Re: CHAT: weird names

Dennis Paul Himes wrote:

> Barry Garcia <Barry_Garcia@...> wrote:
> > I tend to dislike using [c] for /k/. ...  My view is, why use a
> > letter that has no original sound of it's own? :).
>
>     Of course, since the Roman alphabet was invented for Latin, it's [k]
> which is the duplicate.
Actually during the Old Latin period (early Republic, maybe even during
the Etruscan monarchy), the letter <c> represented /g/, and <k> was used
for /k/.  Later, for some reason which I don't entirely understand, <c> came
more and more to be used for /k/, while /k/ remained alongside, to the point
where by the time of the early Empire, <c> was always /k/.  Thus, <g> had
to be invented for what had always been a phonemic /g/.

(This is the reason the abbreviation of the common name <Gaius> is <C.>,
as in <C. Julius Caesar>, due to tradition).

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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
AIM: Deuterotom ICQ: 4315704
<http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
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