The Distribution of the Variants of the Preposition a/ab in Classical Latin

In Latin grammars, little attention is paid to the use of the preposition a and its allomorph ab. One of the most common points of view is that variant a is used before word forms with initial consonants, and ab before words with initial vowels and aspirate h. Nevertheless, cases of violation of this rule are known. For example, ab is often used before words with initial consonants. The number of occurrences of such use, if found in a work, is different for every author. The use of the preposition a/ab was studied in (Al-Rubaii 2016), in such works as Caesar’s ‘Commentaries on the Gallic War’ and ‘Ab Urbe Condita’ by Titus Livius. ‘Ab + consonant-initial word forms’ entries were studied and analyzed. As a result, the following pattern was revealed: when used with a consonant-initial forms, ab has a tendency to be used before dental consonants. In present study, the distribution of the variants of the preposition a/ab/abs was examined in other works in classical Latin. As in (Al-Rubaii 2016), a pattern concerning the tendency of variant ab to be used before dental consonants was found in works in classical Latin approximately before 1 AD. Manuscript differences concerning variants a/ab were studied in “Commentaries on the Gallic War” by Gaius Iulius Caesar.