Editing Classical Latin (section)

=== Linguistic features ===
Utilizing ancient Roman texts concerning Latin, one is capable of gaining insights on the phonology of Latin. For example, one of the significant phonological features of classical Latin is that “c” [k] was not yet [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalized]], which was reflected in ''Institutio oratoria by'' Quintilianus, “As to -''k'', I think it should not be used in any words… there is the letter -c, which suits itself to all vowels”.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2015-12-24 |title=Book 1 - Chapter 7: Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224005447/http://eserver.org/rhetoric/quintilian/1/chapter7.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> There it is also mentioned that the archaïc Greek letter [[Digamma|Aeolic digamma]], ϝ, representing the /w/ sound, lacked to Latin for words like ''servus'' or ''vulgus''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2015-12-24 |title=Book 1 - Chapter 4: Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224084250/http://eserver.org/rhetoric/quintilian/1/chapter4.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> Hence it is known that in classical Latin, v and u was not distinguished, both pronounced [w]. The letter “i” was applied to both [i] and [j], as reflected by the variant spelling ''Maiia.''<ref name=":1" /> Sometimes the [[vowel length]] changes the case, short in nominative but long in ablative, sometimes the entire meaning changes (malus).<ref name=":0" /> Apart from the vowel length, the accentuation rule was also detailedly explicated in the same book.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2015-12-25 |title=Book 1 - Chapter 5: Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225043635/http://eserver.org/rhetoric/quintilian/1/chapter5.html |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> The Romans used various [[Diacritic|diacritics]], such as the [[circumflex]] and [[Acute accent|acute]] accent, to denote the [[Stress (linguistics)|accentuation]].<ref name=":2" />   Despite having a rather [[phonemic orthography]], some derivations still existed in Latin. The name ''[[Gaius]]'' was sometimes written with “c”, despite pronounced with [g], the “n” in “''columna''” was omitted due to [[Assimilation (phonology)|assimilation]], and [[Final-obstruent devoicing|final obstruents were devoiced]] while maintaining the spelling (obtinuit).<ref name=":0" />

The Romans have analyzed the grammar of their own Latin so comprehensively, that they were aware of various Latin’s grammatical features, such as:

* [[Singulare tantum|Singular]] and [[Plurale tantum|plural tantum]] (scala, hordea)<ref name=":2" />

* Vowel length of infinitives in the 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> [[Latin declension|declension]]<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2015-12-24 |title=Book 1 - Chapter 6: Quintilian's Institutes of Oratory |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224005442/http://eserver.org/rhetoric/quintilian/1/chapter6.html#12 |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref>

* [[Impersonal verb|Impersonal verbs]] (licet, piget)<ref name=":1" />
* [[Epicenity|Epicene]] gender (Muroena, Glycerium)<ref name=":1" />
* [[Instrumental case|Instrumental]] use of the [[Ablative case|ablative]] (e.g. hastā percussi)<ref name=":1" />
* Weakened vowels in compound verbs (cadit to excidit)<ref name=":1" />

Moreover, most original Latin grammatical terms (e.g. names for grammatical cases) have maintained as the actual standard academic terms, adopted into many languages. In other words, we now study linguistics mostly using Latin terms. Donatus, in ''Ars grammatica'', defined and exhausted numerous terms as well as provided a comprehensive guide on grammar rules, declensions and conjugations in the manner of question-and-answer,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ars Minor - Table of Contents - IntraText CT |url=https://www.intratext.com/IXT/LAT0192/ |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=www.intratext.com}}</ref> which demonstrates formalized and systemized study on grammar. Throughout Latin’s long history, different classifications of words were developed. Varro, in “''De lingua latina''”, 47-45 BC, classified words both as local, foreign, and obsolete,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Varro |first=Marcus Terentius |url=https://archive.org/details/onlatinlanguage01varruoft/page/10/mode/2up |title=On the Latin language |last2=Kent |first2=Roland G. (Roland Grubb) |date=1938 |publisher=London : W. Heinemann |others=Pratt - University of Toronto |pages=xi}}</ref> and as body, place, time, and action,<ref name=":4" /> the latter being more proximate to current [[Part of speech|word classes]]. On the other hand, by the time of Quintilianus, the modern system was effectively complete, as words were classified as verbs, nouns, articles, prepositions, and nouns were further divided by [[Abstract noun|tangibility]].<ref name=":1" />