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Help[Facts] Correct Spelling
Ancient Roman, Feminine, Iunia
I don't know much about Latin, but I need to confirm the spelling of this name. One of my friends, a history buff, told me there was a problem with the spelling. Something to do with the way the letter 'I' is used in the Latin language. But he couldn't say exactly what it was.
I don't know much about Latin, but I need to confirm the spelling of this name. One of my friends, a history buff, told me there was a problem with the spelling. Something to do with the way the letter 'I' is used in the Latin language. But he couldn't say exactly what it was.
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In classical Latin, the letters I/J and U/V were not differentiated yet. In addition, the distinction between upper and lower case wasn't there, either. The classical spelling is therefore
IVNIA. The modern spelling Junia reflects what we know about ancient roman prononciation, note the the two classical Is represent two different sounds, the first a consonant (like modern English Y, not a soft G!), the second a vowel, and the classical V is in this case a vowel (like modern English OO). Since Iunia is in many modern languages closer to the original prononciation, I think it is a legitimate spelling.
IVNIA. The modern spelling Junia reflects what we know about ancient roman prononciation, note the the two classical Is represent two different sounds, the first a consonant (like modern English Y, not a soft G!), the second a vowel, and the classical V is in this case a vowel (like modern English OO). Since Iunia is in many modern languages closer to the original prononciation, I think it is a legitimate spelling.
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I don't think there is a problem with the spelling of Iunia as an Ancient Roman name: The "I" at the start of the name is ok that way.
The name is written Junia today, but the original Latin alphabet did not have a letter "J", as can be seen e.g. here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_alphabet#Classical_Latin_alphabet
This is also the case for other such names: Julius was written Iulius in Roman times:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Iulius#Latin
The name is written Junia today, but the original Latin alphabet did not have a letter "J", as can be seen e.g. here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_alphabet#Classical_Latin_alphabet
This is also the case for other such names: Julius was written Iulius in Roman times:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Iulius#Latin
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