This book has been designed for students of Latin and Indo-European-Linguistics and can be used for university-courses or self-study in order to learn the complex issues of Latin historical phonology within a short time. The implemented one-step-method allows the user to understand in detail every step of a derivation which leads from an Indo-European pre-form to a Latin word because in each step of the derivation a number refers to a complete list of Latin sound laws. The user can complete missing word formes in over 1000 gaps of phonological derivations. Answers to all the excercises are included in the book.
This book has been designed for students of Latin and Indo-European-Linguistics and can be used for university courses or self study in order to learn the complex issues of Latin historical phonology within a short time. The implemented one-step-method allows the user to understand in detail every step of a derivation which leads from an Indo-European preform to a Latin word because in each step of the derivation a number refers to a complete list of Latin sound laws. The user can complete missing word formes in over 1000 gaps of phonological derivations.
In each teaching unit the left page contains the explanations and descriptions of Latin sound laws and the right page offers exercices to train the learning matter. Sound laws, which are explained in other units, are additionally given on the exercice pages. Answers to all the excercises are included in the book. The comprehensive index includes all Latin sound laws and is referred to in every step of a phonological derivation as well as in all the explanations. The index can be used for reference as well. Consideration is taken that all explanations firstly use Latin data for reconstruction and other languages only where needed.
In the chapters about linguistic fundamentals the basic principles of Latin linguistics are introduced which are the analysis of phonemes, accentuation and syllabification as well as the modelling of diachronic sound change. The following chapters present the evolution of Latin vowels and focuses on vowel lengthening and shortening, vowel contraction, vowel weakening in interior syllables and the Latin monophthongizations.
The next chapters present in detail the transformations of Latin consonants such as assimilations, dissimilations, the simplification of geminated consonants and the loss of consonants in initial, medial or final position. After the following chapter about analogical changes, the book focuses on the evolution of the Indo-European sound system to the Latin sound system and presents the transformations of Labiovelars, Laryngeals, Media Aspirata and syllabic resonants. A comprehensive chapter about reconstruction inaugurates the beginner with the principles of historic linguistic reconstruction.
The numeric index presents all discussed sound laws and is a great source for quick information. All the important data can be seen at a glance. The appendix offerns tables about the chronology of the sound laws, characterictic features of Latin langages epochs as well as an overview of the Indo-European languages.
„Das Buch ist von Anfang bis Ende klar und sinnvoll strukturiert. Es kann problemlos zum Selbststudium verwendet werden und leistet auch bei der Auffrischung einmal erworbener Kenntnisse gute Dienste. (...) Uieses Buch hat das Format, zu einem Klassiker zu werden, der sowohl für den Unterricht wie für das Selbststudium verwendet werden kann.“
Harald Bichlmeier
In: Das Altertum, Band 59 (2014), S.225-226.
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“Malte Liesner’s Workbook of “Latin Historical Phonology” (henceforth the “Workbook”) is a practical guide for German-reading students to study the development of Latin phonology from Proto-Indo-European (PIE), through Archaic Latin, down to the Classical period. It could be put to good use as a manual for self-guided study, but is probably best suited for use as a textbook in university-level courses. This is not surprising, since Liesner developed the “Workbook” while teaching a Historical Linguistics course at the University of Bamberg. It is extremely accessible and user-friendly, and does not assume that students are fluent in Latin, or that they have loads of time to spend studying Latin diachronic phonology. Rather, it is designed for any student interested in Linguistics who wants to a take a semester-long course in Latin historical phonology in the midst of a busy schedule. Overall, the “Workbook” is an excellent, basic resource for the teaching and study of Latin historical phonology for German-reading students. Teachers of non-German-reading Linguistics students may also find it useful to translate some of its exercises and problem-sets for their classes.
The “Workbook” progresses methodically through all of the most important phonological changes in Latin in a step-by-step manner, with exercises accompanying each set of related changes. There is an answer key to every exercise in the back of the book, as well as a comprehensive set of tables succinctly listing each phonological development. These developments are all given a number according to their order of presentation, so that as students encounters them multiple times throughout numerous problem-sets they have a quick reference point. For example, the first sound law presented in the lessons is the rule usually cited by its Latin formulation: vocalis ante vocalem corriptur ‘a vowel before another vowel is shortened’. This sound law is thus given the numerical tag 1.1 and Liesner’s prime example, used first in the introduction of the sound law, and again in the table under 1.1 is fūit > fuit ‘was’. Every time a form is encountered in any following exercise where a vowel is shortened by this rule a 1.1 will appear in parentheses in front of the form the student must produce. (...)
The amount of work and care that must have gone into composing the Workbook is admirable. As is probably to be expected, minor quibbles might be raised here and there as to the precision of a reconstruction or presentation of a phonological scenario. (...) This is not the place, however, to dwell on such points. Instead, I would close by commending Liesner for his diligence and attention to detail in creating such a valuable resource for the study and teaching of the history of Latin phonology.”
Todd Clary
In: Bryn Mawr Classical Review. 2012.11.21
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2012/2012-11-21.html (30. November 2011)
Malte Liesner works as a Latin lecturer at the University of Bamberg, Germany, as well as a teacher of Business English in companies and educational institutions. He studied Indo-European Languages, Indology and Computational Linguistics at the Universities of Cologne and Würzburg in Germany.
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