Appendix Probi

The Appendix Probi is a major source of post-classical Latin.

The work is from an unknown schoolmaster and can be dated approximately to the beginning of the 4th century. It is named because it is located in the rear part of a manuscript that contains the texts of the so-called Pseudo- Probus Appendix Probi ( "Appendix Probus "). Although the text is taken from the fourth century, but is only preserved in a manuscript from the eighth or ninth century.

This appendix or attachment is a list of 227 word pairs in two columns. In the left column are the words that correspond to the classical Latin standard. In the right column are the words that violate them. There are doing the classic (written) form and the non-classical ( oral ) form compared to each other, according to the scheme speculum non speclum, ie " ( it's called) speculum, not speclum ".

Examples:

If you want to study the formation of the Romance languages ​​, the words in the right column are more interesting than those in the left. Thus, the modern Italian equivalents are the post-classical ( oral ) forms similar than the classical ( written ) forms because the Italian as well as the other Romance languages ​​continue the oral Latin, not the written.