Old Latin

Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical Latin: prīsca Latīnitās, lit. 'ancient Latinity'), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin.[1] It descends from a common Proto-Italic language; Latino-Faliscan is likely a separate branch from Osco-Umbrian with possible further relation to other Italic languages and to Celtic; e.g. the Italo-Celtic hypothesis.

Quick facts: Old Latin, Native to, Region, Ethnicity,... ▼

Old Latin
Archaic Latin
The Duenos inscription, one of the earliest Old Latin texts
Native to	Latium, later the Roman Kingdom and Republic
Region	Italy
Ethnicity	Latins, Romans
Era	Attested since 7th century BC. Developed into Vulgar Latin as colloqiual form, and Literary Latin as literary form, during the 1st century BC.
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Latin Old Latin
Writing system	Latin alphabet
Official status
Official language in	Rome
Regulated by	Schools of grammar and rhetoric
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Linguist List	qbb
Glottolog	oldl1238
Expansion of the Roman Republic during the 2nd century BC. Very little Latin is likely to have been spoken beyond the green area, and other languages were spoken even within it.
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The use of "old", "early" and "archaic" has been standard in publications of Old Latin writings since at least the 18th century. The definition is not arbitrary, but the terms refer to spelling conventions and word forms not generally found in works written under the Roman Empire. This article presents some of the major differences.

The earliest known specimen of Latin seems to be on the Praeneste fibula. A new analysis done in 2011 declared it to be genuine "beyond any reasonable doubt"[2] and dating from the Orientalizing period, in the first half of the seventh century BC.[3] Other Old Latin inscriptions dated to either the late Roman Kingdom or early Roman Republic include the Lapis Niger stone, the Duenos Inscription on a kernos vase, and the Garigliano bowl of Bucchero type.