Description
Teaching Delivery: This module is taught in 10 weekly classes.
Content: The module will trace the history of the Latin language from its Indo-European origins to the Renaissance. It will cover the early linguistic history of the Italian peninsular; the emergence and eventual domination of the dialect of Latium; the history of the literary language in the classical period and evidence for the spoken varieties (this will include an introduction to the historical phonology and morphology of the language, as well as a study of the vocabulary); the history of the Latin in the post-classical period and the emergence of regional vernaculars; mediaeval Latin and neo-Latin; Dante and the language question in Italy. The syllabus will include a selection of inscriptions and literary texts from all periods.
Skills:ÌýAt the end of the module students shouldÌýbe able to give an account of the central linguistic issues in the history of the Latin language as well as understand how Classical Latin stands in relation to archaic and post-classical Latin, including the Romance languages.
Suggested preliminary reading:
Janson, T., 2004. A Natural History of Latin. Oxford
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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