Beginning in Rome around 600 BC, Latin became the language of the civilized world and remained so for more than two millennia. French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian are among its progeny and it 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 present. Brilliantly conceived and written with the same light touch as his bestselling history of languages, A Natural History of Latin is a masterpiece of adroit synthesis.
The author charts the expansion of Latin in the classical world, its renewed importance in the Middle Ages, and its survival into modern times. He shows how spoken and written Latin evolved in different places and its central role in European history and culture. He ends with a concise Latin grammar and lists of Latin words and phrases still in common use.
Considered elitist and irrelevant in the second half of the twentieth century and often even banned from schools, Latin is now enjoying a huge revival of interest across Europe, the UK, and the USA. Tore Janson offers persuasive arguments for its value and gives direct access to its fascinating worlds, past and present.
By:
Tore Janson ( Emeritus Professor of Latin University of Göteborg)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 210mm,
Width: 140mm,
Spine: 20mm
Weight: 391g
ISBN: 9780199214051
ISBN 10: 0199214050
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 01 April 2007
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part I Latin and the Romans 1: Lingua latina: a first acquaintance 2: The earliest period of Rome 3: How Latin became Latin 4: From small town to great power 5: How bad were the Romans? 6: A voice from early Rome 7: The meeting with Greece 8: Theatre for the people 9: The age of revolutions 10: Writing, reading, listening, and speaking 11: Speeches, politics, and lawsuits 12: Cicero and rhetoric 13: The language of history 14: Imperium romanum: Augustus and the Roman Empire 15: Name and family 16: Years and months 17: Latin becomes the language of Europe 18: Poets and poetry 19: Philosophy: Lucretius, Cicero, Seneca 20: The Schools and Quintilian 21: The sciences 22: Everyday language 23: Laws and legal language 24: Tacitus, the emperors, and Britain 25: Christianity: from dangerous sect to state religion Part II Latin and Europe 26: Europe after Rome 27: From Latin to the Romance languages 28: Missionaries, Latin, and foreign languages 29: Latin in Britain 30: Latin in schools 31: Speaking and spelling 32: Books and scribes 33: Saints and heretics 34: The guardians of the heritage 35: Poetry after antiquity 36: Abelard and Heloise 37: The thinkers 38: The Renaissance 39: Doctors and their language 40: Linnaeus and Latin 41: Physicists, chemists, and others 42: Alchemy, witchcraft, and Harry Potter 43: Loanwords and neologisms 44: Latin and German 45: Latin and French 46: Latin and English 47: Latin and us Part III About the Grammar 48: Introduction 49: Pronunciation and stress 50: Sentences, verbs and nouns 51: Words and word classes 52: Nouns 53: Adjectives 54: Pronouns 55: THe forms of the verb 56: Amandi and amanda 57: How words are formed Glossary of words and expressions Part IV Basic Vocabulary Part V Common Phrases and Expressions Suggested reading Index
Reviews for A Natural History of Latin
.,. valuable is the enthusiasm [Janson] directs to the history of Latin words and the variety of their uses (with attention even to such divagations as the Latin spells in the Harry Potter books). The translators do a fine job of Anglicizing both the language and the cultural assumptions...Recommended --CHOICE<br> An authoritative introduction to arguably the most influential language of all time. --Chicago Tribune<br> Janson...comes not to praise the Romans but instead the lingua Latina, whose evolution he traces from its origin some 2,700 years ago as a local language to its apotheosis as the official language of the Roman Empire--and later, when it was no longer anyone's native tongue, of the victorious Christian religion--to an exercise forced upon schoolchildren. He also offers an enthusiastic appreciation of Latin's role, for the better part of yet another millennium, as the language of enlightened Europeans from Chaucer and Abelard to Erasmus, Galileo, Newton, and Rene 'Cogito, ergo sum' Descartes. Nor does he fail to point out Latin's enduring place in medicine, botany, and zoology--or its more recent uses, from Oscar Wilde's 'De Profundis' to the first names of J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' characters, including Albus ('White') Dumbledore. --Boston Globe<br> In the hands of a teacher introducing students to Latin, the classics, or to general themes in Western history, this book could be very useful. ... May the Latin is Important movement, assisted by books like Janson's, prosper. --Books & Culture<br> It is hard to imagine how this book could be improved. ...from now on, if anyone who has never studied Latin asks me to recommend a short, readable book in which theycan find out about the history of Latin and get a feel for the grammar, I will be able to answer unhesitatingly. --Linguist List 16.965<br>
