.
	
Herman, József; Wright, Roger (Translator) (2000). Vulgar Latin. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-02000-6.
	
Holmes, Urban Tigner; Schultz, Alexander Herman (1938). A History of the French Language. New York: Biblo-Moser. ISBN 978-0-8196-0191-9.
	
Janson, Tore (2004). A Natural History of Latin. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-926309-7.
	
Jenks, Paul Rockwell (1911). A Manual of Latin Word Formation for Secondary Schools. New York: D.C. Heath & Co.
	
Palmer, Frank Robert (1984). Grammar (2nd ed.). Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England; New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-81-206-1306-5.
	
Sihler, Andrew L (2008). New comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. New York: Oxford University Press.
	
Vincent, N. (1990). "Latin".  In Harris, M.; Vincent, N. (eds.). The Romance Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-520829-0.
	
Waquet, Françoise; Howe, John (Translator) (2003). Latin, or the Empire of a Sign: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries. Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-402-1.
	
Wheelock, Frederic (2005). Latin: An Introduction (6th ed.). Collins. ISBN 978-0-06-078423-2.
	
Curtius, Ernst (2013). European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages. Princeton University. ISBN 978-0-691-15700-9.



External links[edit]

		Latin edition of Wikisource, the free library


		 Latin  edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


		Wikiquote has quotations related to: Latin proverbs


		Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Latin


		Wikiversity has learning resources about Latin


		For a list of words relating to Latin, see the Latin language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


		Wikimedia Commons has media related to Latin language.


Language tools[edit]

	
"Latin Dictionary Headword Search". Perseus Hopper. Tufts University. Searches Lewis & Short's A Latin Dictionary and Lewis's An Elementary Latin Dictionary. Online results.
	
"Online Latin Dictionary with conjugator and declension tool". Olivetti Media Communication. Search on line Latin-English and English-Latin dictionary with complete declension or conjugation. Online results.
	
"Latin Word Study Tool". Perseus Hopper. Tufts University. Identifies the grammatical functions of words entered. Online results.
	
Aversa, Alan. "Latin Inflector". University of Arizona. Identifies the grammatical functions of all the words in sentences entered, using Perseus.
	
"Latin Verb Conjugator". Verbix. Displays complete conjugations of verbs entered in first-person present singular form.
	
"Online Latin Verb Conjugator". Archived from the original on 18 May 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2014. Displays conjugation of verbs entered in their infinitive form.
	
Whittaker, William. "Words". Notre Dame Archives. Archived from the original on 18 June 2006. Identifies Latin words entered. Translates English words entered.
	
"Alpheios". Alpheios Project. Combines Whittakers Words, Lewis and Short, Bennett's grammar and inflection tables in a browser addon.
	Latin Dictionaries at Curlie
	
Dymock, John (1830). A new abridgment of Ainsworth's Dictionary, English and Latin, for the use of Grammar Schools (4th ed.). Glasgow: Hutchison & Brookman.
	"Classical Language Toolkit" (CLTK). A Natural Language Processing toolkit for Python offering a variety of functionality for Latin and other classical languages.


Courses[edit]

	Latin Lessons (free online through the Linguistics Research Center at UT Austin)
	Free 47-Lesson Online Latin Course, Learnlangs
	Learn Latin Grammar, vocabulary and audio
	Latin Links and Resources, Compiled by Fr. Gary Coulter
	
der Millner, Evan (2007). "Latinum". Latin Latin Course on YouTube and audiobooks. Molendinarius. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
	
Byrne, Carol (1999). "Simplicissimus" (PDF). The Latin Mass Society of England and Wales. Retrieved 20 April 2011. (a course in ecclesiastical Latin).
	
Harsch, Ulrich (1996–2010). "Ludus Latinus Cursus linguae latinae". Bibliotheca Augustiana (in Latin). Augsburg: University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
	Beginners' Latin on The National Archives (United Kingdom)


Grammar and study[edit]

	
Bennett, Charles E. (2005) [1908]. New Latin Grammar (2nd ed.). Project Gutenberg. ISBN 978-1-176-19706-0.
	
Griffin, Robin (1992). A student's Latin Grammar (3rd ed.). University of Cambridge. ISBN 978-0-521-38587-9.
	
Lehmann, Winifred P.; Slocum, Jonathan (2008). "Latin Online". The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 17 April 2020.


Phonetics[edit]

	
Cui, Ray (2005). "Phonetica Latinae-How to pronounce Latin". Ray Cui. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
	
"Latin Language" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.


Latin language news and audio[edit]

	Ephemeris, online Latin newspaper
	Nuntii Latini, from Finnish YLE Radio 1
	Nuntii Latini, monthly review from German Radio Bremen (Bremen Zwei)
	Classics Podcasts in Latin and Ancient Greek, Haverford College
	Latinum Latin Language course and Latin Language YouTube Index


Latin language online communities[edit]

	Grex Latine Loquentium (Flock of those Speaking Latin)
	Circulus Latinus Interretialis (Internet Latin Circle)
	Latinitas Foundation, at the Vatican




		v
	t
	e


Italic languages

	Latino-Faliscan	
	Latin
	Faliscan
	Praenestinian
	Lanuvian




	Osco-Umbrian	
	Oscan
	Umbrian
	Volscian
	Sabine
	South Picene
	Marsian
	Paeligni
	Hernican
	Marrucinian
	Pre-Samnite




	Unknown	
	Sicel? (possibly not Italic)
	Venetic? (possibly Celtic, transitional or independent)
	Aequian
	Vestinian
	Lusitanian? (possibly Celtic)




	Reconstructed	Proto-Italic language

	All Italic languages except Latin (and its descendants) are now extinct; Latin is still used as a liturgical language of the Catholic Church.




	
	v
	t
	e


Ages of Latin

		
until 75 BC
Old Latin



	
75 BC – 200 AD
Classical Latin



	
200–900
Late Latin



	
900–1300
Medieval Latin



	
1300–1500
Renaissance Latin



	
1500–1900
New Latin



	
1900–present
Contemporary Latin







	
	History of Latin
	Latin literature
	Vulgar Latin
	Ecclesiastical Latin
	Romance languages
	Latino sine flexione
	Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
	Hiberno-Latin
	Judeo-Latin







	
	v
	t
	e


Ancient Rome topics

	
	Outline
	Timeline




	History	
	
	Foundation
	Kingdom
	overthrow


	Republic




	Empire	
	History
	Pax Romana
	Principate
	Dominate
	Western Empire
	fall
	historiography of the fall


	Byzantine Empire
	decline
	fall









	Constitution	
	History
	Kingdom
	Republic
	Empire
	Late Empire
	Senate
	Legislative assemblies
	Curiate
	Centuriate
	Tribal
	Plebeian


	Executive magistrates
	SPQR




	Law	
	Twelve Tables
	Mos maiorum
	Citizenship
	Auctoritas
	Imperium
	Status
	Litigation




	Government	
	Curia
	Forum
	Cursus honorum
	Collegiality
	Emperor
	Legatus
	Dux
	Officium
	Prefect
	Vicarius
	Vigintisexviri
	Lictor
	Magister militum
	Imperator
	Princeps senatus
	Pontifex Maximus
	Augustus
	Caesar
	Tetrarch
	Optimates
	Populares
	Province




	Magistrates	
	Ordinary	
	Consul
	Censor
	Praetor
	Tribune
	Tribune of the plebs
	Military tribune
	Quaestor
	Aedile
	Promagistrate
	Governor




	Extraordinary	
	Rex
	Interrex
	Dictator
	Magister equitum
	Decemviri
	Consular tribune
	Triumvir







	Military	
	History
	Borders
	Establishment
	Structure
	Campaigns
	Political control
	Strategy
	Engineering
	Frontiers and fortifications
	castra


	Technology
	Army
	Legion
	Infantry tactics
	Personal equipment
	Siege engines


	Navy
	Auxiliaries
	Decorations and punishments
	Hippika gymnasia




	Economy	
	Agriculture
	Deforestation
	Commerce
	Finance
	Currency
	Republican currency
	Imperial currency




	Culture	
	Architecture
	Art
	Bathing
	Calendar
	Clothing
	Cosmetics
	Cuisine
	Hairstyles
	Education
	Literature
	Music
	Mythology
	Religion
	Deities


	Romanization
	Romans
	Sexuality
	Theatre
	Wine




	Society	
	Patricians
	Plebs
	Conflict of the Orders
	Secessio plebis
	Equites
	Gens
	Tribes
	Assembly


	Naming conventions
	Demography
	Women
	Marriage
	Adoption
	Slavery
	Bagaudae




	Technology	
	Amphitheatres
	Aqueducts
	Bridges
	Circuses
	Civil engineering
	Concrete
	Domes
	Metallurgy
	Numerals
	Roads
	Temples
	Theatres
	Sanitation
	Thermae




	Latin	
	History
	Alphabet
	Versions
	Old
	Classical
	Vulgar
	Late
	Medieval
	Renaissance
	New
	Contemporary
	Ecclesiastical


	Romance languages




	Writers	
	Latin	
	Aelius Donatus
	Ammianus Marcellinus
	Appuleius
	Asconius Pedianus
	Augustine
	Aurelius Victor
	Ausonius
	Boëthius
	Caesar
	Catullus
	Cassiodorus
	Censorinus
	Cicero
	Claudian
	Columella
	Cornelius Nepos
	Ennius
	Eutropius
	Fabius Pictor
	Sextus Pompeius Festus
	Rufus Festus
	Florus
	Frontinus
	Fronto
	Fulgentius
	Gellius
	Horace
	Hydatius
	Hyginus
	Jerome
	Jordanes
	Julius Paulus
	Justin
	Juvenal
	Lactantius
	Livy
	Lucan
	Lucretius
	Macrobius
	Marcellus Empiricus
	Marcus Aurelius
	Manilius
	Martial
	Nicolaus Damascenus
	Nonius Marcellus
	Obsequens
	Orosius
	Ovid
	Petronius
	Phaedrus
	Plautus
	Pliny the Elder
	Pliny the Younger
	Pomponius Mela
	Priscian
	Propertius
	Quadrigarius
	Quintilian
	Quintus Curtius Rufus
	Sallust
	Seneca the Elder
	Seneca the Younger
	Servius
	Sidonius Apollinaris
	Silius Italicus
	Statius
	Suetonius
	Symmachus
	Tacitus
	Terence
	Tertullian
	Tibullus
	Valerius Antias
	Valerius Maximus
	Varro
	Velleius Paterculus
	Verrius Flaccus
	Vergil
	Vitruvius




	Greek	
	Aelian
	Aëtius of Amida
	Appian
	Arrian
	Cassius Dio
	Diodorus Siculus
	Diogenes Laërtius
	Dionysius of Halicarnassus
	Dioscorides
	Eusebius of Caesaria
	Galen
	Herodian
	Josephus
	Julian
	Libanius
	Lucian
	Pausanias
	Philostratus
	Phlegon of Tralles
	Photius
	Plutarch
	Polyaenus
	Polybius
	Porphyrius
	Priscus
	Procopius
	Simplicius of Cilicia
	Sozomen
	Stephanus Byzantinus
	Strabo
	Themistius
	Theodoret
	Zonaras
	Zosimus







	Major cities	
	Alexandria
	Antioch
	Aquileia
	Berytus
	Bononia
	Carthage
	Constantinopolis
	Eboracum
	Leptis Magna
	Londinium
	Lugdunum
	Lutetia
	Mediolanum
	Pompeii
	Ravenna
	Roma
	Smyrna
	Vindobona
	Volubilis




	Lists and other
topics	
	Cities and towns
	Climate
	Consuls
	Dictators
	Distinguished women
	Dynasties
	Emperors
	Generals
	Gentes
	Geographers
	Institutions
	Laws
	Legacy
	Legions
	Magistri equitum
	Nomina
	Pontifices Maximi
	Praetors
	Quaestors
	Tribunes
	Roman–Iranian relations
	Wars and battles
	Civil wars and revolts




	Fiction
	Films







	Authority control 	
	GND: 4114364-4
	HDS: 011197
	LCCN: sh85074944
	NDL: 00569314














Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Latin&oldid=1002530076"


		Categories: 	Languages attested from the 7th century BC
	Latin language
	Forms of Latin
	Fusional languages
	Languages of Andorra
	Languages of France
	Languages of Italy
	Languages of Portugal
	Languages of Romania
	Languages of Spain
	Languages of Vatican City
	Subject–object–verb languages


Hidden categories: 	CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
	CS1 Latin-language sources (la)
	Webarchive template wayback links
	Harv and Sfn no-target errors
	All articles with dead external links
	Articles with dead external links from November 2017
	Articles with short description
	Short description is different from Wikidata
	Use dmy dates from August 2020
	Articles containing Latin-language text
	Languages with ISO 639-2 code
	Languages with ISO 639-1 code
	Language articles with unreferenced extinction date
	All articles with unsourced statements
	Articles with unsourced statements from June 2014
	Articles with unsourced statements from May 2017
	Articles containing Italian-language text
	Articles containing French-language text
	Articles containing Spanish-language text
	Articles containing Portuguese-language text
	Articles containing Romanian-language text
	Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020
	Articles containing German-language text
	Articles containing Dutch-language text
	All accuracy disputes
	Articles with disputed statements from January 2017
	Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text
	Articles containing Greek-language text
	Articles needing additional references from May 2020
	All articles needing additional references
	Commons link is on Wikidata
	Articles with Curlie links
	Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
	Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers
	Wikipedia articles with HDS identifiers
	Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers
	Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers




	




	





	Navigation menu

	
		

	
		Personal tools
	

	
			Not logged in
	Talk
	Contributions
	Create account
	Log in


		
	



		
			

	
		Namespaces
	

	
			Article
	Talk


		
	



			

	
	
		Variants
	

	
		

		
	



		

		
			

	
		Views
	

	
			Read
	Edit
	View history


		
	



			

	
	
		More
	

	
		

		
	



			
	
		Search
	

	
		
			
			
			
			
		

	




		

	

	

	
		
	

	

	
		Navigation
	

	
			Main page
	Contents
	Current events
	Random article
	About Wikipedia
	Contact us
	Donate


		
	



	

	
		Contribute
	

	
			Help
	Learn to edit
	Community portal
	Recent changes
	Upload file


		
	




	
		Tools
	

	
			What links here
	Related changes
	Upload file
	Special pages
	Permanent link
	Page information
	Cite this page
	Wikidata item


		
	




	
		Print/export
	

	
			Download as PDF
	Printable version


		
	




	
		In other projects
	

	
			Wikimedia Commons
	Wikibooks
	Wikiquote
	Wikiversity


		
	



	

	
		Languages
	

	
			Адыгэбзэ
	Afrikaans
	Alemannisch
	አማርኛ
	Ænglisc
	Аҧсшәа
	العربية
	Aragonés
	ܐܪܡܝܐ
	Armãneashti
	Arpetan
	অসমীয়া
	Asturianu
	Avañe'ẽ
	Авар
	Azərbaycanca
	تۆرکجه
	Basa Bali
	Bamanankan
	বাংলা
	Bân-lâm-gú
	Башҡортса
	Беларуская
	Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎
	भोजपुरी
	Bikol Central
	Български
	Boarisch
	བོད་ཡིག
	Bosanski
	Brezhoneg
	Буряад
	Català
	Чӑвашла
	Cebuano
	Čeština
	Chavacano de Zamboanga
	Chi-Chewa
	Corsu
	Cymraeg
	Dansk
	الدارجة
	Davvisámegiella
	Deutsch
	Dolnoserbski
	Eesti
	Ελληνικά
	Emiliàn e rumagnòl
	Эрзянь
	Español
	Esperanto
	Estremeñu
	Euskara
	فارسی
	Fiji Hindi
	Føroyskt
	Français
	Frysk
	Furlan
	Gaeilge
	Gaelg
	Gagauz
	Gàidhlig
	Galego
	ГӀалгӀай
	贛語
	𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺
	客家語/Hak-kâ-ngî
	Хальмг
	한국어
	Hausa
	Հայերեն
	हिन्दी
	Hornjoserbsce
	Hrvatski
	Ido
	Ilokano
	Bahasa Indonesia
	Interlingua
	Interlingue
	Ирон
	IsiZulu
	Íslenska
	Italiano
	עברית
	Jawa
	Kabɩyɛ
	Kalaallisut
	ಕನ್ನಡ
	Къарачай-малкъар
	ქართული
	Kaszëbsczi
	Қазақша
	Kernowek
	Kinyarwanda
	Kiswahili
	Коми
	Kongo
	Kreyòl ayisyen
	Kriyòl gwiyannen
	Kurdî
	Кыргызча
	Кырык мары
	Ladin
	Ladino
	Лакку
	ລາວ
	Latina
	Latviešu
	Lëtzebuergesch
	Лезги
	Lietuvių
	Ligure
	Limburgs
	Lingála
	Lingua Franca Nova
	Livvinkarjala
	Lumbaart
	Magyar
	Македонски
	Malagasy
	മലയാളം
	Malti
	मराठी
	მარგალური
	مصرى
	مازِرونی
	Bahasa Melayu
	Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄
	Mirandés
	Мокшень
	Монгол
	မြန်မာဘာသာ
	Nāhuatl
	Dorerin Naoero
	Nederlands
	Nedersaksies
	नेपाली
	नेपाल भाषा
	日本語
	Napulitano
	Нохчийн
	Nordfriisk
	Norfuk / Pitkern
	Norsk bokmål
	Norsk nynorsk
	Nouormand
	Novial
	Occitan
	Олык марий
	ଓଡ଼ିଆ
	Oʻzbekcha/ўзбекча
	ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
	Pälzisch
	Pangasinan
	پنجابی
	Papiamentu
	پښتو
	Patois
	ភាសាខ្មែរ
	Picard
	Piemontèis
	Tok Pisin
	Plattdüütsch
	Polski
	Português
	Qaraqalpaqsha
	Qırımtatarca
	Ripoarisch
	Română
	Rumantsch
	Runa Simi
	Русиньскый
	Русский
	Саха тыла
	संस्कृतम्
	ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ
	Sardu
	Scots
	Seeltersk
	Shqip
	Sicilianu
	සිංහල
	Simple English
	سنڌي
	Slovenčina
	Slovenščina
	Словѣньскъ / ⰔⰎⰑⰂⰡⰐⰠⰔⰍⰟ
	Ślůnski
	Soomaaliga
	کوردی
	Српски / srpski
	Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
	Sunda
	Suomi
	Svenska
	Tagalog
	தமிழ்
	Taqbaylit
	Татарча/tatarça
	తెలుగు
	ไทย
	Тоҷикӣ
	ᏣᎳᎩ
	Türkçe
	Türkmençe
	Тыва дыл
	Удмурт
	Українська
	اردو
	ئۇيغۇرچە / Uyghurche
	Vèneto
	Vepsän kel’
	Tiếng Việt
	Volapük
	Võro
	Walon
	文言
	West-Vlams
	Winaray
	吴语
	ייִדיש
	Yorùbá
	粵語
	Zazaki
	Zeêuws
	Žemaitėška
	中文


		Edit links

	









		 This page was last edited on 24 January 2021, at 21:53 (UTC).
	Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply.  By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



		Privacy policy
	About Wikipedia
	Disclaimers
	Contact Wikipedia
	Mobile view
	Developers
	Statistics
	Cookie statement