Some remarks on the language of the Itinerarium Antonini Placentini

The text of the Itinerarium Antonini Placentini, the anonymous account of a travel to the Holy Land dated to ca. 570 AD, is transmitted by two main families of manuscripts: the recensio prior (a), represented by the Sangallensis 133 (G), 8th-9th cent., and the Rhenaugiensis (R), 9th cent. and the recensio altera (13), preserved in several manuscripts. There is broad consensus among scholars that the Latin of (13) largely results from a later normalization in Carolingian times. It is disputed, instead, whether the original text is better preserved in G, which often 'deviates' from standard Latin, or in R, which is much closer to classical canons. In our paper, we will concentrate on noun morphology and on the treatment of final -m. Through the presentation of statistical data and the discussion of selected examples, we shall show that, although G occasionally modifies the text of its archetype, several morphological errors occurring in it may be put down to the author himself. Conversely, R displays a clear tendency to correct the text. Additionally, we will claim that the frequent use, in G, of the endings -a and -as in the accusative singular and nominative plural, respectively, of feminine names are likely to reflect the gradual extension of a casus unicus, which is also found in Romance