J'ozsef Herman, "Vulgar Latin" (fwd)

[Roger Wright]

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Dear Historical Linguists,

        Announcing this new book just out:

"Vulgar Latin" by J'ozsef Herman, translated into English by Roger Wright.
Penn State Press. Paperback. xiv + 130 pp. ISBN 0-271-02001-6. $17.95.

Originally published in French in 1967, J'ozsef Herman's "Latin Vulgar"
became the standard student text on the topic. It was recently revised,
updated and expanded by about 50% in a Spanish version ("El lat'in
vulgar", Barcelona, Ariel, 1997). The expanded version is the basis for
this new English translation, where the text is made user-friendly for
English readers, including non-specialists, with updated bibliography.

"Vulgar Latin" is not a separate language; the term is used collectively
to refer to all those aspects of Latin language which we can tell did
exist, but which were not recommended in the Grammars. Thus it includes
developments in pronunciation, inflections, syntax and vocabulary, many
of which are illuminated by the subsequent Romance languages. There are
also sections on more general problems, such as the sociolinguistics of
the Latin-speaking world and the chronology of the "end" of Latin.

This translation will thus be a valuable guide for all English-speaking
scholars interested in Latin, in Romance languages, in Historical
Linguistics, and in the editing of Late Antique and Early Mediaeval
texts, who can here tell if a strange reading in a manuscript
text compiled by an Early Romance speaker might in fact attest some
aspect of his native speech rather than just being an error.

It is also cheap; $17.95.

"Vulgar Latin" can be ordered from Penn State University Press,
University Support Building 1, Suite C, University Park, Pennsylvania PA
16802-1003, U.S.A.; or via the web-site, http://www.psu.edu/psupress.