Re: [tied] (unknown)

Well, surely a great part of the plebeians were people of other Italic
people conquested by the Romans/Latins.

Joao SL

----- Original Message -----
From: Torsten Pedersen <tgpedersen@...>
To: <cybalist@egroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2000 8:12 PM
Subject: [tied] (unknown)


>
> Some deviant roots in Latin are traditionally explained as
> influenced or coming from some neighbouring Italic language
> (I can only remember "ruber" vs. "rufus", I forget which
> one is proper Latin and which is "dialectal" or "rustic").
> Is it possible that this "alternate source" is not a nearby
> Italic language, but the language of the plebeians (vs.
> the patricians)? The conflict between these groups, as
> I recall it, plays a prominent role in early Roman history.
> There is an account, the source of which I have forgotten,
> of a late Roman emperor being told by his rhetorics tutor
> not to use "o" for proper Latin "au" (as in vulgar Latin).
> Also, Suetonius mentions that an ancestor of the emperor
> Claudius, Clodius, had the office of plebeian tribune.
> This would seem to indicate that "o" for "au" existed
> very early as a "plebeianism".
> So, my question is: Is "the plebeian language" the "other
> source" for Latin?
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