A Sociophilological Study of Late Latin (Utrecbt Studies in Medieval Literacy)

"Sociophilology" is a word coined by the author to describe a discipline which combines traditional rigorous philological analysis of texts with the recent insights of sociolinguistics. From these combined perspectives he provides an understanding both of Late Latin (Early Romance) language and of the circumstances of the scribes who have given us the evidence. The chronological span ranges from the later part of the Roman Empire to the thirteenth century. The focus is on the processes by which Latin, at different times in different places, came to be thought of as being several different languages (formal Medieval Latin and less formal Romance Languages); these conceptual distinctions are most directly represented by the decisions taken to write some texts in a new way. There are six sections in the book, each containing four chapters: Section A provides an overview, and is entitled "Latin, Medieval Latin and Romance"; B, "Texts and Language in Late Antiquity"; C, "The Ninth Century"; D, "Italy and Spain in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries"; E, "Spain in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries"; F, "Sociophilology and Historical Linguistics"; followed by a concluding summary chapter, bibliography and indexes. Scholars and Texts investigated include Priscian, Boniface, Rhythmic Poetry, Alcuin, Eulogio de Cordoba, The Strasbourg Oaths, Glossaries, Glosses, and the earliest Romance texts of the Iberian Peninsula; general topics considered in detail, within the Late Latin and Early Romance world, include periodization, the influence of other languages on the development of Latin, change of language names, the nature of sound change, the relationship between speech and writing, the relationship between historical linguistics and sociolinguistics, and the relationship between language-internal variation and language splits. Sociophilology combines traditional detailed philological expertise with the broader insights of modern sociolinguistics. Late Latin is the native language, both spoken and written, of the former Roman Empire in the Early Middle Ages, sometimes also regarded as being 'Early Romance'. By the thirteenth century Late Latin had split conceptually, from being a single complex living language, into several different living Romance languages, as well as the 'dead' language we now call 'Medieval Latin'. The complex aspects of these developments have been central to Roger Wright's research for many years; this sociophilological study of Late Latin places many texts, authors, scribes and linguistic developments in a coherent historical, intellectual and educational context. The book is presented in six sections, with four chapters in each: Late Latin, Medieval Latin and Romance; Texts and Language in Late Antiquity; The Ninth Century; Italy and Spain in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries; Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Spain; Sociophilology and Historical Linguistics; followed by a Conclusion, a lengthy bibliography, and an index. The whole presents a vitally important intrinsic component of a thousand years of European cultural history, seen from unusually wide historical and linguistic perspectives