Undergraduate 

Classics (Classical Civilisation) MA/MA(SocSci)

History of the Latin Language LATIN4020

  • Academic Session: 2022-23
  • School: School of Humanities
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes

Short Description

This course is an overview of the history of the Latin language over a thousand years - and more.

Timetable

Two sessions per week. This is one of the honours options in Latin and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on mycampus

Excluded Courses

None

Assessment

a linguistic commentary on a short Latin text 30%, class test 10%, two-hour examination 60%

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Course Aims

This course will provide the opportunity

■ to explain language change in terms of historical linguistics, but also taking into account the story of Latin literature and society

■ to understand and evaluate the connections of Latin with other Indo-European languages and with the Romance languages that derive from it

■ to read Latin literature as an expression of a specific moment in the history of Latin

■ to explore the interaction between literary and non-literary levels of the Latin language

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

- recognise and describe basic patterns of language change

- differentiate Latin texts using the concept of 'standard language'

- translate non-classical Latin into English

- recognise and explain non-standard forms

- use inscriptions to illustrate language change

- judge the influence of language contact on language change

- write a linguistic commentary on a Latin text

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.