preLatin

PreLatin is a scholarly term used to reference the historical and linguistic stage of the Italic languages before the emergence of Latin as a written and standardized language. It is not a single language, but rather a set of varieties collectively described as Proto-Italic and early Italic dialects. Proto-Italic is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Italic languages, thought to have been spoken in the central-southern Italian Peninsula during the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age. From Proto-Italic, several branches developed, of which Latin eventually became the dominant form in Latium and surrounding areas. Other Italic languages include Oscan, Umbrian, and Faliscan, among others; these are often cited as examples of the linguistic diversity encompassed by the preLatin period.

Evidence for preLatin speech comes from comparative linguistics and non-Latin inscriptions, such as Oscan and Umbrian texts, as well as the Latin alphabet's adaptation. Because there are no continuous native texts in Proto-Italic, the reconstruction relies on sound correspondences, morphology, and lexical patterns across Italic languages.

The term preLatin thus denotes time, not a single dialect, and its boundaries are not fixed; it ends where Latin emerges as a distinct literary and political community in the late first millennium BCE. Understanding preLatin helps explain how Latin developed its phonology, grammar, and vocabulary in the context of broader Italic development.

See also: Proto-Italic; Old Latin; Italic languages; Oscan; Umbrian; Faliscan.