Western Languages: AD 100 - 1500

Short, punchy, and highly illustrated, this brilliant historical survey of the development of language in the West is a classic reference. When did Europeans stop speaking Latin? How did the actions of society or religion influence vocabulary? What affect did the conquest of the Anglo-Saxon countries by William the Conquerer and his French-speaking knights have on language? Surveying the linguistic scene from Cicero to Gutenberg, this landmark study illuminates not only language, but the entire development of the West.