Latin as the Language of Science and Learning

Philipp Roelli

book: Latin as the Language of Science and Learning

Open Access Published by De Gruyter 2021

Latin as the Language of Science and Learning

Philipp Roelli
Funded by: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)

Volume 7 in the series Lingua Academica

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110745832

Overview
Contents

About this book

Open Access

This book investigates the role of the Latin language as a vehicle for science and learning from several angles. First, the question what was understood as ‘science’ through time and how it is named in different languages, especially the Classical ones, is approached. Criteria for what did pass as scientific are found that point to ‘science’ as a kind of Greek Denkstil based on pattern-finding and their unbiased checking. In a second part, a brief diachronic panorama introduces schools of thought and authors who wrote in Latin from antiquity to the present. Latin’s heydays in this function are clearly the time between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries. Some niches where it was used longer are examined and reasons sought why Latin finally lost this lead-role. A third part seeks to define the peculiar characteristics of scientific Latin using corpus linguistic approaches. As a result, several types of scientific writing can be identified. The question of how to transfer science from one linguistic medium to another is never far: Latin inherited this role from Greek and is in turn the ancestor of science done in the modern vernaculars. At the end of the study, the importance of Latin science for modern science in English becomes evident.

Author / Editor information

Philipp Roelli, University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Topics

Frontmatter Open Access Download PDF	I
Contents Open Access Download PDF	V
Acknowledgements and practicalities Open Access Download PDF	XI
Introduction Open Access Download PDF	1
Part 1 Semantics of the term ‘science’
1 Modern languages: Wissenschaft, science, наука, επιστήμη Open Access Download PDF	11
2 Terms for ‘science’ in Greek and Latin Open Access Download PDF	29
3 The wider semantic field of ‘science’ in the classical languages Open Access Download PDF	48
4 What is science and how does it relate to Denkstil? Open Access Download PDF	80
5 The demarcation problem Open Access Download PDF	103
Part 2 Diachronic panorama of Latin science and learning
6 Introductory remarks on Denkstile, epochs, and genres Open Access Download PDF	109
7 Greek science and its language in Antiquity Open Access Download PDF	123
8 Foundations of Roman science in Latin Open Access Download PDF	156
9 The age of the artes liberales Open Access Download PDF	197
10 The adoption of the Greek Denkstil Open Access Download PDF	246
11 University science: An Aristotelian Revolution Open Access Download PDF	267
12 New approaches in the Renaissance Open Access Download PDF	290
13 New science in the old tongue Open Access Download PDF	309
14 The demise of Latin as language of science Open Access Download PDF	338
15 Niches where Latin survived longer Open Access Download PDF	358
16 From Latin to vernacular science Open Access Download PDF	374
Part 3 Changes in the language of science
17 Introduction to the linguistics of scientific language Open Access Download PDF	387
18 Linguistic development studied in a general scientific corpus Open Access Download PDF	398
19 Conclusions on the Latin used in scientific texts Open Access Download PDF	439
20 Specific corpora: Arithmetic, historiography, scientific poetry Open Access Download PDF	455
21 How are new scientific concepts expressed? Open Access Download PDF	482
22 How was Greek science imported into other languages? Open Access Download PDF	505
23 The reuse of Latin in the modern languages of science Open Access Download PDF	526
24 On the relation between science, culture, and language Open Access Download PDF	539
Summary and concluding remarks Open Access Download PDF	566
Appendix 1 Open Access Download PDF	575
Appendix 2 Open Access Download PDF	582
Bibliographies Open Access Download PDF	584
General Index Open Access Download PDF	635

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Latinists, historians of science, linguists
Pages
- Front matter: 13
- Main content: 646
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 15
- Coloured Illustrations: 35
- Tables: 13
- Coloured Tables: 15
Keywords: Latin Science; Semantics of Science; Corpus Linguistics; Languages of Science

eBook

Published: November 22, 2021
ISBN: 9783110745832

Hardcover

Published: December 6, 2021
ISBN: 9783110745757