An interdisciplinary discussion of the relationship between Latin and the Romance Languages during the thousand years between the Roman Empire and Dante.

"[T]his work has obliged Romanists to rethink many long-held and cherished assumptions concerning the relationship of Latin and Romance. The stimulating and thought-provoking essays gathered together in the volume demonstrate how this process can lead to the discovery and presentation of new data, a refinement of analytic techniques, and the reinterpretation of already-known material."—Steven N. Dworkin, Journal of Hispanic Research

This book makes available for the first time in paperback the results of an important interdisciplinary conference held at Rutgers University in 1989. Eighteen internationally known specialists in linguistics, history, philology, Latin, and Romance languages tackle the difficult question of how and when Latin evolved into the Romance languages of French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Catalan. The result is a stimulating and open exchange that offers the most up-to-date and accessible coverage of the topic.

Contributors are Paul M. Lloyd, Tore Janson, József Herman, Alberto Varvaro, Thomas D. Cravens, Harm Pinkster, John N. Green, Roger Wright, Marc Van Uytfanghe, Rosamond McKitterick, Katrien Heene, Michel Banniard, Birte Stengaard, Carmen Pensado, Thomas J. Walsh, Robert Blake, Antonio Emiliano, and Marcel Danesi.