Category talk:la:Letter names of the Roman alphabet
Rationale for category name
[edit]I chose the name Category:la:Letter names of the Roman alphabet because:
- the la: denotes a topical category, which this one is; and,
- the of the Roman alphabet qualification is necessary to disqualify Latin’s names for the letters of other scripts (such as alpha and bēta for the Greek alphabet’s Α, α and Β, β).
— Raifʻhār Doremítzwr ~ (U · T · C) ~ 21:33, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
This category currently comprises Latin’s letter names for (deprecated template usage) A, (deprecated template usage) B, (deprecated template usage) C, (deprecated template usage) D, (deprecated template usage) E, (deprecated template usage) G, (deprecated template usage) H, (deprecated template usage) I, (deprecated template usage) K, (deprecated template usage) O, (deprecated template usage) P, (deprecated template usage) Q, (deprecated template usage) T, and (deprecated template usage) U (ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, gē, hā, ī, kā, ō, pē, kū, tē, and ū, respectively). As a supporting reference for each of those Latin entries, I quoted the first five sentences of this extract (here is the full first paragraph of the third part of that publication):
- Arthur Ernest Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), part III: “Summary of the Ancient Evidence”, page 32
- Clearly there is no question or doubt about the names of the vowels A, E, I, O, U. They are simply long A, long E, etc. (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Nor is there any uncertainty with respect to the six mutes B, C, D, G, P, T. Their names are bē, cē, dē, gē, pē, tē (each with a long E). Or about H, K, and Q: they are hā, kā, kū — each, again, with a long vowel sound. But the rest of the letters, the seven semivowels or continuants — F, L, M, N, R, S, and X — are quite another matter. About their names I doubt whether complete certainty has been attained or perhaps can ever be. Not that there is lacking either clear or datable evidence for certain times, in certain authors. What is not clear is whether these semivowels always had the same nomenclature, or whether this underwent a change (or changes) and development.
Elsewhere, multiple names are given for the remaining seven letters, viz. (deprecated template usage) F (usually ef or syllabic (deprecated template usage) f, but also (once each) fē, (deprecated template usage) əf, (deprecated template usage) fə, and ιφφε), (deprecated template usage) L (usually el or syllabic (deprecated template usage) l, but also (once each) lē, ll, (deprecated template usage) əl, (deprecated template usage) lə, and ιλλε), (deprecated template usage) M (usually em or syllabic (deprecated template usage) m, but also (once each) mē, (deprecated template usage) əm, (deprecated template usage) mə, and ιμμε), (deprecated template usage) N (usually en or syllabic (deprecated template usage) n, but also (once each) nē, (deprecated template usage) ən, (deprecated template usage) nə, and ιννε), (deprecated template usage) R (usually er or syllabic (deprecated template usage) r, but also (once each) rē, rrr, (deprecated template usage) ər, (deprecated template usage) rə, and ιρρε), (deprecated template usage) S (usually es or syllabic (deprecated template usage) s, but also (once each) sē, sss, (deprecated template usage) əs, (deprecated template usage) sə, and ισσε), and (deprecated template usage) X (usually ix, ex, or syllabic (deprecated template usage) x, but also (once each) xē, īx, and (deprecated template usage) xə). I don’t know how to present that information in Latin entries, so I add it hereto, in case I never get round to creating entries for those Latin letter names. — Raifʻhār Doremítzwr ~ (U · T · C) ~ 23:03, 31 January 2012 (UTC)
…are, allegedly, given in Wilhelm Schulze’s 1904 Die lateinischen Buchstabennamen. I have no access to it, myself. — Raifʻhār Doremítzwr ~ (U · T · C) ~ 23:16, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
Because of this:
- Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, Latin Grammar (3ʳᵈ ed., 1895), part 1: “Etymology”, § 1: ‘Letters and Syllables’, subsection 1: «Alphabet», page 1
- Note. — The Latin names for the letters were: a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, qu (= cu), er, es, te, u, ex (ix), to be pronounced according to the rules given in 3, 7. For Y the sound was used, for Z the Greek name (zēta).
I shall add entries for ȳ and zēta as names of the letters (deprecated template usage) Y and (deprecated template usage) Z, respectively. — Raifʻhār Doremítzwr ~ (U · T · C) ~ 14:26, 3 February 2012 (UTC)