Old Latin
Latin language in the period before 75 BC / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical Latin: prīsca Latīnitās, lit. 'ancient Latinity'), was the Latin language in the period roughly before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin.[1] It descends from a common Proto-Italic language; Latino-Faliscan is likely a separate branch from Osco-Umbrian with possible further relation to other Italic languages and to Celtic; e.g. the Italo-Celtic hypothesis.
| Old Latin | |
|---|---|
| Archaic Latin | |
 The Duenos inscription, one of the earliest Old Latin texts | |
| Native to | Latium, later the Roman Kingdom and Republic |
| Region | Italy |
| Ethnicity | Latins, Romans |
| Era | Attested since 7th century BC. Developed into Vulgar Latin as colloquial form, and Classical Latin as literary form, around 75 BC. |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
| Latin alphabet | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Rome |
| Regulated by | Schools of grammar and rhetoric |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
qbb | |
| Glottolog | oldl1238 |
 Expansion of the Roman Republic during the 2nd century BC. Very little Latin is likely to have been spoken beyond the green area, and other languages were spoken even within it. | |
| 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. | |
The use of "old", "early" and "archaic" has been standard in publications of Old Latin writings since at least the 18th century. The definition is not arbitrary, but the terms refer to spelling conventions and word forms not generally found in works written under the Roman Empire. This article presents some of the major differences.
The earliest known specimen of Latin seems to be on the Praeneste fibula. An analysis done in 2011 declared it to be genuine "beyond any reasonable doubt"[2] and dating from the Orientalizing period, in the first half of the seventh century BC.[3] Other Old Latin inscriptions dated to either the late Roman Kingdom or early Roman Republic include the Lapis Niger stone, the Duenos Inscription on a kernos vase, and the Garigliano bowl of Bucchero type.