History of the Latin Language and Its Earliest Literature

Introduction to the historical and comparative grammar via a reading of pre-classical texts, some literary (Saturnian poetry, Ennius, Cato) and many nonliterary (especially Archaic inscriptions). A focus will be the position of Latin among the linguistically related languages of ancient Italy, which will include reading in those languages. We will explore developments of the literary language down to republican epic. You will become familiar with historical grammar, will learn to assess etymologies, and will gain an appreciation for a wide range of literary language from carmina to ritual texts in Umbrian and beyond.