Natural History of Latin : The Story of the World's Most Successful Language.
Title:
Natural History of Latin : The Story of the World's Most Successful Language.
Author:
Janson, Tore.
ISBN:
9780191550232
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (316 pages)
Contents:
Contents -- Foreword -- Part I: Latin and the Romans -- Lingua latina: a first acquaintance -- The earliest period of Rome -- How Latin became Latin -- From small town to great power -- How bad were the Romans? -- A voice from early Rome -- The meeting with Greece -- Theatre for the people -- The age of revolutions -- Writing, reading, listening, and speaking -- Speeches, politics, and trials -- Cicero and rhetoric -- The language of history -- Imperium romanum: Augustus and the Roman empire -- Name and family -- Years and months -- Latin becomes the language of Europe -- Poetry and poets -- Philosophy: Lucretius, Cicero, Seneca -- The schools and Quintilian -- The sciences -- Everyday language -- Laws and legal language -- Tacitus, the emperors, and Britain -- Christianity: from dangerous sect to state religion -- Part II: Latin and Europe -- Europe after Rome -- From Latin to the Romance languages -- Missionaries, Latin, and foreign languages -- Latin in Britain -- Latin in schools -- Speaking and spelling -- Books and scribes -- Saints and heretics -- The guardians of the heritage -- Poetry after antiquity -- Abelard and Héloïse -- The thinkers -- The Renaissance -- Doctors and their language -- Linnaeus and Latin -- Physicists, chemists, and others -- Alchemy, witchcraft, and Harry Potter -- Loanwords and neologisms -- Latin and German -- Latin and French -- Latin and English -- Latin and us -- Part III: About the Grammar -- Introduction -- Pronunciation and stress -- Sentences, verbs, and nouns -- Words and word classes -- Nouns -- Adjectives -- Pronouns -- The forms of the verb -- Amandi and Amanda -- How words are formed -- Part IV: Basic Vocabulary -- Part V: Common Phrases and Expressions -- Suggested reading -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Z.
Abstract:
Latin is alive and well. Beginning in Rome around 600 BC it became the international language of the civilized world for 2,000 years. French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian are among its direct descendants. It provides the vocabulary for law and life science. No known language, including English - itself enriched by Latin words and phrases - has achieved such success and longevity. This book tells its history from origins to the present. Brilliantly conceived, popularizing but. authoritative, and written with the fluency and light touch that have made the author's Speak so attractive to tens of thousands of readers, it is a masterpiece of adroit synthesis. - ;Latin is alive and well. Beginning in Rome around 600 BC Latin became the language of the civilized world and remained so for over two millennia. French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian are among its progeny and it still provides the international vocabulary of law and life science. No known language, including English - itself enriched by Latin words and phrases - has achieved such success and longevity. Tore Janson tells its history from origins to the present. Brilliantly. conceived and written with the same light touch as Speak, his bestselling history of languages, A Natural History of Latin is a masterpiece of adroit synthesis. The author charts the expansion in the classical world, its renewed importance in the Middle Ages, and its survival into modern times. He shows its central role in European history and culture and, by judicious quotation of phrases and texts, describes how spoken and written Latin changed and evolved differently in different places. He ends with a summary of Latin grammar and lists of Latin words and of phrases still in common use. Considered elitist and irrelevant in the second half of the twentieth century and often banned from schools, Latin is now enjoying a
huge revival of interest and a renaissance in schools across Europe, the UK, and the USA. Tore Janson offers persuasive arguments for its value and direct access to its fascinating worlds, past and present. - ;Natural History of Latin is an authoritative introduction to arguably the most influential language of all time. - Chicago Tribune;This always readable book is full of interest. - The Scotsman;It is hard to imagine how this book could be improved. - Linguist;From now on, if anyone who has never studied Latin askes me to recommend a short, readable book in which they can find out about the history of Latin and get a feel for the grammar, I will be able to answer unhesitatingly. - Linguist.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
Genre:
Electronic Access:
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