Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22210/suvlin.2022.093.01
A paradox of the linguistic research of Neo–Latin. Symptoms and causes
Šime Demo
orcid.org/0000-0002-4664-3656
; Faculty of Croatian Studies, Zagreb
Abstract
A vast majority of Latin texts available to us have been written after the Middle Ages. Th ese writings
are very diverse, culturally relevant, and interesting for linguistic research. Yet, this is not refl ected
in the scholarly attention given to post–medieval Latin. Th e research dealing with it is neither systematic nor up to date with the modern theoretical and methodological advances in linguistics. As
nearly all linguists interested in Latin limit their investigations to the classical and medieval periods,
the vast bulk of the texts written in Latin is severely under–researched. In this paper it is argued
that the marginal position of post–medieval Latin in the research is caused by the preservation
of traditional paths of work and that it is not tenable on the grounds of valid scientifi c reasoning.
First, a defi nition of Neo–Latin is presented and the quantity of its texts is compared to the size of
the ancient Latin literature. Th en, a quantitative meta–analysis of several major publications in the
fi elds of Latin linguistics and Neo–Latin studies is performed in order to determine the presence
of linguistic research of Neo–Latin in them. In the following section, some important reasons why
it is under–represented are singled out and contextualised within linguistic methodology and the
history of the classical studies. By questioning their validity, a case is made for a full and consistent
integration of the linguistic research of Neo–Latin into Latin linguistics.
Keywords
neo–Latin; language status; Latin linguistics
Hrčak ID:
280904
URI
Publication date:
25.7.2022.
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