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This volume provides a unique overview of the complete histories of Latin and Greek as second languages.
This book investigates the role of the Latin language as a vehicle for science and learning from several angles. First, the question what was understood as ‘science’ through time and how it is named in different languages, especially the Classical ones, is approached. Criteria for what did pass as scientific are found that point to ‘science’ as a kind of Greek Denkstil based on pattern-finding and their unbiased checking. In a second part, a brief diachronic panorama introduces schools of thought and authors who wrote in Latin from antiquity to the present. Latin’s heydays in this function are clearly the time between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries. Some niches where it was used longer are examined and reasons sought why Latin finally lost this lead-role. A third part seeks to define the peculiar characteristics of scientific Latin using corpus linguistic approaches. As a result, several types of scientific writing can be identified. The question of how to transfer science from one linguistic medium to another is never far: Latin inherited this role from Greek and is in turn the ancestor of science done in the modern vernaculars. At the end of the study, the importance of Latin science for modern science in English becomes evident.
During the Roman empire Greek speakers learned Latin using textbooks that still offer special advantages: authentic and enjoyable vignettes about the ancient world, easy Latin composed by Romans, insight into ancient learning practices. This book makes the ancient Latin-learning materials available to modern students for the first time.
15 chapters with joint instruction in Latin and Ancient Greek; guided readings from ancient authors including Ovid, Homer, and Sapho; original exercises with translation between all three languages. --Back cover.
Learn Latin from the Romans is the only introductory Latin textbook to feature texts written by ancient Romans for Latin learners. These texts, the 'colloquia', consist of dialogues and narratives about daily life similar to those found in modern-language textbooks today, introducing learners to Roman culture as well as to Latin in an engaging, accessible, and enjoyable way. Students and instructors will find everything they need in one complete volume, including clear explanations of grammatical concepts and how Latin works, both British and American orders for all noun and adjective paradigms, 5,000 easy practice sentences, and over 150 longer passages (from the colloquia and a diverse range of other sources including inscriptions, graffiti, and Christian texts as well as Catullus, Cicero, and Virgil). Written by a leading Latin linguist with decades of language teaching experience, this textbook is suitable for introductory Latin courses worldwide.
The only introductory Latin textbook to use texts written by ancient Romans for Latin learners, presented in one volume.
Learning Latin Through Mythology is a highly illustrated workbook to introduce elementary students to Latin using simplified versions of the popular myths of ancient Greece and Rome. The book consists of thirteen units, each including a short English version of a myth, an illustrated Latin version with vocabulary explanations, a related Latin grammar activity, plus related writing and open-ended projects. Innovative review exercises enhance the thirteen units. It captures students' interest in Latin through the myths, motivating them to translate the Latin and complete the other activities. References to mythology are commonplace in advertising, the media and the theater, and so it is essential that students understand the allusions to mythological characters. The lively and unique approach to learning Latin demonstrated by this workbook makes Learning Latin Through Mythology an interesting and useful introduction to simple Latin.
What did Greek speakers in the Roman empire do when they wanted to learn Latin? They used Latin-learning materials containing authentic, enjoyable vignettes about daily life in the ancient world - shopping, banking, going to the baths, having fights, being scolded, making excuses - very much like the dialogues in some of today's foreign-language textbooks. These stories provide priceless insight into daily life in the Roman empire, as well as into how Latin was learned at that period, and they were all written by Romans in Latin that was designed to be easy for beginners to understand. Learners also used special beginners' versions of great Latin authors including Virgil and Cicero, and dictionaries, grammars, texts in Greek transliteration, etc. All these materials are now available for the first time to today's students, in a book designed to complement modern textbooks and enrich the Latin-learning experience.
With enthusiasm and wry wit, author Jones takes you step by step through the rudiments of the Western World's first great language--the medium of Plato and the New Testament. Introduces the Greek alphabet, explains each grammar point in layman's terms, gives plenty of study hints, provides answers for the exercises, and even presents a "to-do" list at the end of most chapters. Not too far into the book you'll already be reading masterful Greek literature, in extracts chosen from such authors as Plato, Sophocles, and Thucydides. Offers a discussion of Greek history and culture in each chapter, and another feature that looks closely at Greek words, with special emphasis on related words in English.--From publisher description
