Definition

Noun: * Old Latin: The oldest recorded form of the Latin language, with surviving inscriptions and texts dating from as early as the 6th century B.C. until approximately the 1st century B.C., after which it evolved into Classical Latin.

Usage

• Old Latin is used as a proper noun to refer to a specific historical stage of the Latin language. It is primarily an academic term used in the fields of historical linguistics, classical studies, and philology.
• It describes the archaic language found on early Roman inscriptions, legal texts like the , and in fragments of early Roman literature.

Examples

• Scholars study Old Latin to understand the phonological and morphological changes that led to Classical Latin.
• The Carmen Arvale is a hymn preserved in a very archaic form of Old Latin.
• Many inscriptions from the Roman Republic are written in Old Latin.

Advanced Usage

• Pre-Classical Latin: This is a synonym often used interchangeably with Old Latin, though some scholars use it to describe a slightly later developmental phase.
• Archaic Latin: Another common synonym for Old Latin, emphasizing its ancient character compared to the standardized Classical period.

Variants and Related Words

• Classical Latin: The form of Latin that followed Old Latin, standardized in the late Roman Republic and early Empire, used by authors like Cicero and Virgil.
• Vulgar Latin: The spoken, colloquial form of Latin that evolved concurrently with and after Classical Latin, leading to the Romance languages.
• Late Latin: The Latin used in writings from the late Roman Empire and the early medieval period.
• Proto-Italic: The reconstructed ancestor language from which Old Latin descended.

Synonyms

• Archaic Latin
• Early Latin
• Pre-Classical Latin

Notes on Meaning

The term Old Latin specifically denotes the earliest attested (written) phase of Latin. It is distinct from: 1. Reconstructed Proto-Languages: Such as Proto-Italic or Proto-Indo-European, which are hypothetical, unattested ancestors. 2. Later Stages of Latin: Such as Classical, Vulgar, Medieval, or Ecclesiastical Latin, which represent subsequent developments.

Noun

1. the oldest recorded Latin (dating back at early as the 6th century B.C.)