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

'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.
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. 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''.
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:

★ Plautus (3rd–2nd century BC)

★ Cato the Elder (234–149 BC)

Contents

Grammar and Morphology (Differences from Classical Latin)

Nouns

First declension (a)

Second declension (b)

Third declension (c)

Personal Prounouns

The Relative Prounoun

Verbs

Old Present and Perfects

See also

External links

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.

	'puella, –aī ''girl, maiden'' f.'
	'Singular'	'Plural'
'Nominative'	puella	puellai
'Vocative'	puella	puellai
'Accusative'	puellam	puellā
'Genitive'	puellās/-es/-ai	puellōm/ -āsom
'Dative'	puellai	puellaīs/-eīs/ -abos
'Ablative'	puellād	puellaīs/-eīs/ -abos
'Locative'	puellā	puellaīs/-eīs

Second declension (b)

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

	'campos, –oī ''field, plain'' m.'		'saxom, –oī ''rock, stone'' n.'
	'Singular'	'Plural'	'Singular'	'Plural'
'Nominative'	campos	campoī	saxom	saxa
'Vocative'	campe	campoī	saxe	saxoī
'Accusative'	campom	campōs	saxom	saxa
'Genitive'	campoī	campōm/ -ōsom	saxoī	saxōm/ -ōsom
'Dative'	campoī	campoīs	saxoī	saxoīs
'Ablative'	campōd	campoīs	saxōd	saxoīs/ -oes
'Locative'	campō	campoīs	saxō	saxoīs/ -oes

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.

Third declension (c)

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

	'Regs –es ''king'' m.'
	'Singular'	'Plural'
'Nominative'	regs	reges
'Vocative'	regs	reges
'Accusative'	regem	reges
'Genitive'	regis	regōm
'Dative'	regei	regebos
'Ablative'	regeid	regebos
'Locative'	regei	regebos

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'.

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.

	'Ego, ''I'''	'Tu, ''You'''	'Suī, ''Himself, Herself, Etc.'''
'Nominative'	ego	tu	-
'Accusative'	mēd	tēd	sēd
'Genitive'	mis	tis	sei
'Dative'	mihei, mehei	tibei	sibei
'Ablative'	mēd	tēd	sēd
	'Plural'
'Nominative'	nōs	vōs	-
'Accusative'	nōs	vōs	sēd
'Genitive'	nostrōm, -ōrum, -i	vostrōm, -ōrum, -i	sei
'Dative'	nōbeis, nis	vōbeis	sibei
'Ablative'	nōbeis, nis	nōbeis	sēd

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.

'queī, quaī, quod ''who, what'''
	'Masculine'	'Feminine'	'Neuter'
'Nominative'	queī	quaī	quod
'Accusative'	quem	quam	quod
'Genitive'	quoius, quoios	quoia	quoium, quoiom
'Dative'	quoī, queī, quoieī, queī
'Ablative'	quī, quōd	quād	quōd
	'Plural'
'Nominative'	ques, queis	quaī	qua
'Accusative'	quōs	quās	quōs
'Genitive'	quōm, quōrom	quōm, quārom	quōm, quōrom
'Dative'	queis, quīs
'Ablative'	queis, quīs

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.

	'Indicative Present: Sum'				'Indicative Present: Facio'
	'Old'		'Classical'		'Old'		'Classical'
	'Singular'	'Plural'	'Singular'	'Plural'	'Singular'	'Plural'	'Singular'	'Plural'
'First Person'	som, esom	somos, sumos	sum	sumus	fac(e/ī)o	fac(e)imos	facio	facīmus
'Second Person'	es	esteīs	es	estis	fac(e/ī)s	fac(e/ī)teis	facis	facitis
'Third Person'	est	sont	est	sunt	fac(e/ī)d/-(e/i)t	fac(e/ī)ont	facit	faciunt

	'Indicative Perfect: Sum'				'Indicative Perfect: Facio'
	'Old'		'Classical'		'Old'		'Classical'
	'Singular'	'Plural'	'Singular'	'Plural'	'Singular'	'Plural'	'Singular'	'Plural'
'First Person'	fuei	fuemos	fui	fuimus	(fe)fecei	(fe)fecemos	feci	fecīmus
'Second Person'	fuistei	fuisteīs	fuisti	fuistis	(fe)fecistei	(fe)fecisteis	fecisti	fecistis
'Third Person'	fued/fuit	fueront/-erom	fuit	fuerunt	(fe)feced/-et	(fe)feceront/-erom	fecit	fecerunt

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 the Latin short ''u'' evolved to ''o'' in Modern Spanish; similarly Latin short ''i'' converted to ''e'', giving Spanish ''fue'' from Classical Latin ''fuit''.

See also

★ Saturnian (verse form)

External links

★ Old Latin Inscriptions