Overview

This book examines the grammatical changes that took place in the transition from Latin to the Romance languages. The emerging languages underwent changes in three fundamental areas involving the noun phrase, verb phrase, and the sentence. The impact of the changes can be seen in the reduction of the Latin case system; the appearance of auxiliary verb structures to mark such categories tense, mood, and voice; and a shift towards greater rigidification of word order. The author considers how far these changes are interrelated and compares their various manifestations and pace of change across the different standard and non-standard varieties of Romance. He describes the historical background to the emergence of the Romance varieties and their Latin ancestry, considering in detail the richly documented diachronic variation exhibited by the Romance family.Adam Ledgeway reviews the accounts and explanations that have been proposed within competing theoretical frameworks, and considers how far traditional ideas should be reinterpreted in light of recent theoretical developments. His wide-ranging account shows that the transition from Latin to Romance is not only of great intrinsic interest, but both provides a means of challenging linguistic orthodoxies and presents opportunities to shape new persepctives on language change, structure, and variation.

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9780198736691

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Reviews

A model of how modern diachronic syntax can re-think the traditional descriptive distinctions and can incorporate the latest benefits of generative grammar theorizing, without throwing into relief the theory at the expense of the data. * Adina Dragomirescu, Revue Roumaine de Linguistique * The argumentation is expertly presented [...] Ledgeway provides the very best in synchronic and diachronic descriptions of the behaviour of Latin and its descendant languages [...] a wide-ranging study [that] represents an excellent example of the application of a model of formal analysis. * Paolo Ramat, Archivio Glottologico Italiano * Ledgeway's exposition is lucid and engaging. The technicalities of the analysis should not deter the inexperienced reader, in that every step of the argumentation is expounded meticulously and exhaustively, and supported with extraordinarily accurate and varied evidence from early, classical, and late Latin, on the one hand, and main and lesser known Romance languages, on the other. From Latin to Romance is a rare example of intellectual acumen married with scholarly attention to detail. It will be eagerly read by Classicists, and Romance and theoretical linguists alike. It should be listed in undergraduate and postgraduate Romance linguistics syllabi. * Delia Bentley, Italian Studies * A fundamental contribution for everyone interested in the study of the relationship between ancient and modern languages [...] A milestone in studies in the field. * Renato Oniga, Lingue antiche e moderne *

A fundamental contribution for everyone interested in the study of the relationship between ancient and modern languages [...] A milestone in studies in the field. Renato Oniga, Lingue antiche e moderne Ledgeway's exposition is lucid and engaging. The technicalities of the analysis should not deter the inexperienced reader, in that every step of the argumentation is expounded meticulously and exhaustively, and supported with extraordinarily accurate and varied evidence from early, classical, and late Latin, on the one hand, and main and lesser known Romance languages, on the other. From Latin to Romance is a rare example of intellectual acumen married with scholarly attention to detail. It will be eagerly read by Classicists, and Romance and theoretical linguists alike. It should be listed in undergraduate and postgraduate Romance linguistics syllabi. Delia Bentley, Italian Studies The argumentation is expertly presented [...] Ledgeway provides the very best in synchronic and diachronic descriptions of the behaviour of Latin and its descendant languages [...] a wide-ranging study [that] represents an excellent example of the application of a model of formal analysis. Paolo Ramat, Archivio Glottologico Italiano A model of how modern diachronic syntax can re-think the traditional descriptive distinctions and can incorporate the latest benefits of generative grammar theorizing, without throwing into relief the theory at the expense of the data. Adina Dragomirescu, Revue Roumaine de Linguistique

Author Information

Adam Ledgeway is Professor of Italian and Romance Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. His resarch interests include Italian dialectology, the comparative history and morphosyntax of the Romance languages, Latin, syntactic theory, and linguistic change. His recent publications include The Cambridge History of the Romance Languages Vol 1: Structures, Vol 2: Contexts (CUP 2011, 2013, co-edited with Martin Maiden and J. C. Smith) and Dialects and Diachrony: Grammatical Change in the Dialects of Italy (OUP 2014, co-edited with Paola Benincà and Nigel Vincent. He is the co-editor, along with Martin Maiden, of OUP's forthcoming Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages.

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