Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #312488 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 316 pages

Review
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

Far from being a dead language, Latin is still widely influential, both culturally and linguistically, as Tore Janson's informative book enthusiastically makes clear. Neither a beginner's textbook nor a work of reference, it aims to introduce the reader to the history (and a little grammar) of lingua Latina from its beginnings as the native language of Rome 2,700 years ago. Under the unifying effect of the Roman Empire, it became the language of Europe and the basis for Romance languages and much of our vocabulary today. Although there is a great deal of information here - the author is a world expert on the history of Latin - the book whets the appetite with historical titbits, examples of prose and poetry, comments on the pervasiveness of Latin in medicine and science, its role in the Catholic Church and even its contribution to Harry Potter, and transmits the author's passion in an enjoyable and interesting way. (Kirkus UK)

Review
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 )

The Scotsman
"This always readable book is full of interest."

Customer Reviews

Superficial
This is far, far too superficial to be a genuine history of the Latin language. Everything is dealt with too briefly, if at all. Most of the discussion of the language per se is in the final third of the book, which contains a potted Latin grammar (if I wanted this I would read a Latin grammar). The first two sections, entitled "Latin and the Romans" and "Latin and Europe" respectively, focus too much on overviews of history and literary figures and precious little on the language itself apart from the odd few lines from Virgil, Ovid etc. I would have expected a work calling itself a "history" of Latin to deal with, to take a couple of examples, the relationship between Latin and Proto-Indo-European and its other descendant languages, and the development of the Latin alphabet via Old Italic/Etruscan alphabets going back through to Greek and Semitic alphabets. Not even a sausage on such matters.

The language used seems to be very much at a school textbook sort of level, and an indicator that such may be the real target audience is the couple of pages devoted to the use of pseudo-Latin (i.e. not even real Latin) in the Harry Potter books. Get down with the kids!

Perhaps fine as a companion work to schoolkids beginning GCSE Latin, otherwise forget it.

(Update 13/09/08: I have just purchased Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin, which whilst I have not yet read it, from my perusal looks a lot better than this book.)

Good attempt.===== Language of Latium - ancient Lazio
Many philologists eg Cruttwell, Mommsen, Ramat, Pharies, have covered the domain of Latin & its morphology.
The Bronze age roots of proto Latin and Etruscan, as languages, are obscure.
Presumably Celt, Phoenician, Lemnian and Chaldaean. The Latin alphabet was derived from the Dorian-Greek alphabet of Cumae. By the time of the Laws of the Twelve Tables (451, 450 B.C.) classical Latin was emerging.
If only Claudius's 20 volume History of the Etruscans had survived, we would be much the wiser. The ancient citizens of the Kingdom of Latium eclipsed and outgrew their linguistic ancestors, the Etruscans, in every sense. Far from preserving non-Roman cultures, the armies of Latium colonised and eradicated them over the centuries. There was space for only one monolithic culture and language. Of the competing languages and cultures of ancient Italy, the victor was Latin, the language of the most militarised. Rivals were subsumed. Even so, the "Sermo" of "street Latin" Latinus Vulgaris; was a melting pot of influences.
Through monasticism, Latin was, later, one of the "planks" of the Medieval Renaissance.
As with all apects of nature: "Dei Rerum Natura", Latin itself arose from Darwinian selection.