The use of initial h- in the writing-tablets from Roman Britain

Abstract

This paper is focussed on the treatment of h in initial position in non-literary texts written on tablet from Roman Britain. The analysis highlights the variation concerning the treatment of h-. We consider the cases of hinsertion in initial position in the Vindolanda corpus, which targets specific areas of the lexicon: everyday language (Tab.Vindol. 622, hostrea) and, more importantly, personal names (Tab.Vindol. 184, Huettius). In contrast, the other non-literary corpora of Londinium-Bloomberg, Carlisle and curse-tablets show a different outcome, as there are only cases of hdeletion in initial position, which follows a more widely attested non-standard Latin development, which is eventually seen in the formation of the Romance languages