Claudian letters

{{Short description|Three new letters of the Latin alphabet introduced by Roman Emperor Claudius}} [[Image:Claudian letters (per Oliver 1949).svg|330px|right|thumb|Claudian letters, with the 15x15 px variant of {{lang|la|antisigma}} supported by manuscripts of Priscian.<ref name="oliver"/>|class=skin-invert-image]] right|thumb|Claudian letters with the Ↄ variant of {{lang|la|antisigma}}.|class=skin-invert-image [[File:Pomerium marker with digamma inversum in red - Vatican Museums - inv 9268.jpg|thumb|Claudian pomerium marker, where written words {{lang|la|amplia'''v'''it}} and {{lang|la|termina'''v'''it}} use turned digamma (highlighted in red)]]   The '''Claudian letters''' were a set of three new letters for the Latin alphabet developed by the Roman emperor Claudius, who reigned the Roman Empire from the year 41 to the year 54. These letters, according to the emperor, were much needed for the language, although they did not outlast his reign.

=={{lang|la|Antisigma}} (Ↄ) == {{redirect-distinguish-text|Ↄ|the Latin letter Open O (Ɔ) or the Greek letter reversed lunate sigma (Ͻ)}} '''Ↄ''' or '''15x15 px|class=skin-invert-image/X''' ({{lang|la|antisigma}}) to replace BS {{IPA|la|bz|}} and PS {{IPA|la|ps|}}, much as X stood in for CS {{IPA|la|ks|}} and GS {{IPA|la|ɡz|}}. The shape of this letter is disputed, however, since no inscription bearing it has been found. Franz Bücheler identified it with the variant Roman numeral Ↄ,<ref name="Bücheler">Bücheler, Franz: {{Google books|id=lSg9AAAAcAAJ|title=De Ti. Claudio Caesare Grammatico}} (Latin), Elberfeld (Germany) 1856</ref> but 20th-century philologists, working from copies of Priscian's books, believe it to instead resemble two linked Cs (Ↄ+Ϲ), which was a preexisting variant of Greek sigma, and easily mistaken for X by later writers. Revilo P. Oliver argued that Claudius would have based this letter upon the Arcadian variant of psi {{GrGl|Psi 01}} or {{GrGl|Psi X-shaped}}.<ref name="oliver">{{cite journal |last=Oliver |first=Revilo P. |year=1949 |title=The Claudian Letter Ⱶ |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=53 |issue= 3|pages=249–257 |doi=10.2307/500662 |jstor= 500662|s2cid=193082268 }}</ref>

As noted, no examples of this letter from the time have been discovered; its usage must be guessed at. It would probably replace the PS or BS sequence in Latin words, especially those with Greek etymology, such as {{lang|la-x-classic|DYSPEↃIA}} ({{lang|la|dyspepsia}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|EPILEↃIA}} ({{lang|la|epilepsia}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|ↃALMVS}} ({{lang|la|psalmus}}), or {{lang|la-x-classic|VRↃ}} ({{lang|la|urbs}}).

=={{lang|la|Digamma inversum}} (Ⅎ) == {{redirect-distinguish-text|Turned F|Reversed F or a Voiced palatal plosive /ɟ/ in IPA}} '''Ⅎ''', a turned F or digamma ({{lang|la|digamma inversum}}) to be used instead of the letter V when denoting the consonantal phoneme {{IPAblink|w}} or {{IPAblink|β}}.<ref name="Bücheler" /> Thus, it resembles the use of the letter V in modern Latin texts, where the vocalic use of the letter V is represented by its variant U, which has been recognized as a different letter only later.

'''Examples of Ⅎ:''' {{lang|la-x-classic|AMPLIAℲIT}} ({{lang|la|ampliavit}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|ARℲALES}} ({{lang|la|arvales}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|ARℲALIVM}} ({{lang|la|arvalium}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|BOℲE}} ({{lang|la|bove}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|IOℲI}} ({{lang|la|Iovi}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|TERMINAℲITQVE}} ({{lang|la|terminavitque}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|VOℲIMVS}} ({{lang|la|vovimus}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|ℲELINA}} ({{lang|la|Velina}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|ℲIR}} ({{lang|la|vir}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|ℲOℲEMVS}} ({{lang|la|vovemus}}).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wordsworth |first=John |title=Fragments and Specimens of Early Latin |publisher=Clarendon Press, 1874 |pages=9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=E. Gordon |first=Arthur |title=Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy |publisher=University of California Press, 1983 |isbn=9780520050792 |page=118}}</ref>

==Half H (Ⱶ) == {{hatnote group| {{distinguish|text=Heta (Ͱ)}} {{also|Reversed half H}} }} '''Ⱶ''', a half H, probably had the name {{IPA|/ʉː/}} in harmony with other vowels. The value of this letter is unclear, but it may have represented the so-called {{lang|la|sonus medius}}, a short vowel sound, likely {{IPAblink|ʉ}}, but it could have also been {{IPAblink|ɨ}}. It was used before labial consonants in Latin words such as {{lang|la|optumus}} and {{lang|la|optimus}}. The letter was later used as a variant of {{IPAblink|y}} in inscriptions for short Greek upsilon (as in {{lang|la|Olympicus}}). It may have disappeared because the {{lang|la|sonus medius}} itself disappeared from spoken language.<ref name="oliver"/>{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

'''Examples of Ⱶ:''' {{lang|la-x-classic|BⱵBLIOTHECA}} ({{lang|la|bibliotheca}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|CⱵCNVS}} ({{lang|la|cycnus}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|MAXⱵMVS}} ({{lang|la|maximus}}), {{lang|la-x-classic|OPTⱵME}} ({{lang|la|optime}}), and once in {{lang|la-x-classic|GⱵBERNATOR}} ({{lang|la|gubernator}}).<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=P. Oliver |first=Revilo |title=The Claudian Letter I |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/500662 |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |date=1949 |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=249–257 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |doi=10.2307/500662 |jstor=500662 }}</ref>

==Usage== These letters were used to a small extent on public inscriptions dating from Claudius' reign, but their use was abandoned after his death.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'' 11[10]:14</ref> Their forms were probably chosen to ease the transition, as they could be made from templates for existing letters. He may have been inspired by his ancestor Appius Claudius the Censor, who made earlier changes to the Latin alphabet.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ryan |first=F. X. |year=1993 |title=Some Observations on the Censorship of Claudius and Vitellius, A.D. 47–48 |journal=American Journal of Philology |volume=114 |issue=4 |pages=611–618 |doi=10.2307/295428 |jstor= 295428}}</ref> Claudius did indeed introduce his letters during his own term as censor (47–48), using arguments preserved in the historian Tacitus' account of his reign, although the original proclamation is no longer extant. Suetonius said of Claudius' letters:

{{quote|Besides this he [Claudius] invented three new letters and added them to the alphabet, maintaining that they were greatly needed; he published a book on their theory when he was still in private life, and when he became emperor had no difficulty in bringing about their general use. These characters may still be seen in numerous books, in the [state] registers, and in inscriptions on public buildings.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html Suetonius pass], Loeb Classical Library edition, 1913‑1914, English translation is by J. C. Rolfe. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html#p75 Page 77, paragraph 41]. (From LacusCurtius)</ref>}}

Assuming that the letters were added at the end of the alphabet, just like Y and Z were, and that the order of these 3 letters does not matter, the Latin alphabet with these letters would look like this:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Classical Latin alphabet with the additional Claudian letters |- ! style="text-align:left" | Letter ! A !! B !! C !! D !! E !! F !! G !! H !! I !! K !! L !! M !! N !! O !! P !! Q !! R !! S !! T !! V !! X !! Y !! Z !! Ↄ !! Ⅎ !! Ⱶ |- ! style="text-align:left" | IPA | |{{IPA|/a/}} {{IPA|/aː/}} || {{IPA|/b/}} || {{IPA|/k/}} || {{IPA|/d/}} || {{IPA|/e/}} {{IPA|/eː/}} || {{IPA|/f/}} || {{IPA|/g/}} || {{IPA|/h/}} || {{IPA|/i/}} {{IPA|/iː/}} {{IPA|/j/}} || {{IPA|/k/}} || {{IPA|/l/}} || {{IPA|/m/}} || {{IPA|/n/}} || {{IPA|/o/}} {{IPA|/oː/}} || {{IPA|/p/}} || {{IPA|/k/}} || {{IPA|/r/}} || {{IPA|/s/}} || {{IPA|/t/}} || {{IPA|/u/}} {{IPA|/uː/}} || {{IPA|/ks/}} {{IPA|/gz/}} || {{IPA|/y/}} {{IPA|/yː/}} || {{IPA|/z/}} || {{IPA|/ps/}} {{IPA|/bz/}} || {{IPA|/w/}} || {{IPA|/ɨ ~ ʉ/}} |}

Support for the letters was added in version 5.0.0 of Unicode.<ref name="L2-05-193R2">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2005/05193r2-n2960r2-claudian.pdf|title=Proposal to add Claudian Latin letters to the UCS|date=2005-08-12|work=Unicode Technical Committee, Document L2/05-193R2 = ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2, Document N2960R2 |access-date=2021-12-27|author=Michael Everson}}</ref> Although these letters, as all Latin letters in antiquity, originally occurred only in capital form, lowercase forms were introduced to meet Unicode casing requirements.<ref name="L2-05-193R2"/> The minuscule form for the turned F was designed as a turned small capital F and should not be confused with the IPA symbol {{IPA link|ɟ||[}} representing a voiced palatal stop.

The letters are encoded as follows:

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Description || Letter || Unicode || HTML || Script |- | TURNED CAPITAL F TURNED SMALL F || Ⅎ ⅎ || U+2132 U+214E || &#8498; &#8526; || Latin |- | ROMAN NUMERAL REVERSED ONE HUNDRED LATIN SMALL LETTER REVERSED C || Ↄ ↄ || U+2183 U+2184 || &#8579; &#8580; || Latin |- | LATIN CAPITAL LETTER HALF H LATIN SMALL LETTER HALF H || Ⱶ ⱶ || U+2C75 U+2C76 || &#11381; &#11382; || Latin |}

==See also== *Chinese characters of Empress Wu *{{anli|Reversed half H}}

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Palaeographic letters Category:Latin-script letters Category:Claudius Category:1st-century introductions Category:Latin epigraphy