What is the name of the Latin language? Origin of the Latin language

LATIN LANGUAGE(Latin), one of the Indo-European languages ​​of the Italic group, in which - from about the 6th century. BC. to 6th century AD - said the ancient Romans and which was the official language of the Roman Empire; until the beginning of the New Age - one of the main written languages ​​of Western European science, culture and social life; the official language of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church (until the mid-20th century, it was also used in Catholic worship); the language of a rich, more than two thousand-year-old literary tradition, one of the most important languages ​​of universal human culture, which continues to be actively used in some fields of knowledge (medicine, biology, general scientific terminology of the natural sciences and humanities).

Initially, Latin was only one of many in a group of closely related Italic languages ​​(the most significant among them are Oscan and Umbrian), formed by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. in central and southern Italy. The original zone of existence of the Latin language is the small region of Latium, or Latium (lat. Latium, modern it. Lazio) around Rome, but as the ancient Roman state expanded, the influence of the Latin language gradually spread to the entire territory of modern Italy (where other local languages ​​were completely supplanted by it), Southern France (Provence) and a significant part of Spain, and by the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. – to almost all countries of the Mediterranean basin, as well as Western (up to the Rhine and Danube) and Northern Europe (including the British Isles). In modern Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Romania and others. other countries of Europe and currently speak languages ​​that are descendants of Latin (they form the so-called Romance group of the Indo-European family); In modern times, Romance languages ​​spread very widely (Central and South America, West and Central Africa, French Polynesia, etc.).

In the history of the Latin language, archaic (up to the 3rd century BC), classical (early - up to the 1st century AD and late - up to the 3rd century AD) and postclassical periods (up to approximately 6th century AD) are distinguished. . AD). Latin literature reached its greatest flourishing in the era of Caesar and Augustus (1st century BC, the so-called “Golden Latin” of Cicero, Virgil and Horace). The language of the postclassical period is characterized by noticeable regional differences and gradually (through the stage of the so-called Vulgar, or folk Latin) breaks up into separate Romance dialects (in the 8th–9th centuries it is already possible to speak with confidence about the existence of early variants of modern Romance languages, the difference of which from written Latin was fully understood by contemporaries).

Although after the 6th century. (i.e. after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire) Latin as a living spoken language falls out of use and can be considered dead, its role in the history of medieval Western Europe, where it remained the only written language for a long time, turns out to be extremely important - it is not by chance that everything Western European languages, except Greek, use a Latin-based alphabet; Currently, this alphabet has spread throughout the globe. During the Renaissance, interest in classical Latin even increased, and until the end of the 17th century. it continues to serve as the primary language of European science, diplomacy and the church. Latin was written at the court of Charlemagne and in the papal office, and was used by St. Thomas Aquinas and Petrarch, Erasmus of Rotterdam and Copernicus, Leibniz and Spinoza, it sounded in the oldest European universities, uniting people from different countries - from Prague to Bologna, from Ireland to Spain; Only in the newest period of European history does this unifying and cultural role gradually pass first to French and then to English, which in the modern era has become one of the so-called “world languages”. In the countries of Romanesque speech, the Catholic Church finally abandoned divine services in Latin only in the 20th century, but they are preserved, for example, by Catholics of the Gallican rite.

The most ancient monuments of the Latin language (6–7 centuries BC) are short inscriptions on objects and tombstones, excerpts of the so-called Salic hymns and some. etc.; The first surviving monuments of fiction date back to the 3rd century. BC. (it was during this period that the unification of Italy under the rule of Rome and intensive contacts with the Greek culture of Southern Italy began). The most famous author of this period is the comedian Titus Maccius Plautus, who left brilliant examples of “unsmoothed” colloquial speech; early examples of journalism are represented in the writings of Marcus Porcius Cato the Elder.

The classical period is characterized by the rapid flourishing of fiction and journalism: the canon of normative prose language (which all subsequent generations were guided by) was created in the works of such authors as the orator, publicist and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero and Gaius Julius Caesar, who left historical notes about his conquests; the canon of poetic language - in the works of such authors as the lyricists Gaius Valerius Catullus, Quintus Horace Flaccus, Albius Tibullus, the epics Publius Virgil Maron, Publius Ovid Naso (whose lyrical heritage is also significant), etc.; their works are an integral part of world literature, familiarity with which forms the basis of modern humanitarian “classical education”. An important role is also played by historical and natural science prose of such authors as Gaius Sallust Crispus, Cornelius Nepos, Titus Livius, Marcus Terence Varro.

Among the authors of the late classical period, the work of the satirist poet Marcus Valery Martial and the prose writer Titus Petronius Arbiter, whose language is closer to colloquial than that of the authors of the “golden age,” is of particular importance.

The late classical period is also characterized by the appearance of a large amount of philosophical and scientific prose; At this time, historians Gaius Cornelius Tacitus and Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, naturalist Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus the Elder, philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca and many others wrote. etc.

In the postclassical period, the activities of Christian authors acquired particular importance, of which the most famous are Quintus Septimius Florent Tertullian, Sophronius Eusebius Jerome (St. Jerome, who completed the first Latin translation of the Bible at the end of the 4th century), Decimus Aurelius Augustine (Blessed Augustine).

Medieval Latin literature includes mostly religious, philosophical and scientific journalistic texts, although works of art were also created in Latin. One of the most striking and original manifestations of medieval Latin literature is the so-called lyric poetry of vagantes (or wandering students), which reached its greatest flowering in the 9th–13th centuries; Based on the traditions of Latin classical poetry (especially Ovid), the vagantes create short poems for the occasion, love and table lyrics, and satire.

The Latin alphabet is a variety of Western Greek (adopted by the Romans, like many other achievements of material and spiritual culture, possibly through the Etruscans); in the oldest versions of the Latin alphabet there is no letter G (officially legalized by the end of the 3rd century BC), sounds are designated in the same way u And v, i And j(additional letters v And j appear only in the Renaissance among European humanists; many scholarly editions of classical Latin texts do not use them). The direction of writing from left to right was finally established only by the 4th century. BC. (the direction of writing in more ancient monuments varies). The length of vowels, as a rule, is not indicated (although in some ancient texts a special “apex” sign is used to convey longitude in the form of a slash above the letter, for example á).

Linguistically, the Latin language is characterized by many features typical of the most archaic Indo-European languages, including a developed morphological system of declension and conjugation, inflection, and prefixed verbal word formation.

A feature of the phonetic system of the Latin language is the presence of labiovelar stops k w (orthographically qu) and (spelling ngu) and the absence of voiced fricatives (in particular, voiced pronunciation s not reconstructed for the classical period); All vowels are characterized by opposition in length. In classical Latin, stress, according to the evidence of ancient grammarians, was musical (raising the tone on a stressed vowel); the place of stress was almost entirely determined by the phonological structure of the word. In the Preclassical era there may have been a strong initial stress (this explains many historical changes in the Latin vowel system); in the postclassical era, the stress loses its musical character (and in none of the Romance languages ​​does musical stress remain). The Latin language is also characterized by various restrictions on the structure of the syllable and rather complex rules for the assimilation of vowels and consonants (for example, long vowels cannot be placed before combinations nt, nd and before m; voiced noisy ones do not occur before voiceless noisy ones and at the end of a word; brief i And o also - with a few exceptions - does not occur at the end of a word, etc.). Confluences of three or more consonants are avoided (there are few permissible combinations of three consonants; they are possible mainly at the junction of a prefix and a root - for example, pst, tst, nfl, mbr and some etc.).

Morphologically, first of all, the name and the verb are contrasted; adjectives and adverbs can be considered as special categories of names. Unlike many new Indo-European languages, Latin adjectives, although they change by case, do not have a special (compared to nouns) set of case endings; Gender agreement is also not typical for many adjectives, and often a noun differs from an adjective only in its syntactic function in a sentence (for example, pauper can mean "poor" and "poor" ales– “winged” and “bird”, amicus– “friendly” and “friend”, etc.).

Names traditionally have five types of declension, which have different sets of case-numerical endings (the meanings of number and case are expressed together by the same indicator, cf. lup- us "wolf, unit" lup- i "wolves, pl.," lup- o "to the wolves, dat. pl."). There are five main cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, depositive (combining the functions of the instrumental, depositive and locative; traces of the lost locative case are found in separate frozen forms); forms of the vocative case differ from forms of the nominative case only in singular. number of some nouns are masculine. In no one type of declension do all five case forms differ (for example, the endings of the nominative and genitive, dative and genitive, dative and depositive cases can coincide; in the plural, the endings of the dative and depositive cases coincide for all nouns; neuter nouns always have the same endings nominative and accusative cases, etc.). This feature of the Latin declension (a large number of types of declension with a large number of homonymous endings) played (along with external historical circumstances) an important role in the subsequent restructuring of the Latin case system, which led first to its significant simplification, and then to its complete loss in all modern Romance languages ​​( except Romanian, which has retained a reduced two-case system). Tendencies towards the unification of declension begin to be traced already in classical Latin. As in most archaic Indo-European languages, a distinction is made between masculine, feminine and neuter gender (in Romance languages, the neuter gender is almost completely lost); The connection between gender and type of declension of a name is not rigid. Names consistently distinguish between singular and plural (there is no dual); There are no indicators of definiteness/indeterminacy (articles) in classical Latin, unlike the Romance languages.

The Latin verb has a developed inflectional conjugation system, which, however, appears somewhat simplified compared to the more archaic verbal systems of such Indo-European languages ​​as ancient Greek or Sanskrit. The main grammatical opposition within the Latin verbal system should be recognized as opposition in relative time (or taxis), i.e. an indication of the simultaneity, precedence or succession of two situations (the so-called rules of “coordination of times”); this feature brings Latin closer to modern Romance and Germanic languages. The values ​​of relative time are expressed together with the values ​​of absolute time (the present, past and future are distinguished) and aspect (the continuous and limited form are distinguished). Thus, simultaneity in the past, like duration, express forms of imperfect; precedence in the past - forms of the plusquaperfect, limited (one-time) action in the past - usually forms of the so-called perfect, etc. Oppositions in absolute time are expressed not only in the system of real forms (i.e., the indicative mood), but also in the system of unreal moods: imperative and subjunctive. Thus, forms of the imperative mood fall into simple and “deferred” (“do it later, after”); the choice of forms of the subjunctive mood (expressing condition, wish, possibility, assumption, etc.) is also closely related to the rules of “agreement of tenses” (especially strict in the language of the classical period).

Latin verb forms consistently agree in person/number with the subject; personal endings are different not only in different tenses and moods, but also in different forms of voice: the series of “active” and “passive” personal endings are different. “Passive” endings express not only the passive in the proper sense, but also the reflexive (cf. lavi- tur "washes") and some. etc., which is why they are sometimes (following the ancient Greek) called “medial”. A number of verbs have only passive endings (for example, loqui- tur “says”), which thereby do not express collateral meaning; their traditional name is “deposited”.

The order of words in the language of the classical period is considered “free”: this means that the relative arrangement of the members of a sentence does not depend on their syntactic role (subject, object, etc.), but on the degree of importance for the speaker of the information conveyed with their help; Usually more important information is given at the beginning of the sentence, but this rule describes the actual situation only in very general terms. Subordinating constructions are widespread in Latin; both conjunctions in combination with forms of the subjunctive mood of the verb in a subordinate clause, and impersonal forms of the verb (participles, infinitives, supines - the latter in the classical language served as the purpose infinitive for verbs of motion, but in later periods practically are out of use). A striking feature of Latin syntax is the phrases ablativus absolutus And accusativus cum infinitivo. In the first case, a subordinating relationship (broad adverbial semantics, including the meanings of cause, consequence, accompanying circumstance, etc.) is expressed by placing the dependent verb in the form of a participle, which is consistent with the subject of the dependent sentence in the negative case (ablative); Thus, a phrase meaning “having taken the city, the enemy plundered it” will literally sound like “having taken the city, the enemy plundered it.” The second phrase is used with a certain group of verbs that can subordinate subordinate clauses with explanatory meaning; in this case, the dependent verb takes the form of an infinitive, and its subject becomes the direct object of the main verb (for example, a phrase meaning “the king believed that she was dancing” will literally sound like “the king believed that she was dancing”). Late Classical and Medieval Latin is characterized by a significant simplification and standardization of this rich syntactic arsenal.

A significant part of the grammatical elements of the Latin language is Indo-European in origin (personal endings of verbs, case endings of nouns, etc.). There are many original Indo-European roots in the Latin vocabulary (cf. frater"Brother", tres"three", mare"sea", edere "is", etc.); abstract vocabulary and scientific and philosophical terminology contain many Greek borrowings. The vocabulary also includes a number of words of Etruscan origin (the most famous are histrio"actor" and persona"mask") and borrowings from closely related Italic languages ​​(for example, borrowing from the language of the Oscan subgroup is indicated, for example, by the phonetic appearance of the word lupus"wolf": the original Latin word would be expected as * luquus).

Latin is the language of the Latins, the ancient inhabitants of Latium, who inhabited a small region of Central Italy. On the border of Latium and Etruria, above the Tiber River, Rome was located, founded, according to legend, in 753. BC e Although the Roman community included various tribes, the speech of international communication remained Latin. Subsequently, Rome conquered Greece, Gaul, part of the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, Asia Minor, Egypt and other lands. The Latin language went beyond the Apennine Peninsula and spread to Western Europe.
Second half of the 3rd - 2nd centuries. BC AD - This is the period of the establishment of the literary Latin language, called archaic Latin. From the works of this period, the comedies of Plautus (about 253 - 184 BC), Terence (185 - 159 BC), the treatise of Cato the Elder (234 - 149 BC), as well as fragments of works other authors.
Literary language of the 1st century. BC e - classical Latin ("golden Latin") - rich in scientific, philosophical, political and technical terminology. It was at this time that the Latin language reached its highest development in the works of Gaius Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BC), Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 - 43 BC), Publius Virgil Maron (70 - 19 BC) AD), Publius Ovid Naso (43 AD - c. 18 AD) and other Roman writers.
With the decline of ancient society, the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of new peoples, Latin colloquial speech gave impetus to the formation of Romance languages: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc.
Although the Latin language ceased to be a means of communication for any people as a whole, it continued to be preserved as the written language of science, partly literature and official acts. In this meaning, the Latin language went far beyond the Roman Empire.
During the Renaissance (XIV - XVI centuries) Latin became the international language of science and diplomacy, a subject of study in schools. Until the 18th century. almost all scientific works were written in Latin. As an example, it is enough to cite just a few names of scientists: Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466 - 1536) in Holland, Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1535) in Poland, Thomas More (1478 - 1535), Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626) and Isaac Newton (1643 - 1727) in England.
For many centuries, Latin remained the language of science and diplomacy, school and church, jurisprudence, etc. In particular, it should be emphasized that Latin was the international language of medicine. In the Russian language there are many words of Latin origin, for example: author, lawyer, act, action, outpatient clinic, author, certificate, audience, dictation, director, doctor, associate professor, exam, effect, empire, institute, instrument, commission, compromise, outline , constitution, conference, culture, laboratory, line, literature, minus, notary, object, plus, position, progress, professor, process, rector, republic, sanatorium, soloist, student, university, faculty, federation, final and many others.
The Latin language still remains a source of education for scientific and technical terminology.

In the 5th century BC e. Latin language(self-name Lingua Latina) was one of the many Italic languages ​​spoken in central Italy. Latin was used in the area known as Latium (modern name is Latium), and Rome was one of the cities in this area. The earliest inscriptions in Latin date back to the 6th century. BC e. and are made using an alphabet based on the Etruscan script.

Gradually, Rome's influence spread to other parts of Italy, and through them to Europe. Over time, the Roman Empire conquered Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Throughout the empire, Latin came to be used as the language of law and authority, and, increasingly, the language of everyday life. The Romans were literate, and many of them read the works of famous Latin authors.

Meanwhile, in the eastern Mediterranean, Greek remained the lingua franca, and educated Romans were bilingual. The earliest examples of Latin literature known to us are translations of Greek plays and Cato's agricultural manual into Latin, dating back to 150 BC. e.

Classical Latin, which was used in early works of Latin literature, differed in many ways from colloquial, so-called Vulgar Latin. However, some writers, including Cicero and Petronius, used Vulgar Latin in their writings. Over time, the spoken variants of the Latin language moved further and further away from the literary standard, and gradually, on their basis, Italic/Romance languages ​​(Spanish, Portuguese, etc.) appeared.

Even after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476, Latin continued to be used as a literary language in Western and Central Europe. A huge amount of medieval Latin literature appeared in a variety of styles - from scientific works of Irish and Anglo-Saxon writers to simple tales and sermons intended for the general public.

Throughout the 15th century. Latin began to lose its dominant position and title as the main language of science and religion in Europe. It has been largely replaced by written versions of local European languages, many of which are derived from or influenced by Latin.

Modern Latin was used by the Roman Catholic Church until the mid-20th century, and currently continues to exist to some extent, especially in the Vatican, where it is recognized as one of the official languages. Latin terminology is actively used by biologists, paleontologists and other scientists to name species and preparations, as well as by doctors and lawyers.

Latin alphabet

The Romans used only 23 letters to write Latin:

There were no lowercase letters in Latin. The letters I and V could be used as consonants and vowels. The letters K, X, Y and Z were used only to write words of Greek origin.

The letters J, U and W were added to the alphabet later to write languages ​​other than Latin.

The letter J is a variant of I and was first introduced into use by Pierre de la Ramais in the 16th century.

The letter U is a variant of V. In Latin, the sound /u/ was represented by the letter v, for example IVLIVS (Julius).

The letter W was originally a double v (vv) and was first used by Old English scribes in the 7th century, although the runic letter Wynn (Ƿ) was more commonly used to represent the /w/ sound in writing. After the Norman Conquest, the letter W became more popular and by 1300 had completely replaced Wynn.

Reconstructed phonetic transcription of classical Latin

Vowels and diphthongs

Consonants

Notes

• Vowel length was not shown in writing, although modern editions of classical texts use a macron (ā) to indicate long vowels.
• The pronunciation of short vowels in the medial position is different: E [ɛ], O [ɔ], I [ɪ] and V [ʊ].

Phonetic transcription of ecclesiastical Latin

Vowels

Diphthongs

Consonants

Notes

• Double vowels are pronounced separately
• C = [ʧ] before ae, oe, e, i or y, and [k] in any other positions
• G = [ʤ] before ae, oe, e, i or y, and [g] in any other positions
• H is not pronounced except in words mihi And nihil, where the sound /k/ is pronounced
• S = [z] between vowels
• SC = [ʃ] before ae, oe, e, i or y, and in any other positions
• TI = before the vowel a and after all letters except s, t or x, and in any other positions
• U = [w] after q
• V = [v] at the beginning of a syllable
• Z = at the beginning of a word before vowels, and before consonants or at the end of a word.

In the Middle Ages, when Sephardic traders, money changers and moneylenders moved to another country, natives were hired to serve them, who adopted the language of their masters. The language of the natives, when interacting with those who determined the economic structure of a particular region, underwent significant changes. But you understand that the aliens themselves also borrowed a lot from the language of the natives. This is how it arose in medieval Europeabout over three dozen new dialects: la "az. catalanite. ladino, shuadit, etc.In the 16th century the descendants of the settlers began to think about how to create a language that would be understandable to any people, which would help many to self-identify and find their place in the world. One of the idioms used in international communication was “folk Latin,” which was a combination of many dialects, dialects and dialects, in many ways not different from the Tsarfat dialect (“Old French”). THERE WERE NO "PEOPLE LATIN" TEXTBOOKS, since there was no SINGLE LANGUAGE. similar to Latin as we know it today. One of those who decided to create a GRAMMAR OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE, i.e., in fact, to create Latin, wasLorenzo Valla (late 15th century). To prove that Latin was created during the Reformation, I cite the following post by Statin:
When was classical Latin created?

The first textbook on the grammar of classical (aka ancient) Latin, Elegantiae Linguae Latinae (On the Grace of the Latin Language), was published in 1471 by the Renaissance humanist Lorenzo Valla (real name Laurentius della Valle). Valla is said to have "demonstrated the technique of the purity and elegance of classical Latin, devoid of medieval awkwardness."

Lorenzo Valla

The book gained enormous popularity and was reprinted over 60 times before 1530. However, not everyone liked it. Poggio Bracciolini criticized Elegantiae. Walla answered. In the controversy, both scientists showed themselves at their worst. They hurled accusations of ignorance, savagery, plagiarism and even worse at each other. (“Worse” is an accusation of heresy... - KOPAREV)

The humanist (and charlatan) Poggio Bracciolini worked as a copyist of books. He “invented” (borrowed - KOPAREV) a new font that served as the basis for all Romanesque fonts. Simultaneously with the copying of known manuscripts, he “found” hitherto unknown manuscripts, attributed to him to the pens of Lucretius, Cicero, TACITUUS and other “ancient” authors. THE “FOUND” MANUSCRIPTS were written in “folk Latin”, i.e. in a language completely different from the “classical” Latin language!.. Of course, in a dispute with Valla Bracciolini defended the vulgar (aka “folk”, aka medieval) Latin, which is not a descendant of "classical" Latin. By the way, Vulgar Latin was used in church life at that time and was taught in universities. For some reason, folk Latin was also different in different universities... Later it became the basis of French, Italian and many other languages.

Poggio Bracciolini

The dispute was decided by those in power. Pope Nicholas V ordered that all writers known at that time be translated into “classical” Latin. Lorenzo Valla himself was appointed responsible for the translation of Thucycides, and he also translated part of Homer's Iliad. By 1500, most of the major Latin authors writing in "vernacular" Latin had been published. Their language was partially modified in order to at least partially comply with the requirements of the newly created grammar of “classical” Latin. Around the same time, Aldo Manucci (1449-1515) founded the Neacademia (or Aldine Academy) in Venice, whose task, among other things, was to publish large and relatively cheap editions of “ancient” authors.

In 1536, the grammar of “classical” Latin in the book “De causis linguae Latinae” was thoroughly revised by Julius Caesar Scaliger, a specialist in all the then sciences. His real name was Giulio Bordoni. He considered himself one of the scions of the aristocratic house of La Scala (Scaliger in Latin) and used this pseudonym without a twinge of conscience. Julius Caesar is also known as the father of Joseph Scaliger, the founder of modern chronology.

Julius Caesar Scaliger
Just think, Julius Caesar!

Latin, along with Ancient Greek, is one of the most ancient languages ​​of the cultural population of Europe. According to the generally accepted linguistic classification, Latin belongs to the group of “dead” (i.e. not currently used) Italic languages. Italic languages ​​are the languages ​​of the ancient Italic tribes that inhabited Italy from the 2nd half. 1st millennium BC to the first centuries AD inclusive. Thus, Oscan, Umbrian, Siculian and other languages ​​are historically known. In turn, the Italic languages ​​belong to the Indo-European group of languages, which also includes Greek, Indian languages, Iranian, Slavic, Baltic, Germanic and other languages.

The Latin language got its name from the ancient Italic tribe of Latins who inhabited Latium, a historical region in the lower reaches of the Tiber River. The center of Latium was the city of Rome, founded by a Latin tribe in the 8th century BC.

The Latin script was used by the ancient Romans and formed the basis for the writing of most peoples in Western Europe. The Latin alphabet (see table on the next page) goes back to ancient Greek. According to ancient historical tradition, the art of writing was brought to Latium by Greeks from the Peloponnese, who settled on the Palatine Hill in the center of Rome.

There are different versions of the origin of the Latin alphabet and writing. According to the most common version, the direct prototype of the Latin letter was the Greek alphabetic letter, which developed around the 9th century BC. Since numerous Greek cities and settlements had long existed in the southern part of Italy, cultural ties between the Greeks and Latins were established early and were quite stable. Even not far from Rome there was the city of Gabii, where Greek culture dominated and where, according to ancient legend, the future founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were taught to read and write.

Of course, one should not think that Latin writing arose “instantly.” All processes in the field of language formation last quite a long time, sometimes spanning many centuries. The Latin language and Latin writing also developed slowly and gradually, and the Latin alphabet in its familiar form was finally formed only at the turn of the 4th-3rd centuries BC. The first monuments of Latin writing (inscriptions on stones and various objects) are distinguished by the archaic style of letters, indicating the relationship of this letter with ancient Greek. In many of the oldest Latin inscriptions, the writing direction is from right to left, and only in the 4th century BC. The direction of writing is finally established from left to right.

Subsequently, the classical Latin letter also underwent some changes. From the 1st century BC. the letters Y and Z began to be used to write words of Greek origin. In post-antique times, a division of letters into uppercase and lowercase arose, punctuation marks and diacritics (signs above and below letters used to clarify the meaning of individual characters) appeared. In the 11th century AD. the letter W was introduced, followed by the letters J and U in the 16th century.

A special and very interesting issue in the history of the Latin language and the entire ancient history of Rome is the relationship of the Latins with the Etruscans - the cultural predecessors and political rivals of Rome. The origin of the Etruscans and their language has not yet been clarified. The Etruscan language belongs to the group of so-called Mediterranean languages ​​(non-Indo-European languages ​​of Southern Europe and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea). The Etruscan alphabet probably arose from the Greek. In the 18th century, a theory of the Etruscan origin of the Latin language appeared, but it is almost impossible to confirm it due to the paucity of information about the Etruscan language (only a small number of inscriptions have survived, in which only about 150 words have been deciphered to this day).

The Etruscans inhabited Etruria - the region northwest of Rome - and had a high culture (this is evidenced by the surviving monuments of Etruscan art). The Romans borrowed a lot from the Etruscans - in the field of art (including military), political culture and in the field of religious rituals. In the 6th century BC. As a result of the Etruscan advance to the south, Rome fell under the rule of kings from the Etruscan Tarquin dynasty. After the expulsion of the last Tarquin (about 510 BC; since then Rome has become a republic), the influence of the Etruscans gradually weakens. In the 5th-4th centuries they almost completely lost their political independence and fell under the rule of Rome. By the beginning of AD The Etruscans were finally Romanized, and their language was gradually forgotten.

The fight against the Etruscans and the victory over them was the first stage in the formation of Roman hegemony in Italy; from the beginning of the 3rd century BC Rome's economic and political rise takes place. By the end of the 3rd century, the central city of Latium united most of the Italian cities and regions under its rule. During the three Punic Wars (mid-3rd century - mid-2nd century), the Romans defeated their strongest rival in the western Mediterranean - Carthage. By the end of the 1st century BC. The entire cultural Mediterranean from Spain to Greece, Asia and Egypt, the territory of modern France, partly England, Germany, as well as other lands, came under the rule of Rome. In the subsequent era of the empire, the Roman state reached its greatest power.

As a result of the unification of Italy, Latin became the official language of the Roman state. Residents of various regions of Italy, belonging to different nationalities and speaking different (albeit similar) languages, received Roman citizenship and gradually began to perceive themselves as part of a single cultural whole. The Latin language from small Latium spread to the entire Apennine Peninsula, and then was adopted by the population of Gaul and Spain.

ROME IN THE AGE OF ROOM AND THE REPUBLIC

The history of Rome began as the history of a relatively small community united around the Latin tribe. The city of Rome itself, according to legend, was founded in 753 BC. In reality, the city arose as a result of the unification of individual settlements located on 7 hills along the left bank of the Tiber - Palatine, Esquiline, Aventine, Quirinale, Viminale, Caelia and Capitolia. At the dawn of its existence, the future capital of the world state was a rather modest settlement, located, however, in a very convenient location (on a hill, near a river and not very far from the sea). The Capitol Citadel was both a fortress and the center of the young city's shrines.

It should not be thought that the original population of Rome consisted exclusively of representatives of the Latin tribe. The Sabines (Italian people), as well as the Etruscans, have long lived in Rome and its immediate surroundings. Thus, the ancient population of Rome, united around the Latin tribe and speaking the Latin language, was not completely homogeneous ethnically. He was united by something else - belonging to the “Roman people” (populus ronanus), which were considered all full citizens of Rome, originally residents of Latium.

The entire “Roman people” was divided into three tribes (tribus). The original tribes were apparently established along generic lines and reflected the unification of 3 ethnic elements: Latins, Sabines and Etruscans. Later, tribes began to designate divisions of full citizens on a territorial basis. Each of the three tribes was divided into 10 curiae (curia), which represented an intermediate social and state unit of Roman society. The word “curia” itself simultaneously designated the place (and later a special building) where meetings of members of the curia took place.

In turn, each of the 30 curiae was divided into 10 genera. The clan was, therefore, the natural basis of early Roman society; members of the clan had common property and performed religious rites together. The number of members of the clan was not a definite or constant value. Thus, the famous Fabian family at the beginning of the 5th century BC. numbered about 300 people, and the no less famous Claudian family - almost 5 thousand people. From this it is clear that in quantitative terms the curiae were not equivalent.

Full members of the Roman community, united in clans, gradually turned into a privileged part of society. They were called “patricians” (ratricii - “having fathers”) and initially only they constituted the “Roman people”. The patricians were opposed by the “plebeians” (plebs) - the mass of the incomplete population, the “rabble”. The bulk of the plebeians were representatives of the regions conquered or annexed to Rome (initially in the immediate area). They were not part of the ancient clans, curiae and tribes and, thus, could not be considered the “Roman people”. Very often, plebeians sought patronage from influential patricians and became their “clients.”

To resolve the most important issues of national importance, the “Roman people” gathered in curiae. These meetings were called comitia; here the voting process determined the actions of the entire society. All adult men took part in the meetings. The comitia were in charge, among other things, of religious affairs and issues of family relations. Here wills were read out, adoptions took place (in general, new members were accepted into the clan) and new births were accepted into the community. The comitia could also try citizens guilty of breaking the laws. The election of the king probably took place at the comitia.

The king (rex) was the elected head of Roman society, who also served as the high priest. The king's honorary distinctions included a purple robe, a golden diadem, a scepter with an eagle, an ivory chair, and honor guards (lictors). All the attributes of royal power were probably borrowed from the Etruscans, who had kings for a long time.

Under the king, there was a council of elders, otherwise called the “senate”. The word senatus itself comes from the word senex (“old man”). Initially it consisted of 100 people, and then the number of its members was increased to 300. Most likely, in the early era of Roman history, the elders of the clans were part of the Senate. All decisions of the comitia had to receive the approval of the Senate to be effective. These are the basic elements of government that were present both in imperial Rome and in the era of the republic.

According to legend, there were seven kings in Roman history. The first king, Romulus, is credited with the establishment of all the main state institutions: he divided the population into patricians and plebeians, created curiae and a senate. Romulus' successors were: Numa Pompilius, Ancus Marcius, Tullus Hostilius; then Tarquin the Ancient, who had migrated from Etruria, became king and was succeeded by Servius Tullius. This latter went down in history as the largest reformer of the social organization of ancient Roman society. Servius Tullius divided the entire population of Rome (both patricians and plebeians) into 6 property categories; Each of the ranks fielded a certain number of armed men in the Roman army. Meetings of centuries (military units) began to resolve most of the issues that had previously been resolved in curiae. The entire territory of Rome was divided into districts. Thus, property status, rather than origin, began to play the main role; The plebeians were included in the Roman people.

The last Roman king was Tarquin the Proud; After his expulsion, a republican system of government was established in Rome for almost 5 centuries. Since the Roman king did not have absolute and unlimited power, many elements of the future republican system operated under royal power. Therefore, the transition from one form of government to another did not mean a complete change in the political system.

DESIGN OF THE LITERARY NORM OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE IN THE ERA OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

As a result of a number of successful wars, Rome by the end of the 1st century BC. turned into a huge state stretching from Britain and Spain to Asia and Egypt. This colossal territory could no longer be governed by the ancient republican laws, historically designed to organize a relatively small society. Therefore, the replacement of the republican government system under Caesar with a system of authoritarian imperial power should be considered a logical result of the development of Roman statehood. The Roman Empire lasted for almost 5 centuries; During this time, the foundations of European civilization were laid.

By the beginning of the 2nd century AD. The so-called “Roman Peace” (Pax Romana) finally took shape - a state-cultural unification of the peoples of the Mediterranean around Rome, in which the Latin language played the role of the state language, and Latin culture and Latin literature acted as unifying factors for the citizens of the world state. The basis of this association was the finally formed at the turn of our era. a literary Latin language capable of providing the most diverse artistic or scientific-philosophical creativity, as well as interethnic communication. In the development of the Latin language in the last decades of the republic and the era of the empire, three main periods can be distinguished.

The literary norm of the Latin language is recorded in the works of Roman writers and poets of the 1st century BC. - early 1st century AD The vocabulary of the heyday of Latin literature is usually called classical, or “golden” Latin. This is a rich vocabulary capable of conveying complex abstract concepts, exquisite poetic images, and describing philosophical, scientific, political and technical problems. The extraordinary beauty, expressiveness, and exceptional clarity of the classical language served as a role model in all subsequent times. The prose of Cicero, Caesar, Sallust, and the poetry of the “age of Augustus” - Virgil, Horace, Ovid - are considered normative. Excerpts from the texts of the mentioned authors are necessarily used as explanatory examples in textbooks and dictionaries of the Latin language.

Post-classical (“silver”) Latin - the language of the authors 1 - early. 2 centuries AD, the era of the final approval of the grammatical norms of Latin literature. At this time, phonetic and morphological norms of the literary language are formulated and consolidated in the form of a set of rules, and spelling rules are specified (these rules also guide modern editions of Latin texts). For the purposes of guidance and training, special essays are created that set out the rules and recommended norms of stylistics and rhetoric. Among the Latin writers and poets of this time, the philosopher Seneca, the historians Tacitus and Suetonius, the natural scientist Pliny the Elder, the satirical poets Martial and Juvenal, and the rhetorical theorist Quintilian stand out. The language of the representatives of “silver” Latin also served in subsequent times as a source of stylistic models and an example to follow.

In the “golden” and “silver” periods, the Latin language developed evenly, and the differences between the periods, on the one hand, as well as between the generally accepted norms of literary and oral speech, on the other, were not fundamental. However, in the subsequent period, the development of the Latin language took a more ramified and complex path. This is explained by several reasons, among which it is necessary to note, first of all, the growing economic and cultural isolation of individual parts of the empire, the increased influx of alien foreign-speaking populations (barbarian peoples), the emergence of Christian literature (sharply hostile to the rhetorical and stylistic values ​​of the pagan world) and, as a result of all , loss of the original purity of the classical language.

The main feature of the third (and most extensive period) of late Latin 2-6 centuries AD. - is the emergence of a significant gap between the normative literary and colloquial language. This process began relatively early in certain areas of the empire. In North Africa, for example, already in the 1st-2nd centuries AD. An independent dialect of spoken Latin, the so-called “African Latin,” emerged. The first translations of the Bible into Latin were written in this dialect, appearing already in the 2nd century AD. An example of such “non-classical”, incorrect language can be the works of the famous Christian writer Tertullian (late 2nd - early 3rd centuries), who was born and lived in the North. Africa. Similar phenomena were gaining momentum in all provinces of the empire, where classical Latin was used only by the Roman administration and the very few educated layers of the local population. The incorrect “native” Latin became more and more corrupted as a result of the tide of barbarian population. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, these processes accelerated many times over, which eventually led to the final isolation of individual provincial dialects, which served as the basis for the formation of Romance languages.

The attitude of Christian authors to the norms of Latin literature from the very beginning was very ambiguous. On the one hand, many of them received a traditional rhetorical education and tried to focus on classical examples. Such are, for example, Cyprian, Lactantius, Jerome and Augustine. On the other hand, we often find an open, almost demonstrative disregard for the canons of Latin literature, as exemplified by the writings of the already mentioned Tertullian. The fact is that for Christian authors, external forms of expression meant immeasurably less than the expressed meaning. In addition, everything pagan caused an instinctive “repulsion” among Christians. All this contributed to the formation of a certain, often openly disdainful, attitude towards linguistic means and contributed greatly to the oblivion of classical norms.