Editing Vulgar Latin (section)

=== Loss of neuter gender ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Grammatical gender]] -->
{| class="wikitable" align="right"
|+ 1st and 2nd adjectival declension paradigm in Classical Latin:<br>e.g. ''altus'' ("tall")<br>Excludes vocative.
|-
! rowspan="2" | !! colspan="3" | singular !! colspan="3" | plural
|-
! masculine !! neuter !! feminine !! masculine !! neuter !! feminine
|- align="center"
! nominative
| {{wikt-lang|la|altus|i=no}} || altum || alta || altī || rowspan="2" | alta || altae
|- align="center"
! accusative
| colspan="2" | altum || altam || altōs || altās
|- align="center"
! dative
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" | altō || altae || colspan="3" rowspan="2" | altīs
|- align="center"
! ablative
| altā 
|- align="center"
! genitive
| colspan="2" | altī || altae || colspan="2" | altōrum || altārum
|}
The three [[grammatical genders]] of Classical Latin were replaced by a two-gender system in most Romance languages.

The neuter gender of classical Latin was in most cases identical with the masculine both syntactically and morphologically. The confusion had already started in [[Pompeii|Pompeian]] graffiti, e.g. ''cadaver mortuus'' for ''cadaver mortuum'' ("dead body"), and ''hoc locum'' for ''hunc locum'' ("this place"). The morphological confusion shows primarily in the adoption of the nominative ending ''-us'' (''-Ø'' after ''-r'') in the ''o''-declension.

In [[Petronius]]'s work, one can find ''balneus'' for {{wikt-lang|la|balneum}} ("bath"), ''fatus'' for {{wikt-lang|la|fatum}} ("fate"), ''caelus'' for {{wikt-lang|la|caelum}} ("heaven"), ''amphitheater'' for {{wikt-lang|la|amphitheatrum}} ("amphitheatre"), ''vinus'' for {{wikt-lang|la|vinum}} ("wine"), and conversely, ''thesaurum'' for {{wikt-lang|la|thesaurus}} ("treasure"). Most of these forms occur in the speech of one man: Trimalchion, an uneducated Greek (i.e. foreign) [[freedman]].

In modern Romance languages, the nominative ''s''-ending has been largely abandoned, and all substantives of the ''o''-declension have an ending derived from ''-um'': ''-u'', ''-o'', or ''-Ø''. E.g., masculine {{wikt-lang|la|murus}} ("wall"), and neuter {{wikt-lang|la|caelum}} ("sky") have evolved to: Italian {{wikt-lang|it|muro}}, {{wikt-lang|it|cielo}}; Portuguese {{wikt-lang|pt|muro}}, {{wikt-lang|pt|céu}}; Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|muro}}, {{wikt-lang|es|cielo}}, Catalan {{wikt-lang|ca|mur}}, {{wikt-lang|ca|cel}}; Romanian {{wikt-lang|ro|mur}}, ''cieru>''{{wikt-lang|ro|cer}}; French {{wikt-lang|fr|mur}}, {{wikt-lang|fr|ciel}}. However, Old French still had ''-s'' in the nominative and ''-Ø'' in the accusative in both words: ''murs'', ''ciels'' [nominative] – ''mur'', ''ciel'' [oblique].{{efn|In a few isolated masculine nouns, the ''s'' has been either preserved or reinstated in the modern languages, for example FILIUS ("son") > French {{wikt-lang|fr|fils}}, [[deus|DEUS]] ("god") > Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|dios}} and Portuguese {{wikt-lang|pt|deus}}, and particularly in proper names: Spanish ''Carlos'', ''Marcos'', in the conservative orthography of French ''Jacques'', ''Charles'', ''Jules'', etc.<ref>Menéndez Pidal 1968, p.&nbsp;208; [http://monsu.desiderio.free.fr/curiosites/cassujet.html Survivances du cas sujet].</ref>}}

For some neuter nouns of the third declension, the oblique stem was productive; for others, the nominative/accusative form, (the two were identical in Classical Latin). Evidence suggests that the neuter gender was under pressure well back into the imperial period. French ''(le)'' {{wikt-lang|fr|lait}}, Catalan ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|ca|llet}}, Occitan ''(lo)'' {{wikt-lang|oc|lach}}, Spanish ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|es|leche}}, Portuguese ''(o)'' {{wikt-lang|pt|leite}}, Italian language ''(il)'' {{wikt-lang|it|latte}}, [[Leonese language|Leonese]] ''(el) lleche'' and Romanian {{wikt-lang|ro|lapte}}''(le)'' ("milk"), all derive from the non-standard but attested Latin nominative/accusative neuter {{wikt-lang|la|lacte}} or accusative masculine {{wikt-lang|la|lactem}}. In Spanish the word became feminine, while in French, Portuguese and Italian it became masculine (in Romanian it remained neuter, {{wikt-lang|ro|lapte}}/{{wikt-lang|ro|lăpturi}}). Other neuter forms, however, were preserved in Romance; Catalan and French {{wikt-lang|fr|nom}}, Leonese, Portuguese and Italian {{wikt-lang|it|nome}}, Romanian {{wikt-lang|ro|nume}} ("name") all preserve the Latin nominative/accusative ''nomen'', rather than the oblique stem form *''nomin-'' (which nevertheless produced Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|nombre}}).<ref name="Vincent">Vincent (1990).</ref>
{{clear right}}
{| class="wikitable" align="right" style="margin: 10px;"
|+ Typical Italian endings
|-
! !! colspan="2" | Nouns
! colspan="2" | Adjectives and determiners
|-align="center"
! !! singular !! plural !! singular !! plural
|-align="center"
! masculine
| {{wikt-lang|it|giardino|giardin<u>o</u>}} || ''giardin<u>i</u>'' || {{wikt-lang|it|buono|buon<u>o</u>}} || ''buon<u>i</u>''
|-align="center"
! feminine
| {{wikt-lang|it|donna|donn<u>a</u>}} || ''donn<u>e</u>'' || {{wikt-lang|it|buona|buon<u>a</u>}} || ''buon<u>e</u>''
|-align="center"
! neuter
| {{wikt-lang|it|uovo|uov<u>o</u>}} || ''uov<u>a</u>'' || {{wikt-lang|it|buono|buon<u>o</u>}} || ''buon<u>e</u>''
|}

Most neuter nouns had plural forms ending in <small>-A</small> or <small>-IA</small>; some of these were reanalysed as feminine singulars, such as {{wikt-lang|la|gaudium}} ("joy"), plural ''gaudia''; the plural form lies at the root of the French feminine singular ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|fr|joie}}, as well as of Catalan and Occitan ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|oc|joia}} (Italian ''la'' {{wikt-lang|it|gioia}} is a borrowing from French); the same for {{wikt-lang|la|lignum}} ("wood stick"), plural ''ligna'', that originated the Catalan feminine singular noun ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|ca|llenya}}, Portuguese ''(a)'' {{wikt-lang|pt|lenha}}, Spanish ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|es|leña}} and Italian ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|it|legna}}. Some Romance languages still have a special form derived from the ancient neuter plural which is treated grammatically as feminine: e.g., <small>{{wikt-lang|la|bracchium|BRACCHIUM|i=no}} : BRACCHIA</small> "arm(s)" → Italian ''(il)'' {{wikt-lang|it|braccio}} : ''(le) braccia'', Romanian {{wikt-lang|ro|braț|braț(ul)}} : ''brațe(le)''. Cf. also [[Merovingian]] Latin ''ipsa animalia aliquas mortas fuerant''.

Alternations in Italian [[heteroclitic]] nouns such as ''l'uovo fresco'' ("the fresh egg") / ''le uova fresche'' ("the fresh eggs") are usually analysed as masculine in the singular and feminine in the plural, with an irregular plural in ''-a''. However, it is also consistent with their historical development to say that {{wikt-lang|it|uovo}} is simply a regular neuter noun ({{wikt-lang|la|ovum}}, plural ''ova'') and that the characteristic ending for words agreeing with these nouns is ''-o'' in the singular and ''-e'' in the plural. The same alternation in gender exists in certain Romanian nouns, but is considered regular as it is more common than in Italian. Thus, a relict neuter gender can arguably be said to persist in Italian and Romanian.

In Portuguese, traces of the neuter plural can be found in collective formations and words meant to inform a bigger size or sturdiness. Thus, one can use {{wikt-lang|pt|ovo}}''(s)'' ("egg(s)") and {{wikt-lang|pt|ova}}''(s)'' ("roe", "collection(s) of eggs"), {{wikt-lang|pt|bordo}}''(s)'' ("section(s) of an edge") and {{wikt-lang|pt|borda}}''(s'') ("edge(s)"), {{wikt-lang|pt|saco}}''(s)'' ("bag(s)") and {{wikt-lang|pt|saca}}''(s'') ("sack(s)"), {{wikt-lang|pt|manto}}''(s)'' ("cloak(s)") and {{wikt-lang|pt|manta}}''(s)'' ("blanket(s)"). Other times, it resulted in words whose gender may be changed more or less arbitrarily, like {{wikt-lang|pt|fruto}} / {{wikt-lang|pt|fruta}} ("fruit"), {{wikt-lang|pt|caldo}} / {{wikt-lang|pt|calda}} ("broth"), etc.

These formations were especially common when they could be used to avoid irregular forms.  In Latin, the names of trees were usually feminine, but many were declined in the second declension paradigm, which was dominated by masculine or neuter nouns. Latin {{wikt-lang|la|pirus}} ("[[pear]] tree"), a feminine noun with a masculine-looking ending, became masculine in Italian ''(il)'' {{wikt-lang|it|pero}} and Romanian {{wikt-lang|ro|păr|păr(ul)}}; in French and Spanish it was replaced by the masculine derivations ''(le)'' {{wikt-lang|fr|poirier}}, ''(el)'' {{wikt-lang|es|peral}}; and in Portuguese and Catalan by the feminine derivations ''(a)'' {{wikt-lang|pt|pereira}}, ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|ca|perera}}.

As usual, irregularities persisted longest in frequently used forms. From the fourth declension noun ''manus'' ("hand"), another feminine noun with the ending ''-us'', Italian and Spanish derived ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|es|mano}}, Romanian ''mânu>''{{wikt-lang|ro|mână}}, pl. {{wikt-lang|ro|mâini}} / (reg.) ''mâni'', Catalan ''(la)'' {{wikt-lang|ca|mà}}, and Portuguese ''(a)'' {{wikt-lang|pt|mão}}, which preserve the feminine gender along with the masculine appearance.

Except for the Italian and Romanian heteroclitic nouns, other major Romance languages have no trace of neuter nouns, but still have neuter pronouns. French {{wikt-lang|fr|celui-ci}} / {{wikt-lang|fr|celle-ci}} / {{wikt-lang|fr|ceci}} ("this"), Spanish {{wikt-lang|es|éste}} / {{wikt-lang|es|ésta}} / {{wikt-lang|es|esto}} ("this"), Italian: {{wikt-lang|it|gli}} / {{wikt-lang|it|le}} / {{wikt-lang|it|ci}} ("to him" /"to her" / "to it"), Catalan: {{wikt-lang|ca|ho}}, {{wikt-lang|ca|açò}}, {{wikt-lang|ca|això}}, {{wikt-lang|ca|allò}} ("it" / ''this'' / ''this-that'' / ''that over there''); Portuguese: {{wikt-lang|pt|todo}} / {{wikt-lang|pt|toda}} / {{wikt-lang|pt|tudo}} ("all of him" / "all of her" / "all of it").

In Spanish, a three-way contrast is also made with the definite articles {{wikt-lang|es|el}}, {{wikt-lang|es|la}}, and {{wikt-lang|es|lo}}. The last is used with nouns denoting abstract categories: ''lo bueno'', literally "that which is good", from {{wikt-lang|es|bueno}}: good.

{{notelist}}