340 LATIN LANGUAGE
ii. 100-150 A.D. III. 300-350 A.D. IV. 500-550 A.D. V. f Surds changed to sonants (bublicae, grassus, &c.). Aspiration neglected (often even in the Augustan age, and common in Pompeian inscriptions). i for ē. u for ō. v for b (very common in 3d century). s for x (rare before 4th century). tt or t for ct (autor for auctor; later prefetto for praefecto).
f l and r interchanged (only under special circumstances before the next period). Assibilation of ti and ci, and of di and j. g for j before e and i (comp. Giove, congiunto). i prefixed to s followed by a consonant (iscala = escalier, ispiritus = esprit). tt for pt. ss for sc.
g assibilated before e and i. ss for st. mm for gm. p inserted between m and n.
c assibilated before c and i. ie for ĕ. uo for ŏ.
The assibilation of ci commenced in Africa, not before the time of Alexander Severus (222-235 A.D.), and was late in extending to Italy; in Gaul it was common in the 7th century; that of ti was generally adopted even by the educated in the 5th century. In the 6th and 7th century g was dropped after vowels before e or i (vinti = viginti) in Africa. This phenomenon had been common in Umbrian and Oscan.
The exact date of some of these changes is open to question; but it would be impossible to attempt to determine it without a fuller discussion of the evidence than is here possible. On the whole, it may be asserted with confidence that all these changes had been fully established before the end of the 6th century after Christ. The question of the relation of the Latin language to the various Romance tongues which have been derived from it is one which can be discussed in detail only under the head of the several languages. The general character of the relation is all that can be touched upon here. But it is of importance to notice that the metaphor which is embodied in the phrase "mother and daughter languages" holds good only for literature. From this point of view M. Littré writes with justice: "Latin alters without doubt towards the end of the empire and after the arrival of the barbarians, and the style of Gregory of Tours is very far removed from the purity of Livy; but after all it is Latin, and not one of the Neo-Latin lan guages. Then all at once it disappears, and we see arising, as if from under the ground, the various idioms to which it has given birth. It dies suddenly and without transformation, so that these secondary languages cannot be considered as the metamorphosis or expansion of it. We have no right to say that Latin is continued in the new languages; it died without developing itself, but it died leaving children and heirs." Such a breach of continuity is wholly inconceivable as an historical procedure. From the popular Latin various dialects were gradually formed, assuming forms differing with the various influences which were brought to bear upon them. It is true that there is much in the derived languages which cannot be shown to have existed in the popular Latin; but if we set aside what is evidently due to the action of foreign, especially Teutonic idioms – and this is to be found far more in the vocabulary than in the syntax – there is nothing which may not fairly be ascribed to the operation of tendencies already existing in the plebeian speech. By degrees the custom grew up of confining the name Latina to the literary language, while the popular speech was known as lingua Romana. As early as 660 A.D. St Mummolinus was elected bishop of Noyon, "quia praevalebat, non tantum in Teutonica, sed etiam in Romana lingua." In the middle of the next century the Acta Sanctorum, speaking of St Adalhard, abbot of Corbey, brings out the distinction still more clearly: "qui si vulgari, id est, Romana lingua loqueretur, omnium aliarum putaretur inscius; si vero Teutonica, enitebat perfectius, si Latina, in nulla omnino absolutius." The famous "glosses of Reichenau" of the same date explain some words of the Latin vulgate in the popular language: e.g., cacmentarii = macioni (maçons). In the beginning of the 9th century the church ordered the priest to preach, not in literary Latin, but in the popular tongue. The oath of Strasburg (842 A.D.), happily preserved in a contemporary record, gives us what may be called with equal justice the latest specimen of the Latin or the earliest example of the French language.
Pro Deo amur et pro Christian poblo et nostro
(Latin) Pro Dei amore et pro christiano populo et nostro
(French) Pour l'amour de Dieu, et pour le salut du peuple chrétien
et de notre
Commun salvament, d'ist di en avant, in quant Deus
Communi salvamento de isto die in ab-ante in quantum Deus
Commun salut de ce jour en avant, autant que Dicu
Savir et podir me dunat, si salvarai eo cist meon fradre Sapere et posse mihi donabit, si salvare habeo ego ecc'istum meum fratrem Me donne savoir et pouvoir, je sauverai mon frère Karlo et in adjudha et in cadhuna cosa, si cum om per Carolum et in adjutu et in quaque una causa, sic quomodo homo per Charles et en aide et en chaque chose, ainsi qu'on doit Dreit son fradra salvar dist, in o quid il mi altresi Directum suum fratrem salvare debitus est, in eo quod ille mihi alterum sic Selon la justice sauver son frère, à condition qu'il en fasse autant Fazet; et ab Ludher nul plaid numquam prindrai Faciet, et ab Lothario nullum placitum nunquam prehendere habeo Pour moi, et je ne ferai avec Lothaire aucun accord Qui meon vol cist meon fradre Karle in damno sit. Quod mea voluntate ecc'isto meo fratri Carolo in damno sit. Qui par ma volonté porte préjudice, à mon frère Charles ici présent.
Leading phonetic changes in the Romance languages.
The details of the changes which the popular Latin experienced in passing into the Romance languages cannot be given in this connexion; but a few of the leading features may be not impro- perly noticed. It is to be remarked at the outset, however, that these concern only those portions of the vocabulary which have come by direct descent from the Latin; in all the Romance languages there is a large element which is due to borrowing at a later stage by the learned; for this portion the tendencies to be mentioned do not come into play. The Italian cagione, Spanish velar, French frêle, are examples of the first class; Ital. occasione, Span, vigilar, French fragile, are instances of the second. We notice then that (1) the accented vowel, "the soul of the word," as it is called by Diez, is always retained, subject to phonetic changes: comp. rábiem = rage, crétam = craie. (2) An unaccented vowel in the immediate neighbourhood of an accented one is usually lost: comp. auricula = oreille = orecchio, or changed for another, especially a, almost arbitrarily, e.g., silvaticus = salvaggio = sauvage. (3) Diphthongs are rarely retained; the tendency noticed already in Latin to change them into simple vowels con tinued to operate; and the numerous diphthongs in the Romance languages are usually of later origin, arising either from contraction, or from the modification of simple vowels. (4) A mute between two vowels is commonly lost: comp. frigidus = froid = freddo; lau- dare = louer. Hiatus thus caused is usually removed by contrac tion. (5) When two mutes are brought into contact, by the loss of the intermediate vowel, the former is generally sacrificed: manducare = mangiare, manger; berbicarius = berger. (6) C before a, o, and u, before a consonant, or at the end of a word, commonly remains, but occasionally is softened; it is only in French that as a rule ca becomes cha or che, as in caballus = cheval, cambiare = changer, while co, cu are retained, as in collum = cou, cuncus = coin. When medial, it is softened usually in Spanish, and frequently in Italian; in French it passes into y or i, as in doyen = decanus, braie = braca, or is lost, as in mie = mica, prier = precari. before e, i, ae, oe, is almost invariably assibilated, in accordance with a linguistic law, examples of which might be adduced from the most diverse quarters. G has passed through precisely analogous changes. (7) The liquids l and r freely interchange; and, while in Latin itself I rarely if ever becomes r, except under the influence of dissimilation, in the Romance languages this change is appar ently quite as common as the reverse: e.g., lusciniola = rosig- nuolo = rossignol. L regularly becomes i after c (ch) f in Italian, and al before a mute becomes au in French. Both r and l are especially liable to metathesis, as also in Latin and English: e.g., Span, blago from baculus, Ital. frugare from furca. N frequently becomes r, as in pampre for papinus; but the reverse rarely hap pens. (8) Before sp, st, sc, Spanish always, French and Provençal usually, but Italian never prefixes e: comp. spiritus; Span, espiritu, French esprit, Prov. esperit, Ital. spirito.
It is needless to add that assimilation, syncope, and the avoidance of a harsh concurrence of consonants, either by the rejection of one or more of them, or by the insertion of a vowel, have all played a great part in the consonantal system of the Romance languages. A table of the chief changes of consonants in combina tion will be found in Diez, Grammaire des Langues Romanes, vol. i. p. 282.
Change of inflexion.
In nouns the inflexions denoting cases were generally lost and their functions supplied in the genitive, dative, and ablative by the use of prepositions, and this in two ways. On the one hand French and Provençal, following a tendency common in popular Latin, took the accusative as the typical oblique case, and used forms thence derived for the objective case, while forms derived from the nominative constituted the subjective case: e.g., sing. subj. murs (= murus), obj. mur (= murum), plur. subj. tnur (= muri), obj.
