Vulgar Latin refers to those features of Latin language that were not recommended by the classical grammarians but existed nonetheless. Although Vulgar Latin is not well documented, evidence can be deduced from details of the spelling, grammar, and vocabulary that occur in texts of the later Roman Empire, late antiquity, and the early Middle Ages. Every aspect of Vulgar Latin is exemplified in this book, proving that the language is not separate in itself, but an integral part of Latin.Originally published in French in 1967, Vulgar Latin was translated more recently into Spanish in an expanded and revised version. The English translation by Roger Wright accurately portrays Vulgar Latin as a complicated field of study, where little is known with absolute certainty, but a great deal can be worked out with considerable probability through careful critical analysis of the data. This text is an invaluable aid to research and understanding for all those interested in Latin, Romance languages, historical linguistics, early medieval texts, and early medieval history.József Herman is the former director of the Linguistic Research Institute at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and is currently Professor of Latin Linguistics at the University of Venice. He is a well-known authority on the history of later Latin and the prehistory of Romance languages

This original guide introduces you to the basic grammar of Vulgar Latin and the Romance languages. Compare related languages to understand how nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, words, phrases and sentences work throughout this language family. Challenge yourself to see commonalities among a range of Romance languages and to understand their shared history from Vulgar Latin. View examples from major Romance languages like Portuguese, French and Romanian, as well as many regional languages like Catalan, Sardinian and Romansh.Clear formatting and a thorough index allow you to identify key terms and quickly cross-reference relevant sections for more information. Romance examples are printed in bold, translations in italics and key grammar terms tackled elsewhere in the book are underlined.Extra materials include comparative grammar tables with notes, a brief tour of Vulgar Latin grammar, a chapter on the pronunciation of Romance, helpful maps and a glossary of language names. Balanced explanations and examples, a thorough index and a clear table of contents make this the ideal reference guide for students and enthusiasts of the Romance languages, Vulgar Latin/Proto-Romance or Romance linguistics.

Deixis as a field of research has generated increased interest in recent years. It is crucial for a number of different subdisciplines: pragmatics, semantics, cognitive and contrastive linguistics, to name just a few. The subject is of particular interest to experts and students, philosophers, teachers, philologists, and psychologists interested in the study of their language or in comparing linguistic structures. The different deictic structures – not only the items themselves, but also the oppositions between them – reflect the fact that neither the notions of space, time, person nor our use of them are identical cross-culturally. This diversity is not restricted to the difference between languages, but also appears among related dialects and language varieties. This volume will provide an overview of the field, focusing on Romance languages, but also reaching beyond this perspective. Chapters on diachronic developments (language change), comparisons with other (non-)European languages, and on interfaces with neighboring fields of interest are also included. The editors and authors hope that readers, regardless of their familiarity with Romance languages, will gain new insights into deixis in general, and into the similarities and differences among deictic structures used in the languages of the world.

In Latin Alive, Joseph Solodow tells the story of how Latin developed into modern French, Spanish, and Italian, and deeply affected English as well. Offering a gripping narrative of language change, Solodow charts Latin's course from classical times to the modern era, with focus on the first millennium of the Common Era. Though the Romance languages evolved directly from Latin, Solodow shows how every important feature of Latin's evolution is also reflected in English. His story includes scores of intriguing etymologies, along with many concrete examples of texts, studies, scholars, anecdotes, and historical events; observations on language; and more. Written with crystalline clarity, this book tells the story of the Romance languages for the general reader and to illustrate so amply Latin's many-sided survival in English as well.

Reading Medieval Latin is an introduction to medieval Latin in its cultural and historical context and is designed to serve the needs of students who have completed the learning of basic classical Latin morphology and syntax. (Users of Reading Latin will find that it follows on after the end of section 5 of that course.) It is an anthology, organised chronologically and thematically in four parts. Each part is divided into chapters with introductory material, texts, and commentaries which give help with syntax, sentence-structure, and background. There are brief sections on medieval orthography and grammar, together with a vocabulary which includes words (or meanings) not found in standard classical dictionaries. The texts chosen cover areas of interest to students of medieval history, philosophy, theology, and literature.