The oldest Latin inscriptions known to science date back to the 7th century. BC e. (inscription on a silver vessel from Praeneste, etc.).

According to ancient historical tradition, the art of writing was brought to Latium in the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Greeks from the Peloponnese who settled on the Palatine Hill in the center of the future Rome. No traces of this letter were found in Italy, but in Greece at that time a syllabic linear letter was used.

In the 18th century a hypothesis arose of the Etruscan origin of the Latin letter. In the 19th century it was suggested that the Latin letter originates from the city of Cuma (near Naples), from the 8th century. BC e. the largest Greek city in Italy. However, modern archaeological evidence suggests that constant contacts between Greece and Italy existed already in the 2nd millennium BC. e., and the Greek alphabetic writing, which presumably arose at the turn of the 9th-8th centuries. BC e., could get to Latium not only through Cumae (for example, next to Rome there was the city of Gabii, where Greek culture dominated and where, as ancient tradition says, the future founders of Rome Romulus and Remus were taught to read and write). The Greek alphabetic writing in Italy developed slowly, without drastic changes, and only gradually, in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e., formed itself latin alphabet(see Fig. 1).

In the oldest Latin inscriptions, the writing direction is both right to left and left to right, and the inscription of the Forum is made with a vertical boustrophedon. From the 4th century BC e. The direction of writing from left to right was firmly established. There were no punctuation marks in ancient writing. There was no division into uppercase and lowercase letters. Words were separated from each other, as a rule, by word-separating signs located at the level of the middle of the letters.

In Latin writing, most Western Greek letters retained their original meaning and style. The Latin letter C is an archaic outline of the Greek scale (in this meaning it was preserved in the traditional abbreviation of the Roman personal names Gaius and Gnaeus - C, Cn); in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. the outline of the letter K gradually transformed into the outline C and thus coincided with the outline of the ancient scale; in Latin writing, the letter C began to convey the sound “k”, and from late antiquity - the sound “c” before “e”, “i”. The digamma F, which conveyed the sound “v” in archaic Greek writing, was used for the sound “f” in Latin writing. Zeta Z was officially abolished from the Latin script by the censor in 312 BC. e. Appius Claudius, since it fell out of use due to the change in the intervocalic “z” to “r”. The letter H (“this”), which conveyed aspiration in Western Greek writing, was preserved in Latin writing with the same meaning. The letter K (“kappa”), which had an open outline in the inscription on the Forum stele, gradually acquired the shape C, coinciding with the third letter of the alphabet, which conveyed the sound “g”. In the inscriptions of the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. the shape C serves both as a designation for the sounds “k” and “g” (but the shape K never means “g”). To avoid mixing these sounds when writing, a vertical stroke was added at the bottom to the ancient scale C - this is how the Latin G was created; around 234 BC e. Spurius Carvilius officially introduced the letter G into the alphabet, replacing it with the previously abolished zeta. The shape C began to serve as a sign for "k", and the archaic shape K almost fell into disuse, being preserved mainly in the spelling of the word Kalendae and in the abbreviation of the personal name Kaeso - K. From coppa (Ϙ) comes the Latin letter Q. From Greek upsilon (Υ) the result was the Latin letter V. The letter X (“chi”), which served as a sign for “ks” in Western Greek writing, retained this meaning. The letters Θ ("theta"), Φ ("phi") and Ψ ("psi") were used in Latin writing as the numerals for 100, 1000 and 50.

From the 1st century BC e. The Romans began to use the letters Y and Z to write words of Greek origin.

The Roman Emperor Claudius (41-54) invented and introduced into the alphabet the letters Ⅎ (the sound “v”), ↄ (“ps” or “bs”), Ⱶ (a sound like the German ü); this reform, which sought to bring the spelling closer to the pronunciation, was not successful, and after the death of Claudius these letters were not used. For the classic antique Latin alphabet, see Fig. 2.

Over the course of many centuries, Latin writing developed spontaneously and smoothly, being widely used in Roman society, in which literacy was never the privilege of any social strata. By the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 1st centuries. BC e. a kind of calligraphic peak has formed epigraphic letters for inscriptions of especially important content (so-called. monumental, or square, or lapidary, letter; see fig. 3). Its opposite is italic, i.e. fluent, everyday writing, in which a person’s individual handwriting is maximally manifested. Sometimes identified as a special species actuarial letter (letter of documents). In the 3rd century. in North Africa there was an epigraphic uncial letter (i.e. “hooked”; see Fig. 4). Ancient epigraphic Latin writing was always majuscule (see Majuscule letter).

Rice. 3. Inscription from 113 on the base of Trajan's Column in Rome.

Rice. 4. Uncial inscription 3rd century. from Timgad (Algeria).

Latin writing continued to develop during the Middle Ages, featuring a wide variety of forms. The W style appeared in the 11th century. The letters J and U were introduced into the Latin script in the 16th century. In post-antique times, the division of letters into uppercase and lowercase arose, punctuation marks and diacritics appeared.

In national writing systems based on the Latin script, its adaptation to the corresponding phonetic systems was carried out mainly through the introduction of diacritics (in French, Polish, Lithuanian and other languages). The modern Latin alphabet has two typographical types: Latin (or serif) and Gothic (or Fraktur); the first species, close to the ancient one, is dominant (see Fig. 5).

• Fedorov E.V., Introduction to Latin epigraphy, M., 1982 (lit.);
• Calderini A., Epigrafia, Torino,(lit.);
• Calabi Limentani I., Epigrafia latina, 3 ed., Mil.,(lit.);
• Popoli et civiltà dell'Italia antica, v. 6 - Lingue e dialetti, Roma, 1978.

E. V. Fedorova.

Handwritten Latin writing in antiquity was at first distinguished by its great closeness to epigraphic writing. Varieties of capital writing have a consistent majuscule character: rustic(lit. - rough; 1-8 centuries) - from letters that are significantly free in shape, and square(4th century) - from calligraphic. The widespread use of parchment for writing led to the development from the 2nd century. unciala(until the 8th century), in which roundness of forms develops.

Among the fonts that appeared in the Middle Ages, the round variety of the insular script, that is, the script of Ireland and the Anglo-Saxon states, has a majuscule character. After gradual displacement from the 3rd century. majuscule minuscule (see Minuscule letter) capital letter is fixed as a set of forms used to this day mainly for titles. The first types of minuscule were clear in shape half-uncial(3rd-8th centuries) and careless new Roman italics (3rd-5th centuries). Based on the latter, semi-cursive early medieval fonts, the so-called regional ones, were developed, often used in a limited area. At the turn of the 8th-9th centuries. (at the beginning of the Carolingian Renaissance) appeared Carolingian minuscule, which is based on the semi-uncial tradition. Carolingian minuscule gradually replaced all other types of Latin writing in Western Europe. From the end of the 11th century. spread as a result of urban development, a broken version of the Carolingian minuscule (the so-called Gothic letter), which prevailed until the 15th century. The Renaissance, brought to life again ancient traditions, caused a return in a letter round shapes and appearance humanistic letters. The latter formed the basis for most printed and handwritten fonts of modern times.

• Lublinskaya A.D., Latin paleography, M., 1969;
• Dobiash-Rozhdestvenskaya O. A., History of writing in the Middle Ages, 3rd ed., M.-L., 1987;
• Steffens F., Lateinische Paläographie, 3 Aufl., B. - Lpz., 1929.

» Large and small letters

Large and small letters

When working with users to solve their computer problems, I very often (too often) observe the following picture.

When the user is typing text, in order to enter a capital (capital) letter, he presses the “Caps Lock” key, then types the letter itself, then, to continue writing in lowercase (small) letters, presses the “Caps Lock” key again.

For example, how to type the word “Statement”.

The "Caps Lock" key is pressed. Then the key with the letter “Z” is pressed - the capital letter “Z” is printed. Then press the "Caps Lock" key again. Now the keys “A”, “Z”, “B”, “L”, “E”, “N”, “I”, “E” are pressed sequentially. As a result, the “appearance” is printed. As a result we get the word "Statement" with a capital letter.

To my question, why is it so difficult for you to type a capital letter? After all, to do this you have to press keys THREE times? After all, you can replace these three clicks in total ONE key combination.

In response, I usually hear the following answers: It’s so convenient for me. I'm so used to it. How is it different?

It’s possible, of course, this way, but it’s also possible in another way.

But before talking about how best to type “big” and “small” letters, I want to introduce you to such a concept as keyboard register .

In one funny story, I already told how I had to deal with one user who clearly and specifically told me that “There are no small letters on the keyboard.”

In his own way he is right. Only “capital” letters are actually “drawn” on the keys of the keyboard. So let's figure out where the “big” letters are located and where the “small” letters are located.

So, the so-called keyboard register.

The keyboard register has two states, and these states are called accordingly upper case And lower case.

For switching case keyboards on the keyboard itself two keys answer. This is the key "Shift"(for the convenience of the keys shift 2 pieces - left and right) and a key "Caps Lock" (caps onion).

Why exactly two keys? Why not alone? Let's look at the principle of operation of these keys.

I will describe my actions, and you can simultaneously train with me to feel live how keyboard register affects the input of letters, numbers and various symbols.

The easiest and most visual way to train is in the Notepad program.

Launch Notepad. Move your mouse pointer successively and select with one left click: “Start” - “All Programs” - “Accessories” - “Notepad”.

And so, let's start with the fact that, after you have turned on and booted your computer, the keyboard is turned on lower case. What does this mean?

This means that if you start pressing keys with letters, then lowercase (small) letters will be printed on the monitor screen, i.e. letters in lowercase.

For example, if you have the Russian layout enabled (Russian input language), then the following letters will be printed:

ytsukengshschzhfyvaproldyachsmitby

Well, accordingly, if you have the English layout enabled (English input language), then the following letters will be printed:

qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm

Now about the key "Shift". Key "Shift" temporarily switches the keyboard lower case to upper case keyboards.

What does it mean temporarily? This means that if you press the “Shift” key(no matter left or right) and you will keep this key pressed, then the keyboard will switch to upper case. As soon as you release the "Shift" key, the keyboard will switch back to lower case.

I show with an example. I press and hold key "Shift". I start typing letters (further I will show everything on the Russian keyboard layout).

I'm letting go key "Shift".

ytsukengshschzhfyvaproljayachsmithby

Simply put, if we have it turned on lower case keyboards then type lowercase (small) letters. If we have it enabled upper case keyboards then type capital letters.

Let's go back to the word "Statement" for a moment. In this word, the first letter is capital, the rest are lowercase. How will we type this word using the key "Shift"?

Press and hold the “Shift” key. Press the key with the letter “Z” - capital is printed (capital) letter "Z", which is in uppercase keyboards. Release the "Shift" key. We print “appearance” - they print lowercase (small) letters, which are in lowercase keyboards. The result is the word "Statement" with a capital letter.

Basically, to print the capital letter "Z", we used key combination "Shift + Z".

Now about the key "Caps Lock". Key "Caps Lock" switches the keyboard register to the opposite one and fixes this register.

What does it mean? Let's press the keys again to understand and remember.

So, we have it enabled by default on the keyboard lower case, i.e. if we print letters, then the letters will be printed (displayed on the screen) in lowercase (small):

ytsukengshschzfyvaproljayachsmitby

Press and release key "Caps Lock". All. Register of our keyboard switched to the top position and fixed, i.e. now we have upper case. Now, without pressing anything additional, we can simply print capital letters:

YTSUKENGSHSHSHCHFYVAPROLJEYACHSMITEBY

Pay attention! After we press and release the key "Caps Lock", one of the three lights (indicators) on the keyboard turned on, which are located in the upper right corner of the keyboard. Namely the middle light bulb. In the picture of the keyboard, which is shown at the very beginning of the lesson, this light bulb is highlighted green color.

This light bulb shows us visually what kind of at the moment The keyboard case is turned on - lower or upper (this is so as not to get confused and remember). If indicator is off- means it’s on lower case, If lit — upper case.

This indicator can be designated differently on different keyboards depending on the imagination of the designers. I know two designations for this indicator. This "A" And "Caps Lock"- in the form of inscriptions above the light bulbs (indicators) themselves.

Now if we press and release the key again "Caps Lock", then the indicator will go out and the keyboard will switch and lock on lowercase:

ytsukengshschzfyvaproldyachsmitby

Thus, by pressing the “Caps Lock” key we switch and lock the register we need.

Well, now let's type the word again "Statement", but using the “Caps Lock” key.

So. Starting position. The “Caps Lock” light (indicator) is not lit - we have lowercase enabled.

Press the “Caps Lock” key. Our indicator lights up with the words “Caps Lock”, which means that the upper case is turned on. We press the “Z” key - we print the capital (capital) letter “Z”. Press the “Caps Lock” key again, the light (indicator) goes out - this means that the lower case is turned on and locked. We type “appearance”. In the end we get our word "Statement" with a capital letter.

Which method you will use is up to you. The main thing is that you feel comfortable. As for me, I use the Shift key to enter capital letters only because when typing quickly, entering a capital letter is 3-5 times faster.

To make it completely clear how the keys work "Shift" And "Caps Lock", let's type the word "Statement" in a slightly unusual way.

Press the “Caps Lock” key. Our indicator lights up with the words “Caps Lock”, which means that the upper case is turned on. We press the “Z” key - we print the capital (capital) letter “Z”. But then, to switch the keyboard to lower case, we press the "Caps Lock" key WE WILL NOT. We will temporarily switch the case using the "Shift" key. That is, press and hold (do not release) the "Shift" key (in this case, the keyboard will temporarily switch to lower case), type "appearance", release the "Shift" key (the keyboard will switch to upper case). In the end we get our word "Statement".

With numbers and signs in this regard it is both easier and more difficult.

The fact is that the key for entering numbers and symbols "Caps Lock" doesn't have any effect. Switching case is only possible using the key "Shift".

It’s simpler in this sense. For example, the key . Regardless of which is included (Russian or English), on lowercase a number will always be dialed "8", and on uppercase(at pressed key "Shift") an asterisk will be typed «*» . And there is even some kind of association - "8" drawn from below on the key, and the asterisk "*" above.

Here's another example - a key , where it is more difficult to figure out what will actually be printed, depending on the keyboard layout and the selected case.

For example, if we have the English layout selected, then when we press this key (lower case), the number three will be printed "3""Shift"(temporarily switch to upper case), the hash symbol will be printed «#» .

If we switch to the Russian layout, then when we press this key (lower case), the number three will again be printed "3", and if we press and hold the key "Shift"(temporarily switch to upper case), the number symbol will be printed «№» .

In order to remember where which symbol is located, you just need practice. I can advise you (I did this myself at one time) to make yourself a cheat sheet for your layouts, print it out and paste or paste it into yours (which I hope you purchased and write down various useful information). Well, highlight the “necessary” symbols with colored pens or markers.

For example, you can do this:

That's all. Good luck and creative success to everyone.

• A a(A)*
• B b(b)
• C c- before “e”, “i”, “y”, “ae”, “oe” is pronounced (ts), in other cases - (k)

D d- (d)

• E e- (uh)*
• F f- (f)
• G g- (G)

H h- (X)

• I i- (And); (th) - before vowels.
• K k- (k) - rarely found in Greek borrowings.
• Ll- (l)

Mm- (m)

• Nn- (n)
• O o- (O)
• P p- (p)

Q q- (To)

• R r- (p)
• Ss- (With); (h) - between vowels.
• T t- in the combination “ti” + vowel it is read (qi) + vowel, if there is no “s”, “t”, “x” before “ti”.

U u- (y)

• V v- (V)
• X x- (ks)
• Y y- (and) - in Greek borrowings.

Z z- (h) - in Greek borrowings.

Diphthongs, pronunciation features:

• ae- (uh)
• oh- (yo [yo]) - something like that

ch- (X)

• ph- (f) - words of Greek origin.
• th- (t) - words of Greek origin.
• rh- (r) - words of Greek origin.

Latin alphabet in human history

Human civilization has already reached high level, and we practically don’t think about where we got these or those things that we use every day, it seems that it has always been this way. Let's not talk about the latest technological progress now, let's think about more global things, such as language and writing. Every day on store signs, product packaging, price tags on things, we encounter inscriptions on foreign languages, most often it is English, which has rightfully won its international status. IN last decade, the prevalence of the English language has erased all boundaries; it has become vital for those who want to make a successful career. Even those who do not speak this language can easily read the names of popular brands, and all thanks to its incredible popularization. In Russian, the Cyrillic font is used for writing, and it is also used by some others Slavic peoples, such as the Bulgarians and Serbs. But more than half of European languages ​​use latin alphabet. These simple Latin letters seem to have been with us for an eternity. But both language and writing are always the result of centuries of work by the people. It was the advent of writing that made it possible for ancient civilizations to leave memories to their descendants. Without writing, there would be no literature, and scientific and technological progress would be impossible. How did writing originate? What gave ancient people the idea of ​​how to record necessary information? Nomadic tribes and warring parties had no need for writing. Their main task was to conquer a large territory for their tribe. But when the tribe began to lead a sedentary lifestyle, then the need for writing appeared. Probably, it was in one of these moments of calm that the ancient Phoenicians began to think about how to graphically display the necessary information. It was the Phoenicians who owned the first alphabet in human history, which became the progenitor of the Latin alphabet. It was the Phoenician alphabet that gave the traditional order of letters. Based on the Phoenician alphabet, the Greek alphabet developed, and it was in it that vowel letters appeared for the first time, which were borrowed from Semitic languages. For thousands of years, literacy was the privilege of the upper strata of society and the clergy; only a select few mastered this science. But it was the Ancient Greeks who were able to bring schools closer to the people, removing them from the influence of religious priests. And giving the opportunity to receive education from childhood. But Greek civilization fell under the onslaught of the Roman conquerors, who received the alphabet and writing as trophies. It was the Greek alphabet and writing system that formed the basis of Latin, the language of the Ancient Roman Empire. Over the millennia, the alphabet has been transformed, for example, initially there were 23 letters in the Latin alphabet, only in the Middle Ages, three more new letters were added (J, U and W), and the alphabet acquired such a familiar look. At the dawn of Latin writing, they wrote without separating words with spaces, and did not yet use punctuation marks. The belligerence of the Romans expanded the empire in all directions, in the end, even the north of Europe was conquered, and the Romans crossed the English Channel. Encampments of Roman legions are found in England, France, Syria and Judea, and even in Africa, near Tunisia and Algeria. The main base of the Roman Empire, of course, remained Italy. Many tribes that inhabited Europe at that time, in order to survive, tried to enter into an alliance with the Romans, such as the Germans and Goths. Such alliances were mostly long-term. Latin began to be used as a language of international communication. It was the emergence of Christianity and its formation in Ancient Rome, strengthened the position of Latin. Latin became the official language of the religion, which very quickly spread throughout Europe, displacing pagan cults. And when Christianity already became the official religion of Rome, the role of Latin strengthened, because now it is the official language of the church. And the role of the church in the political system in European countries cannot be underestimated. Latin is used for correspondence by diplomats and heads of state, it becomes the official language of science, and it is in Latin that the works of scientists and theological treatises are published. And the Renaissance, which swept like a fresh spring wind across Europe tormented by the Inquisition, also chose Latin as its language. The great Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei and Keppler wrote their works in Latin. In the spread of Latin writing, an important role was also played by the fact that many nations chose the Latin alphabet to write their native languages, so as not to invent new letters, but to use those already familiar to everyone. In its development, Latin writing went through many stages, the font transformed as architectural styles. In various historical periods minuscule Roman italics and Roman capital letters, uncial letters and semi-uncial letters, Merovingian and Visigothic scripts, Old Italic letters and Gothic, rotunda and Swabian letters appeared. Many of these fonts are still used for decorative purposes. This is exactly how the evolution of writing took place, introducing new signs, styles, and methods of writing. The topic of the emergence of writing is very interesting and multifaceted; it is closely related to the development of human civilization with historical and cultural events. It is through the example of writing that one can establish a historical connection, seemingly completely different nations. Transformation of primitive rock paintings, first into drawn symbols, and then into individual letters, which corresponded to a specific sound. The pinnacle of this process was the invention of printing. This allowed science and culture to develop at a new level.

Writing Roman numerals using a keyboard is an interesting activity. Anyone can feel like an expert in this number system.

Do you need to enter Roman numerals on your laptop, but don't know how? No problem! All you need to do is take a few minutes to read this article.

Roman numerals are rarely used today, mainly to indicate centuries and serial numbers various rulers, for example, the 18th century or Alexander II. You can also find Roman numerals on watch dials or in chapter names in books. Often large number Roman numerals are found when writing abstracts. Then the ability to quickly insert them can save a lot of time.

Writing Roman numerals has been customary in Europe for two thousand years. Later, during the Middle Ages, the Arabs decided to replace the number system with a simpler one. Over time, it spread throughout the world.

Digital era

Writing Roman numerals on the keyboard of a laptop or PC is quite simple, because all numbers in this number system correspond to Latin letters. So if you have a keyboard with a layout English alphabet, inserting Roman numerals is easy. In addition, you can write numbers in Word, as well as enter special codes. But first things first.

Standard method

To set Roman numerals:

• Switch to English (for a computer, the key combination is Ctrl + Shift, for a laptop Alt + Shift);
• Press the CapsLock key, since all Roman numerals are typed in capital Latin letters.

Then you can try to insert the first number on your computer or laptop:

• 1 – Latin letter I;
• 2 – two letters II, 3 – respectively 3 letters;
• 5 – Latin letter V;
• 4 – combination IV (that is, 1 less than 5);
• 6 – formed in a similar way – VI (1 more than 5);
• 7 and 8 – 2 and 3 more than 5, that is, VII and VIII;
• 10 – Latin letter X;
• 9 and 11 - similar to the formation of numbers 4 and 6, that is, IX and XI (1 less than ten, and 1 more than ten, respectively);
• 12 and 13 – XII and XIII;
• And so on: 14 – 19 – add to ten (X) the numbers obtained earlier;
• 20, 30 – two and three tens, respectively;
• 50 – Latin letter L;
• 40 and 60 – similar to the formation of 4 and 6 – XL and LX;
• 100 is the Latin letter C (remember that 100 is a centner, then the letter C (tse) will be easy to remember;
• 500 – Latin letter D;
• 1000 letter M – thousand.

If you need to dial a long number, for example, 177, then first perform the calculation: 100+70+7. Type on the keyboard with more. The result will be CLXXVII.

You can also write your birthday in Roman numerals. For example, 07/23/1978. will look like this: XXIII.VII.MCMLXXVIII.

If you need to enter a long number, counting can sometimes be difficult. A special Arabic-Roman number converter will help you here. Such online services With the help of a laptop you can quickly find it on the Internet.

ASCII codes

To enter Roman numerals on a laptop or PC, you can use special ASCII codes:

• Turn on Num Lock mode;
• Hold down the ALT key and type the appropriate combination of numbers on the secondary keyboard.

This method of typing Roman numerals on a computer may seem complicated, but in principle you will quickly get used to it if you use it regularly. Over time you will be able to insert any roman numeral literally automatically, since there are basically few numbers to remember, this is:

• I – code 73;
• V – code 86;
• X – code 88;
• L – code 76;
• C – code 67;
• D – code 68;
• M – code 77.

Obviously, this is a very time-consuming method, especially if you need to enter a lot of Roman numerals. But if you have no other options, then this method will be quite viable.

Word

The easiest way to enter Roman numerals using a laptop is to write them in Word or any other office application. Follow these steps:

• Press Ctrl + F9;
• Parentheses ( ) will appear;
• Type in brackets – (=required number\*ROMAN);
• Press F9;
• The required Roman numeral will appear.

This effective method, when you are not sure how to correctly type a particular number, and there is no access to the Internet from your laptop. But it also has a drawback: you can only write in Word and similar office applications. If you need to enter Roman numerals in Photoshop, then this method will not work. Alternatively, you can type a number on your keyboard, copy it, and paste it into required document, it's not that hard to do.

The easiest way to write Roman numerals on a keyboard or laptop is to put Latin letters in the English layout. The method is suitable for any application. If you use Roman numerals often, you will quickly memorize them. For those who are just starting to learn them, it is recommended to use a converter or a regular draft.

Writing Roman numerals digitally - only at first glance difficult task. Considering that today their distribution is quite limited, you can always spend a little time figuring out how to make the correct input.

Uppercase, she's the same capital letter- a letter that is increased in size compared to lowercase letters. Sometimes such a letter has a different grapheme.

In many languages, capital letters are used at the beginning of the first word of a sentence, at the beginning of proper names or nouns, and often at the beginning of each line of poetic text. They are often used for highlighting. For example, in titles, words or entire phrases can only consist of capital letters. Abbreviations can be written in capital letters alone or in a combination of capital and lowercase letters.

The division into uppercase and lowercase letters is present in the Greek, Latin, Armenian alphabet, as well as in the Cyrillic alphabet. There are no capital letters in Georgian writing as such, but some parts of the text, such as headings, can be typed in lowercase letters, constructed in the manner of capital letters - between two imaginary horizontal lines. In addition, characters for the ancient Georgian letter “Asomtavruli”, corresponding to the capital letters of the Greek, Latin and Armenian letters, have been introduced into the Unicode standard - this makes it possible to introduce capital letters in the Georgian letter in the future. In many writing systems (Arabic, Hebrew, Korean, Glagolitic, Indian, Thai and others), letters are not divided into uppercase and lowercase.

Appearance

Latin alphabet

The modern standard Latin alphabet consists of 26 uppercase and the same number of lowercase letters:

Uppercase lowercase

Cyrillic

Modern Russian Cyrillic consists of 33 uppercase and the same number of lowercase letters:

Uppercase lowercase

Greek alphabet

Modern Greek uses 24 uppercase and 25 lowercase letters:

Uppercase lowercase

Armenian alphabet

The modern Armenian alphabet consists of 38 uppercase and the same number of lowercase letters:

Uppercase lowercase

Usage

Russian language

In Russian, a capital letter is placed at the beginning of a sentence and at the beginning of direct speech or quotation. Also written with a capital letter:

• Proper names (first names, surnames, patronymics of people, names of animals, names of countries, cities, rivers, lakes, mountain ranges and individual peaks, etc.).
• The first word in the name of historical eras and events, holidays ( St. Bartholomew's Night, First world war , July Monarchy, independence Day).
• Names of political, cultural and other events ( World Economic Forum, Olympic Games).
• Religious and mythological characters, as well as words denoting God in monotheistic religions ( Perun, Zeus, Jesus Christ, Allah, He- if this pronoun refers to the God of a monotheistic religion). A lowercase letter is used to designate mythological and pagan gods.
• Names of firms, companies, etc., names are enclosed in quotation marks.
• Some positions and titles ( President of the Russian Federation, Your Majesty).
• Individual words in special cases (Motherland as a synonym for the name of one’s native country, but “ The birthplace of kangaroos is Australia»; God as a designation of the deity of a monotheistic religion (usually Christianity and Islam), but ancient Greek god, handsome as a god etc.).
• Not necessarily, but often, the pronoun “you” (“You”) and all its word forms when used as a polite address to one person in personal correspondence, official documents, etc.
• It is used to highlight the names of documents in official texts, designate the parties, participants, etc., for example: “...The Customer undertakes to pay the Contractor...”, “... The Parties have come to an agreement...”, “... non-compliance with the requirements of the Rules entails...”. As a rule, at the beginning of the document they make a clarifying entry - “... “Rules of Conduct in Public Places” (hereinafter - the Rules) ...” or “... Dandelion LLC and Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov (hereinafter - the Parties) ...”.
• Currently, under the influence of business documentation standards, there is a tendency towards the unreasonable use of capital letters at the beginning of words. This applies to the names of positions, divisions, institutions and departments. Participants business activities(“as noted by the Deputy Head of the Communications Development Department...”, “...we treat our Customers with respect...”, “...all Customers of our products were satisfied with their quality...”).

English language

IN English The following are also written in capital letters:

• Pronoun “I” (“I”);
• Names of peoples, races, languages ​​(Russian, English, East Indian, Caucasian)
  • Possessive adjectives denoting belonging to or referring to countries, peoples, languages ​​(Russian, English, British...).
• Names of months and days of the week;
• Historical periods and eras (the American Revolutionary War, the Great Depression, the Inquisition)
• Personal names, names of organizations, brands (John, American Center for Law and Justice, Ferrari, Apple)
• Names of streets and roads (Cherry Street, Richmond Road, Shore Front Parkway)
• Names of religions and adjectives of religious affiliation (Islam, Christian, Satanist);
• The pronouns “He”, “His”, “Him” (He, His, Him), when these pronouns denote the Christian God.

French

In French capital letters are used:

• At the beginning of a sentence, phrase, verse, quote, direct speech.
• In proper names: names of people ( Jean, Ivan, Jean-Paul Sartre), animal names ( Azor), country names ( la France, la Russie), mountains ( les Alpes), rivers ( le Rhône), cities ( Lyon), streets ( rue Bossuet), buildings ( l"Hotel de Ville), ships ( l"Airbus), etc.
• In the titles of works of art ( la Cigale et la Fourmi, la Belle Jardinière)
• When personifying concepts and qualities ( l"État, l"Institut, la Justice, la Sagesse).
• When denoting God and his synonyms ( le Dieu, le Tout-Puissant).
• When designating honorary titles and addresses ( Monsieur, Madame, Monseigneur, Sa Majesté).
• In the names of peoples, nationalities, etc., possessive words formed from the names of countries settlements, regions, continents, continents, etc., are written with a capital letter if they are subjects in the sentence ( les Américains...) or complements (nouns) ( ...vivent en Amérique); if they are definitions (adjectives), then they are written with a lowercase letter ( les Français parlent en français à leurs amis français).
• The names of days of the week, months, seasons, etc. are written with a lowercase when indicating the date ( Je suis né le 14 juillet), but with capitalization when denoting a holiday ( J"ai assisté à la revue du 14 Juillet).

German

IN German written with a capital letter:

• All nouns (both proper and common nouns)
• Polite form of the pronoun "You" (Sie)

Programming

Programming can use the "CamelCase" coding style, in which compound words are written together and the first letters are capitalized.

Lowercase letter: rules of use

Uppercase and lowercase letters are the letters used for writing on a daily basis. The first is the capital letter (large), and the second is smaller in size (small).

A little history

Initially, when writing, only capital letters were used, the boundaries of which (upper and lower) were clearly defined. Over time, cursive writing developed, and the letters acquired a more rounded shape. This is how the foundations of the so-called Carolingian minuscule writing arose, which was developed by the scientist Alcuin. It was used at the court of Charlemagne, and over time this letter spread throughout Europe. This is how, for the first time, a single text began to contain lowercase and capital letters.

Uppercase and lowercase letters

The use of uppercase and lowercase letters is one of the most complex problems modern Russian spelling. Constant changes in realities entail a change in the spelling of these letters. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly study new editions of reference books and dictionaries, which must necessarily reflect such innovations.

But despite this, there are basic principles for the use of uppercase and lowercase letters. They help you understand the writing of large and small letters, even if some word is not in the dictionary.

Rules for using capital letters

The following are written with a capital letter:

Rules for using lowercase letters

A lowercase letter is written if it is a component:

• articles, prepositions, particles in Western European names and proper names (Ludwig van Beethoven);
• personal names that serve the purpose of ironic or negative evaluation (newly appeared Luzhins);
• nouns formed from surnames and personal names (Oblomovism);
• components of Turkic and Arabic names that indicate family relationships or social status(al, zade, bek, aha);
• names of units of measurement that were given by the name of the scientist (ampere);
• words earth, moon, sun, which are not astronomical names;
• adjectives containing a suffix -sk-, denoting belonging, formed from proper names (Chekhov's pages);
• names of titles and positions (deputy minister, mayor);
• abbreviations formed from common nouns (university - higher education institution).

Also, a lowercase letter is written in names:

• geological eras and periods, archaeological cultures and eras (Mesozoic era);
• positions and titles, international organizations, as well as the highest foreign elected institutions (Emperor of Japan, Major General, Ambassador);
• authorities plural(Ministry of Russia);
• animal breeds (Keeshond dog);
• institutions whose names are not proper names (school No. 592).

Principles of using lowercase and capital letters

Having studied the above rules, we can identify the basic principles on the basis of which lowercase and capital letters are used. So:

• Isolating specific segments of sentences (text) is a syntactic principle.
• Highlighting certain words in the text:

1) A lowercase letter is written in common nouns, capital – in proper names – is a morphological principle.

2) A capital letter is written in common nouns endowed with special symbolism or pathos (Man, Fatherland), in the names of holidays (New Year, Victory Day) - a semantic principle.

3) A capital letter is used in abbreviations made up of the first letters.

It is necessary to distinguish

As already mentioned, a lowercase letter is written in adjectives that contain the suffix -sk-, denoting belonging and formed from proper names. That's why "Pushkin's prose" is written with a small letter. But possessive adjectives with a suffix -sk-, having the meaning of a name in honor of someone's memory, are written with capital letters. For example, "Lomonosov Readings".

Word: lowercase and uppercase letters

Due to the rapid development information technology, gained wide popularity Microsoft program Office Word, which is almost indispensable in work and educational process. But few people know how to make lowercase letters from capital letters and vice versa with one press of certain keys.

So, let's write the following text in capital letters:

"LOWER LETTERS OF THE RUSSIAN ALPHABET".

Now you need to select the text and press the Shift and F3 keys simultaneously. After this we will have:

After pressing these key combinations again, we get the following:

"Lowcase Letters of the Russian Alphabet".

And to return to the original text, you need to press Shift+F3 again.

Lowercase letters are:

Lowercase letters- letters that are smaller than capital letters. Used in European alphabets (Greek, Latin, Cyrillic and Armenian). For example, the letter “a” is lowercase, and the letter “A” is uppercase.

Initially, when writing, they used exclusively capital letters with clearly defined upper and lower boundaries. With the development of cursive writing, the shape of the letters became more rounded, which resulted, for example, in such a form of writing as the uncial.

In turn, the foundations of the Carolingian minuscule script developed by Alcuin for use at the court of Charlemagne arose, which quickly spread throughout Europe. At the same time, for the first time, they began to mix uppercase and lowercase letters into a single text.

See also

• Minuscule
• Capital letters

Notes

Links

• Alphabets
• Spelling
• Typography

What do the concepts of “lowercase” and “uppercase” letters mean?

Why do people begin to confuse the concepts of “lowercase” and “uppercase” letters?

Inspired by an answer to a question about universities.

Do you know what these concepts mean?

Tatyana Yelova

Uppercase, or a capital letter is a letter whose size is increased compared to smaller ones, lowercase, ordinary letters. Sentences begin with a capital letter, proper names are written, and the pronoun “You” is used when addressed with respect.

Concepts "lowercase letters" And "capital letters" should be distinguished very clearly, otherwise utter confusion may arise in your writing.

lowercase letter written in the same line with other letters, without sticking out the top of your head from behind standing nearby friends, that is small letter.

By the way, do you know how to pronounce this word correctly? Initially it has the correct stress on the second syllable:

stro-chn A-I.

Apparently, from the word "stroch" And"t" - write quickly.

Although in lately an alternative pronunciation of the word with the stressed first syllable has become widespread - p O nal". Both the first and second pronunciation are considered correct.

Uppercase letter- this is a capital letter, that is, large in size. It is written above the level of the rest, that is, lowercase letters. Let's write proper names with a capital letter, geographical names, which exist in singular, and not a lot of them, the first letter of long names of institutions, etc., for example:

Vasily and Anna;

Lake Baikal and the Volga River;

State Opera House and the International Monetary Fund.

I have encountered such confusion in the minds regarding the names of letters. For some reason, some began to persistently convince me that small letters are called capital letters and this is because they, they say, learned to write them according to the rules. That is, in their minds, capital letters and the letters that they write down are written out, in copybooks they are one and the same. Although in reality capital letters are just capital letters and therefore capital letters, while lowercase are the small letters that basically make up a line of any text. Capital letters were often written out specially, decorated with curlicues and cursive writing, hence their name.

Zvyonka

Speaking about the rules of the Russian language, and not about some figurative meanings concepts of “uppercase letters” and “lowercase letters”, you need to know about the clear and unambiguous distinctions between these two terms.

Each of the 33 letters of the Russian alphabet has two academic versions of its graphic display:

1. Capital letter (capital, capital).

2 . Lowercase letter (small, small).

Here's everything you need to know. Hundreds of pages are devoted to the use of uppercase and lowercase letters in detailed grammar reference books. Eat general rules their use, special case rules and corrective rules.

In a nutshell (very condensed), the beginning of each sentence is highlighted in capital letters, as well as the beginning of each proper noun.

Zolotynka

As often happens in the Russian language, the word itself sometimes carries a clue to its meaning. Thus, in ancient Russian literature, texts were written not in sentences, as now, but in entire paragraphs, and each paragraph began with a beautifully designed, intricately decorated capital letter. Such letters were drawn or written as if by prescription. Hence the name - capital letters. The reform of Peter 1, which changed and simplified a lot in the Russian alphabet, not only left capital letters untouched, but also legalized them. According to this reform, every new thought had to be written with a capital letter. The rest of the letters did not stand out on the lines; they were small and identical, which is why they got the name - lowercase.

Moreljuba

In the Russian language there are two concepts: “lowercase” and “uppercase” letters. Let's take a closer look at what the difference is between these concepts and, in general, what is meant. So, “capital” letters are, in a different way, “capital” (capital) letters that appear at the beginning of a sentence in words or in proper names and other words that require constant capitalization. but “lowercase” letters are precisely those letters that are considered “small” and are written in all other cases and in the continuation of words starting with a capital letter.

Lowercase letters- these are the ones. which are written in a line, since we mostly write in small letters, then lowercase letters are ordinary, small-sized letters.

Capital letters in ancient times began each new paragraph or page of a book, each capital letter was carefully outlined by the scribes and was significantly larger than the other letters on the page.

You can read about capital letters here.

Andrey4100

Lowercase letters- these are letters that are always smaller than capital letters, they are used to write texts in all cases, except for cases when the rules of the Russian language

require use capital letters- large or capital letters.

For example:

E-(large) uppercase letter;

e-(small) lowercase letter.

Lowercase and uppercase letters are also used in other alphabets:

Greek; Armenian; Cyrillic; Latin.

In the Russian language, lowercase letters appeared in the 18th century.

Novasagova

There really is a difference between these two concepts, and they lie in the fact that:

“Lowcase” is, in our understanding, the “small” letters that we use in everyday life.

And “Capital” letters are letters that we write “Big”, that is, an abbreviation, or the beginning of a sentence.

Nikia123456

A capital letter is a letter that is written larger than the others.

Sentences begin with this letter, names of cities, countries, names and more are written.

And lowercase letters are written in small size.

How are uppercase letters different from lowercase letters?

Tatiana

Capital letters (Capital, Upper case, Uc)
Letters that differ from lowercase ones in height and sometimes in shape. The first word in a sentence, proper names and other words begin with capital letters, in accordance with the spelling of the given language. English name is explained by the fact that English typesetters traditionally worked from two typesetters - the upper (Upper case) and the lower (lower case). Capital letters were located at the top box, and lowercase letters at the bottom.

Margo margo

Capital letters
(capital), letters that differ from lowercase (see Lowercase letters) in height and sometimes in style (for example, Russian “A”, “B”, “G”; Latin G, Q, R). With P. b. write the first word at the beginning of a sentence, proper names, various headings. In German writing with P. b. all nouns are written; in English they are used at the beginning of each full-valued word in headings. P. b. are part of alphabetic writing systems built on the Russian and Latin graphic bases, as well as the Greek, Georgian and Armenian alphabets. In titles, after dots to highlight sections of text, in proper names P. b. began to be used in the Latin alphabet from the 15th century. , in Russian - from the 16th century. ; initials in all Slavic and Russian handwritten books always stood out ornamentally.
Lowercase letters
, letters of regular sizes and styles, contrasted with capital letters in modern scripts on the Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and Armenian graphic basis. Contrasting S. b. capital letters goes back to the contrast between ordinary font letters and initials (in Latin-writing countries - in the 11th-15th centuries). In Russian Cyrillic writing, the system of capitals and S. b. introduced at the beginning of the 18th century. (see Civil font). Unlike capital letters, which are mainly oriented towards the shape of Lat. capital letters and other ancient monumental fonts, S. b. continue the tradition of medieval minuscule writing of cursive origin (as well as handwritten fonts of Russia and Armenia

Sergey-sveta martinovi

Capital1. written, not printed, 2. About letters: protruding above the line. Propis - examples of correct and beautiful writing. In Prose - About writing numbers: in words, not in numbers. Lowercase - About letters: not protruding above the line; opposite Capital.

There are capital letters, but what are the small ones called correctly?

Pavel Nemtsov

The concept of capital letters has two meanings:
-A capital letter is a printed sample letter for handwriting, mainly used in copybooks - a special notebook for elementary school students.
-Same as capital letters.

Lowercase letters are letters that are smaller than uppercase letters. Used in European alphabets (Greek, Latin, Cyrillic and Armenian). For example, the letter “a” is lowercase, and the letter “A” is uppercase.
Initially, when writing, they used exclusively capital letters with clearly defined upper and lower boundaries. With the development of cursive writing, the shape of the letters became more rounded, which resulted, for example, in such a form of writing as the uncial.
In turn, the foundations of the Carolingian minuscule script developed by Alcuin for use at the court of Charlemagne arose, which quickly spread throughout Europe. At the same time, for the first time, they began to mix uppercase and lowercase letters into a single text.

Capital letters are letters that are increased in size relative to lowercase letters. Often they have a different grapheme.
In many languages, they are used at the beginning of the first word of a sentence, at the beginning of proper names or nouns, and often at the beginning of each line of a poetic text. Capital letters are often used for emphasis. For example, in titles, words or entire phrases may consist of only capital letters.
The division into uppercase and lowercase letters is present in the Greek alphabet and the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet that emerged from it, as well as in the Armenian alphabet. In many alphabets (Arabic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Georgian alphabet, Korean alphabet, Glagolitic alphabet, Indian alphabets, Thai alphabet and many others) letters are not divided into uppercase and lowercase.