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Short description This text makes use of contemporary work in linguistics to provide up-to-date commentary on the development of Latin, from its prehistoric origins in the Indo-European language family, through the earliest texts, to the creation of the Classical Language of Cicero and Vergil, and examines the impact of the spread of spoken Latin through the Roman Empire.
From the contents Preface.
1 Latin and Indo-European.
2 The Languages of Italy.
3 The Background to Standardization.
4 'Old' Latin and its Varieties in the Period c.400--150 BC.
5 The Road to Standardization: Roman Latin of the Third and Second Centuries BC.
6 Elite Latin in the Late Republic and Early Empire.