Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator), 1.7.11

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[11] is also the servant of usage and therefore undergoes frequent change. I make no mention of the earliest times when our alphabet contained fewer letters ¹ and their shapes differed from those which we now use, while their values also were different. For instance in Greek the letter o was sometimes long and short, as it is with us, and again was sometimes used to express the syllable which is identical with its name. ²

Institutio Oratoria. Quintilian. Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator). Cambridge, Mass.. 1920-1922.

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Current edition Perseus

Institutio Oratoria (English) (Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.)

Editions (1)

Institutio Oratoria Perseus (Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, editor. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.) — 1.7.11 focus

[11] verum orthographia quoque consuetudini servit, ideoque saepe mutata est. nam illa vetustissima transeo tempora, quibus et pauciores litterae nec similes his nostris earum formae fuerunt et vis quoque diversa, sicut apud Graecos o litterae, quae interim longa ac brevis ut apud nos, interim pro syllaba quam nomine suo exprimit posita est;

Notes on the current edition

Institutio Oratoria

1. The original alphabet consisted of twenty-one letters, and was increased to twenty-three by the addition of y and z.

2. i.e. the interjection O!

Quintilian Institutio Oratoria 1.7.11

Harold Edgeworth Butler (Translator)

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