The Roman Alphabet: Evolution To The Modern Latin Alphabet
Explore the origins and evolution of the ancient Latin (Roman) alphabet, its letters, and how it shaped the writing systems we use today.
Joseph6 August 202510 minutes to read
BlogLanguagesLatinComplete Guide To The Latin Alphabet: History & Evolution
Each letter of the alphabet is a steadfast loyal soldier in a great army of words, sentences, paragraphs, and stories. One letter falls, and the entire language falters.
- Vera Nazarian
Where did the Latin alphabet come from? Evolving from the writing systems used by Phoenicians, Greeks, and Etruscans, it first took shape in the 6th century BC. Now, it's one of the world's most commonly used writing systems.
Key Takeaways
The Latin alphabet originated in Italy around the 6th century BC, evolving from a blend of Phoenician, Greek, and Etruscan scripts.
The earliest form had just 20 letters, expanding to 23 during the Roman era and eventually to 26 with the later addition of J, U, and W.
The Latin alphabet and Roman alphabet are often used interchangeably - the Roman alphabet is the original script developed by ancient Romans, while the Latin alphabet is its evolved form used today in many modern languages.
The printing press revolutionised writing in the 15th century, making standardised Latin scripts widespread and accessible.
Today’s Latin alphabet is the most widely used system globally, forming the foundation for dozens of modern languages
The Latin alphabet, the basis of the Latin language, was born around the 6th century BC in Italy. It is known across almost all Western countries.
At the time, the writing direction was not precisely defined. Inscriptions were sometimes written from right to left on a fibula (a gold pin) or alternating between a line from left to right and one from right to left.
At the beginning, there were nineteen letters.
The simple graphics revealed a mixed Phoenician, Greek, and Etruscan origin.
How has the Latin alphabet evolved?
c. 1800 – 1200 BC
Proto-Alphabetic Roots
The earliest roots of the Latin alphabet trace back to Semitic alphabets from the Canaanite region (modern-day Lebanon, Israel, Syria). These were heavily influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs and used primarily consonants.
c. 1050 BC
Phoenician Alphabet Emerges
A true consonantal alphabet develops in Phoenicia. This script will later influence Greek writing and, eventually, the Latin alphabet. It spreads across the Mediterranean through trade and conquest.
c. 800 – 700 BC
Greek Alphabet Adds Vowels
The Greeks adapt the Phoenician script and introduce vowels, a revolutionary step. Their alphabet becomes more suitable for complex language structures.
c. 700 – 600 BC
Etruscan Alphabet Develops
The Etruscans in Italy adopt the Greek alphabet and modify it to suit their language. This version contains several letters the Romans would later drop or adjust.
c. 600 – 300 BC
Early Latin Alphabet Forms
Romans adopt the Etruscan version of the alphabet, initially using 19 letters. This set gradually evolves as Roman influence grows.
3rd Century BC
Classical Latin Alphabet Solidifies
Romans officially expand the alphabet to 23 letters, adding G, Y, and Z (borrowed from Greek). Writing becomes a tool for law, history, and literature.
1st – 5th Century AD
Codex and Manuscripts
Scrolls give way to codices. Latin script appears on papyrus, wax tablets, and early parchment. Punctuation is minimal; all letters are capitalized.
9th Century AD
Charlemagne’s Script Reform
Charlemagne enforces the use of Caroline minuscule, a lowercase writing style that improves readability. It becomes the foundation of modern typography.
15th Century AD
Printing Press Revolution
Gutenberg’s invention spreads the Latin alphabet rapidly through printed books. Standard letterforms emerge, and literacy accelerates across Europe.
Modern Era
Final Latin Alphabet Set
The alphabet settles at 26 letters, with the later additions of J, U, and W. Today, it's the world’s most widely used writing system.
Superprof charts the history of the classical language from its origins to its use today. Find a dedicated Latin teacher here.
Etruscan, the Ancestor of the Latin Alphabet
Source: Visual Hunt
The golden pin on which we found the first Etruscan writings. Source: Visual Hunt
The writing systems were born in different parts of the globe and at various times, whether in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, or Central America. We must remember that our alphabet comes from Canaan, a region that today corresponds to the Middle East (Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Jordan, and Sinai).
Our alphabet has a Semitic origin. Egyptian hieroglyphs were used to gradually build the alphabet we know today. We used a consonantal pseudo-hieroglyphic alphabet. At the same time, long before the modern Latin dictionary, cuneiform writing was born in Phoenicia. The consonants were also dominant.
Later, the Greeks took this Phoenician alphabet and added vowels to adapt it to their language.
The Greek alphabet gave birth to the Etruscan alphabet, which is where the alphabet we use today comes from. According to Herodotus, the Etruscans came a priori from Asia Minor, but this theory is not confirmed.
The Etruscans arrived in Tuscany around the 7th century BC and would have adopted the Greek alphabet to transcribe a language that remains a mystery. Indeed, experts are still unable to understand and translate it, even though they know how to read it.
The Etruscan civilisation spread throughout Italy, and little by little, the Etruscan alphabet was imposed everywhere in Europe, in pace with Roman conquests. All other local languages and scriptures then disappeared. In the 3rd century BC, there were 19 letters to the alphabet. The X, Y, and Z were not adopted until later, directly inherited from Greek.
According to the phonological system of the Etruscan language, the Etruscan alphabet contained useless letters. We know that the vowel "O" was not used but found its place among the Romans.
The Latin (or Roman) alphabet—used by ancient Romans to write Latin—is the direct ancestor of the modern alphabets used across Europe, the Americas, Africa, and parts of Oceania.
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What's the Difference between the Latin and the Roman Alphabet?
The terms Latin alphabet and Roman alphabet are often used interchangeably. Both refer to the writing system originally used by the ancient Romans to write Latin. 🔹 "Roman alphabet" typically emphasises its historical origin in ancient Rome. 🔹 "Latin alphabet" is the more common modern term, referring to the adapted version used in many contemporary languages. In essence, the Roman alphabet is the original form of what evolved into today’s Latin alphabet.
Originally, the archaic Latin alphabet comprised only 20 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X Superprof. Critically, it excluded G, Y, Z, J, U, and W.
It derived from the Etruscan alphabet, itself based on the Western Greek (Euboean) script via Old Italic scripts used in Italy during the 8th to 7th centuries BC.
🔤 How Did The Roman Alphabet Evolve?
Letter Group
Details
Time Period
Missing Letters
G, J, U, W, Y, Z were not part of the original alphabet
Pre-3rd century BC
Borrowed from Greek
A, B, E, I, K, M, N, O, T, and X entered without significant changes
Early development
Evolved Forms
C, L, S, P, R, D were adapted over time from older scripts
Pre-3rd century BC
Later Additions
G, Y, Z added from Greek to represent loanwords
3rd century BC
Medieval Modifications
J, U, W introduced to help distinguish vowels from consonants
Middle Ages
🧾 What Changed And Why?
Letter
Reason for Change or Addition
When It Happened
G
Added to distinguish it from C
3rd century BC
Y, Z
Borrowed from Greek to transcribe Greek-origin words
3rd century BC
J
Created to differentiate consonantal 'I' sounds
Middle Ages
U
Separated from 'V' to show vowel vs. consonant
Middle Ages
W
Formed as a 'double U' to expand phonetic possibilities
Middle Ages
The Latin Alphabet: From Uppercase to the Arrival of Lowercase
In the context of the Roman conquest, writing spread and evolved. We are far from the Phoenician alphabet and the Semitic language of its beginnings. There are two kinds of capital letters:
Capitalis rustica (1st century BC), characterised by a certain freedom and a slender line,
Capitalis quadrata (IVth century), characterised by a greater discipline and a square form.
Writing was used to transcribe poems like those of Virgil and literary stories, but it was also a way of conveying the merits of citizens on the City walls and immortalising speeches in bronze or stone.
But it is in everyday life that writing experiences its greatest evolution.
Used for letters, diplomas, graffiti, and even sales contracts, lowercase soon became rounded and simplified, and links were gradually made between the letters. The height of capital letters started to differ, giving rise to the writing style called Roman cursive. Lowercase appeared in the third century as a result of vulgar writing (of the people) in Latin languages.
🖋️ Four Writing Styles Of The Roman Alphabet
Capitalis Rustica (1st century BC): A more casual and narrow form of capital lettering, often used for informal writing or decoration.
Capitalis Quadrata (4th century AD): Square, formal, and elegant. Typically used in grand, official inscriptions.
Roman Cursive (3rd century AD): Everyday handwriting. Letters became rounder and linked together, resembling the early forms of lowercase.
Caroline Minuscule (9th century AD): Standardised by Charlemagne’s scribes. The basis of our modern lowercase letters.
The letters, originally very square, become progressively more round, especially in Christian religious texts.
When he came to power in 771, Charlemagne endorsed the use of lowercase letters to establish his authority. Thus, he began a reform of writing. All texts must now be copied in Caroline minuscule. Our current form of writing stems from this standardisation.
🧭 Early Latin Writing Conventions
🔄 Direction of Writing
Originally, Latin was written boustrophedon-style: one line left to right, the next right to left—like how an ox ploughs a field. By the 4th century BC, Romans adopted the now-standard left-to-right format.
➖ Word Separation
At first, the Latin script had no spaces or punctuation. Later, middle dots (·) were used to mark word boundaries. By the 2nd century BC, this system became widespread in inscriptions.
📍Example: ROMA·CAPUT·MVNDI (Rome is the capital of the world)
Writing at the time of the Roman Empire was reserved for recording the history of great men. Indeed, we often see epitaphs from this time inviting readers to glorify the person buried.
Thus, the democratisation of writing did not occur under the Romans, and the literacy rate is estimated to be only 30% for male adults. Children, boys and girls learn to read and write from a magister, but this education is reserved for prestigious families.
Knowing how to read and write was often of religious significance in Roman times. Indeed, it was thought that developing one's intellect could ensure a better life after death and even bestow immortality.
We found many mediums with Latin and Latin declination: walls and slabs, often wax. Very few parchments were found, primarily because it was very difficult to obtain many of them at the time.
It was only between the 1st and 5th centuries that the use of papyrus parchments started to spread, giving rise to a new form of writing: the codex. Punctuation did not exist at this time, and to help speakers in their speech, breaks were simply marked by taking a new line.
Writing depends on speech. It's sole purpose is to transcribe oral language.
The Latin alphabet only had capitals until the Carolingian period (9th century), when writing gradually shifted away from the spoken word and lowercase letters were introduced.
How Writing Was Used in Ancient Rome
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Education
Literacy was reserved for elite families.
Boys and girls learned from a magister.
Writing tools included wax tablets and styluses.
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Religion and Immortality
Literacy was believed to grant immortality of the soul.
Inscriptions on tombs praised the dead.
Knowledge was linked to a higher spiritual afterlife.
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Public Use and Records
Writing appeared on walls, stone slabs, and bronze plaques.
Used for laws, speeches, and public achievements.
Private uses included graffiti, sales contracts, and letters.
In the first centuries of using the Roman alphabet, inherited from the Phoenicians and a long way from the hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt, several facts are noteworthy:
There was no distinction between the U and the V. Only the V existed as the writing was still very square at this time,
The letter G did not exist. The consonant C expressed both the phonemes /k/ and /g/, inherited directly from Greek,
The letter K was redundant with the letter C and was kept only in a few words and when in front of an A,
The letter Z did not exist as it was rendered useless due to phonetic changes,
The letter Q was a variant of the letter K, used only in front of a U.
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Archaic Latin (c. 3rd century BC)
A, B, C, D, E, F, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X.
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Classical Latin (post-3rd century BC)
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Y, Z.
You will note the absence of the letters J, U, and W, which appear later on as the letters are rounded and their usage develops.
The number system the Romans used was not derived from the alphabet, as one might think, but it was completely borrowed from the Etruscans, who were quickly assimilated into the Roman Empire at the beginning of the rise of Rome.
Just like it was for letters, numbers were written from left to write, from the smallest number to the biggest one. It was necessary to add up the numbers to know the value. One main rule: a number is never repeated more than 4 times.
I: 1
V: 5
X: 10
L: 50
D: 500
M: 1000
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How to write 4999?
The Roman numeral system that we still sporadically use today was only set during the Middle Ages. It was a system by subtraction. Using an additive numeration system, 9 would have to be written as VIIII Using a subtractive numeration system, 9 was simply written as IX (one "I", being subtracted from ten, "X").
For any numbers above 5000, Roman used multiple tricks. First, they used circles with lines within to add thousands and hundreds of thousands, but the practicality of carving such signs in stone made this system.
Then they started using a line above a number to express the thousands. If a number was completely boxed in it would indicate hundreds of thousands.
Then appeared "II.C" and "III.M" to write 200 and 3000.
This complicated system is probably why we do not use Roman numbers today.
The Arrival of the Printing Press
Since the appearance of writing in Mesopotamia and its evolution from the Arabic alphabet to ancient Greek through Hebrew and Slavic languages, the classical letters of the Latin alphabet have undergone a lot of evolution.
In fact, the Renaissance brought about the greatest change in writing forms, with the birth of printing. Until then, manuscripts were all handwritten. With the printing press, books became more widespread.
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Did you know?
The Bible was the first work to be printed using movable type.
But after this we didn't suddenly stop writing by hand. On the contrary, several writing styles were developed:
Gothic style: letter of civility (15th century),
The financial (15th century),
The round (17th century),
The bastard (17th century),
The casting (17th century),
The English: from the Italian bastard, it is easier to draw and faster to write (18th century).
Until the twentieth century, the latter served as a basis for writing in schools. Today, the letters are still changing. Just look at the current tags to be convinced.
Here's a video on the evolution of the Latin alphabet.
Since the advent of computer science (a tool through which you can consult Latin quotations for free), the Latin alphabetical system is recognised first. Each glyph corresponds to a code manipulated by the computer apparatus. From the ASCI standard to the ISO 8859, all alphabets are now manipulated by computers:
Ancient languages such as Aramaic or Hebrew,
Greek language, modern Greek,
Arabic language, Turkish,
Armenian,
Sanskrit,
Chinese characters,
The Cyrillic alphabet, the Russian alphabet,
European languages such as Germanic languages, French (with its circumflex, acute and grave accents), Spanish (with its tilde), Romanian, Croatian, etc.
Our alphabet hasn't experienced further modification after being finally set at 26 letters. However, it has some minor variations depending on the language. For example, the Spanish alphabet contains 28 letters ("ll" and "ñ"), and the circumflex accent, directly inherited from Greek, does not exist in all languages.
✍ How did the Latin alphabet influence modern writing systems?
The expansion of the Roman Empire spread the Latin script across Europe, where it became the writing system for languages like English, Spanish, French, and German.
ℹ Why were letters added to the Latin alphabet later?
Letters like J, U, and W, were later added to distinguish the consonant and vowel sounds for pairs like "i" and "u" while "w" (literally a double-v) was added for sounds in Germanic languages.
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