Early and Late Latin
Continuity or Change?

This book focuses on the continuity between the documented stages in the history of Latin and its development into Romance.

J. N. Adams (Edited by), Nigel Vincent (Edited by)

9781107132252, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 October 2016

490 pages, 11 b/w illus. 29 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.5 cm, 0.89 kg

This book addresses the question of whether there are continuities in Latin spanning the period from the early Republic through to the Romance languages. It is often maintained that various usages admitted by early comedy were rejected later by the literary language but continued in speech, to resurface centuries later in the written record (and in Romance). Are certain similarities between early and late Latin all that they seem, or might they be superficial, reflecting different phenomena at different periods? Most of the chapters, on numerous syntactic and other topics and using different methodologies, have a long chronological range. All attempt to identify patterns of change that might undermine any theory of submerged continuity. The patterns found are summarised in a concluding chapter. The volume addresses classicists with an interest in any of the different periods of Latin, and Romance linguists.

1. Continuity and change in the history of Latin Nigel Vincent
2. Comic lexicon: searching for 'submerged' Latin from Plautus to Erasmus Giuseppe Pezzini
3. Third person possessives from early Latin to late Latin and Romance Tommaso Mari
4. The language of a Pompeian tavern: submerged Latin? James Clackson
5. Ad versus the dative: from early to late Latin James Adams and Wolfgang De Melo
6. Variation and change in Latin BE-periphrases: empirical and methodological considerations Lieven Danckaert
7. Analytic passives and deponents in classical and later Latin Philip Burton
8. On the use of habeo and the perfect participle in earlier and later Latin Gerd Haverling
9. Expressions of time in early and late Latin: the case of temporal habet Stelios Panayotakis
10. Quid ago? Quid facimus? 'Deliberative' indicative questions from early to late Latin Anna Chahoud
11. On coepi/incipio + infinitive: some new remarks Giovanbattista Galdi
12. Infinitives with verbs of motion from Latin to Romance James Adams and Nigel Vincent
13. Causatives in Latin and Romance Nigel Vincent
14. The development of the comparative in Latin texts Brigitte Bauer
15. Analytic and synthetic forms of the comparative and superlative from early to late Latin Robert Maltby
16. Left-detached constructions from early to late Latin (nominatiuus pendens and attractio inuersa) Hilla Halla-aho
17. Six notes on Latin correlatives Philomen Probert and Eleanor Dickey
18. Epilogue: some patterns of change James Adams.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History: earliest times to present day [HBL], History [HB], Humanities [H], Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF]