 A plebeian branch of the "gens", the Claudii Marcelli, retained the supposedly patrician spelling, while there is some inscriptional evidence that the "-o-" form may also have been used on occasion by close male relatives of the "patrician tribune" Clodius.Tatum argues that the use of "-o-" by the "chic" Clodia Metelli was a fashionable affectation, and that Clodius, whose perhaps inordinately loving relationship with his sister was the subject of much gossip and insinuation, was imitating his stylish sibling.The linguistic variation of "o" for "au" was characteristic of the Umbrian language, of which Sabine was a branch.