[18]. Origin of the Alphabet. The Latin alphabet, which originally consisted of capitals only, was adapted from the alphabet of Chalcidian colonies in Italy.
[19]. Spelling. The signs for the Greek sounds denoted by φ and χ, and perhaps also that for θ, these three sounds being unknown in Latin, were used as numerals ([2407]). In words borrowed from the Greek the Romans at first represented θ by t, φ by p, and χ by c: as, tūs, incense, for θύος; Poenī, Punians, for Φοίνικες; calx, chalk, for χάλιξ. Occasionally also the Latin mute was doubled: as, struppus, strap, for στρόφος. Later, about the middle of the second century B.C., th, ph, and ch begin to be used: as, cothurnus, boot, for κόθορνος; amphora, jar, for ἀμφόρα; Achaea for Ἀχαιά. In some instances these aspirates were next introduced even into words purely Latin: as, chommodus, affable, for commodus, an affectation ridiculed by Catullus (Cat. 84) and disapproved by Quintilian (1, 5, 20). But pulcher, pretty, is the usual spelling for pulcer (formed by the suffix -cro- from the stem of the verb poliō, I polish). Even Cicero (O. 160) aspirated the c in this word as a concession to popular usage, as he did the t in Cethēgus, Karthāgō, and the p in triumphus, while he retained the unaspirated explosive in the proper names Orcīvius, name of a ‘gens,’ Matō, Otō, Caepiō, and in sepulcrum, tomb; corōna, crown; and lacrima, tear. In a similar manner Greek ρ was at first transcribed by r: as, rumpia, a kind of weapon, for ῥομφαία; but later by rh: as, rhētor, rhetorician, for ῥητωρ.
[20]. The letters C (first written <) and K were at an early period used promiscuously, and C stood for both unvoiced k and voiced g: as, VIRCO, virgō, virgin. Afterwards K dropped out of general use except in the abbreviations K. or Kal. for kalendae, first of the month, and K. for the proper name Kaesō (Quint. 1, 7, 10). About 300 B.C. the sign < or C was used for the unvoiced k alone, while a separate sign, which became G, was set apart for the voiced g. But C continued to be used for g in the abbreviations C for Gāius, Ↄ for Gāia, and Cn. for Gnaeus. Occasionally q is written for c, almost always before the vowels o and u: as, qum for cum, with; qolunt for colunt, they cultivate; peqūnia, money. But ordinarily q is found before unsyllabic (consonantal) u (v) only ([22]).
[21]. Before the introduction of Y and Z ([17]), u was used for the Greek υ: as, Burrus, later Pyrrhus (Cic. O. 160); and s, or, as a medial, ss, for ζ: as, sōna, belt, later zōna; massa, lump, for μᾶζα; malacissō, I soften, for μαλακίζω. By a blunder, y was occasionally introduced in words of Latin origin: as, lacryma, tear, for lacrima, which was wrongly supposed to be derived from Greek δάκρυ.
[22]. The characters I and V represent not only the two vowels i and u, but also their cognate semivowels ([52]) i̭ and ṷ ([83]), called commonly consonant i and u, but with less ambiguity unsyllabic i and u ([82]; [83]). They are equivalent to the English y and w respectively.
[23]. In words like maior, simple i was commonly written for the sound of i̭i̭ ([153, 2]; [82]; [83]). But Cicero in such cases wrote ii: as, aiiō, I say, Maiia, Troiia (Quint. 1, 4, 11). In the same way Lucretius spelled Graiiugenārum, of Greek-born men, and EIIVS, of him, CVIIVS, whose, occur in inscriptions. Sometimes the same sound is represented by a taller letter, ‘i longa,’ especially in the imperial age: as, maIor, greater. There are also cases in which the two designations were confounded, a double i being written, and one or the other letter made taller: as, eiIvs or eIivs, of him.
[24]. The tall i, I longa, was used not only to represent unsyllabic i ([22]), but, beginning with Sulla’s time, also for long vowel i ([29, 2, b]): as, sIgna, signs; qvInqve, five. It also represents sometimes double i: as, vIs for viīs, in the roads. At the beginning of words it occurs without reference to quantity for both short and long i, and, by mistake, I is elsewhere found for short i.
[25]. The emperor Claudius (A.D. 41-54) introduced a separate sign for unsyllabic u ([22]), restricting the sign v to the vowel u (Quint. 1, 7, 26; Ta. 11, 14); but it did not become current.
[26]. In schoolbooks and most texts of the authors, the vowel u is printed U, u, and the consonant V, v. A character, J, j, was introduced in the 17th century, to indicate the consonant i. But this character is no longer usual in editions of the authors or in schoolbooks.
[27]. The distinction between u and v is not always made very consistently: q has regularly, and g and s have sometimes, an aftersound of w, best represented by v; but the usual practice is to write u, as in the following disyllables: quōrum, of whom; anguis, snake; suāvis, sweet. qu is always counted as a single sound ([177]). See also [2504].