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ORTHOGRAPHY.

6.

Latin spelling varied somewhat with the changes in the language and was never absolutely settled in all details.

Thus, we find lubet, vortó, as earlier, and libet, vertó as later forms. Other variations are optumus and optimus, gerundus and gerendus.

The spelling of the first century of our era, known chiefly from inscriptions, is tolerably uniform, and is commonly used in modern editions of the classics.

a. After v (consonant u), o was anciently used instead of u (voltus, servos), and this spelling was not entirely given up until the middle of the first century of our era.

b. The older quo became cu in the Augustan period; in the second century of our era the spelling quu established itself in some words: -