For example in Welsh, long vowels are usually marked with a circumflex accent, known as a to bach (‘little roof’) in Welsh - â, ê, î, etc. For example, in Navajo an acute accent indicates a high tone - á, ę́, ó, etc.
Each language uses a slightly different set of letters, and they are pronounced in various ways. The modern Latin alphabet is used to write hundreds of different languages. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) Other versions of the Latin alphabet They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
#LATIN MODERN ROMAN FREE#
Old Latin translations by Giorgio Nagy TranslationĪll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Obnēs homenēs degnetāte et iouse leiberei et parēs gnāscontor, ratiōnes et cōnscientiaī particepēs sont, queis enter sēd concordiaī studeōd agondom est. Opnēs hemones decnotāti et iovesi louberoi et parēs gnāscontor, rationes et comscientiās particapes sont, quois enter sēd comcordiās studēōd agontinom est. Source and more information: Sample texts Old Latin (Prisca Latinitas) (600-500 BC) It is thought to date from the 7th to 5th century BC. It is known as the Duenos inscription, and was found on the Quirinal Hill in Rome by Heinrich Dressel, a German archaeologist, in 1880. This is a version of the earliest known text in Latin. Before a vowel or between vowels I was pronounced /j/.The letter G was later added to the alphabet to distinguish these sounds. Before A the letter K was used for these sounds, before O or V, Q was used, and C was used elsewhere.
The sounds /g/ and /k/ were not distinguished in the oldest Latin texts.By the 5th or 4th century BC it was normally written from left to right. Latin was original written either from right to left, left to right, or alternating between those two directions (boustrophedon).
Many of the letters have serveral different shapes in different inscriptions and texts. This is one version of the Ancient Latin alphabet.Other letters were added from time to time as the Latin alphabet was adapted for other languages. The letters Y and Z were taken from the Greek alphabet to write Greek loan words. It was adapted from the Etruscan alphabet during the 7th century BC. The earliest known inscriptions in the Latin alphabet date from the 6th century BC. There is no historical evidence to support this story, which comes from the Roman author, Gaius Julius Hyginus (64BC - 17AD). This was introduced to Latium by Evander, her son. Since then it has had many different forms, and been adapted to write many other languages.Īccording to Roman legend, the Cimmerian Sibyl, Carmenta, created the Latin alphabet by adapting the Greek alphabet used in the Greek colony of Cumae in southern Italy. The Latin, or Roman, alphabet was originally adapted from theĮtruscan alphabet during the 7th century BC to write Latin.