Saturday, March 30, 2024
B and V
Dear Mike:
On the lintel of a doorway in village of Mogarraz in the province Salamanca:
B for V[INVM] recalls a long history of inscriptional variation, what Ernesto Parodi dubs "una penosa incertezza nell' uso del b e del v (1898, p. 177). Parodi comments that “il b iniziale sembra raramente alterato, mentre il v è scritto b con straordinaria frequenza” (p.180) and cites, among other examples culled from CIL vols. VI and XI, beginti, bixit, biatores, Bictor, boluerit, and baleas.
The phenomenon is comprehensively dealt with in J. N. Adams, The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC–AD 600 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) Chapter X, sections 2.1 and 2.2.
References from the bibliography:
Baehrens, W. A. (1922), Sprachlicher Kommentar zur vulgärlateinischen Appendix Probi (Halle an der Saale).
Barbarino, J. L. (1978), The Evolution of the Latin /b/–/u /Merger: A Quantitative and Comparative Analysis of the B–V Alternation in Latin Inscriptions (University of North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures 182) (Chapel Hill).
Gaeng, P. A. (1968), An Inquiry into Local Variations in Vulgar Latin, as Reflected in the Vocalism of Christian Inscriptions (University of North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures 77) (Chapel Hill).
Gratwick, A. S. (1982), ‘Latinitas Britannica: was British Latin archaic?’, in N. Brooks (ed.), Latin and the Vernacular Languages in Early Medieval Britain (Leicester), 1–79.
Marichal, R. (1992), Les ostraca de Bu Njem (Assraya al Hamra, Tripoli).
Omeltchenko,W. (1977), A Quantitative and Comparative Study of the Vocalism of the Latin Inscriptions of North Africa, Britain, Dalmatia, and the Balkans (University off North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures 180) (Chapel Hill).
Parodi, E. (1898), ‘Del passaggio di V in B e di certe perturbazioni delle leggi fonetiche nel latino volgare’, Romania 27, 177–240.
Politzer, R. L. (1952), ‘On b and v in Latin and Romance’, Word 8, 211–15.
Best wishes,
Eric [Thomson]
For the Latinless, the inscription means, "This wine gladdens the heart."
Here are more of Eric's photographs of Mogarraz, which gladdened my heart, since there is still snow on the ground where I live:
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On the lintel of a doorway in village of Mogarraz in the province Salamanca:
The phenomenon is comprehensively dealt with in J. N. Adams, The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC–AD 600 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007) Chapter X, sections 2.1 and 2.2.
References from the bibliography:
Baehrens, W. A. (1922), Sprachlicher Kommentar zur vulgärlateinischen Appendix Probi (Halle an der Saale).
Barbarino, J. L. (1978), The Evolution of the Latin /b/–/u /Merger: A Quantitative and Comparative Analysis of the B–V Alternation in Latin Inscriptions (University of North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures 182) (Chapel Hill).
Gaeng, P. A. (1968), An Inquiry into Local Variations in Vulgar Latin, as Reflected in the Vocalism of Christian Inscriptions (University of North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures 77) (Chapel Hill).
Gratwick, A. S. (1982), ‘Latinitas Britannica: was British Latin archaic?’, in N. Brooks (ed.), Latin and the Vernacular Languages in Early Medieval Britain (Leicester), 1–79.
Marichal, R. (1992), Les ostraca de Bu Njem (Assraya al Hamra, Tripoli).
Omeltchenko,W. (1977), A Quantitative and Comparative Study of the Vocalism of the Latin Inscriptions of North Africa, Britain, Dalmatia, and the Balkans (University off North Carolina Studies in the Romance Languages and Literatures 180) (Chapel Hill).
Parodi, E. (1898), ‘Del passaggio di V in B e di certe perturbazioni delle leggi fonetiche nel latino volgare’, Romania 27, 177–240.
Politzer, R. L. (1952), ‘On b and v in Latin and Romance’, Word 8, 211–15.
Best wishes,
Eric [Thomson]
For the Latinless, the inscription means, "This wine gladdens the heart."
Here are more of Eric's photographs of Mogarraz, which gladdened my heart, since there is still snow on the ground where I live:
