"The Christian contribution to Latin...came about because the Christians were able...to convert their community from a minority to its overwhelming majority."
I realize this book won't appeal to everyone, but if you have ever wondered about the origins of the Romance languages, this book thoroughly unveils the mystery. A few interesting facts:
Latin, only one of several Italic languages, borrowed largely from Etruscan, whose speakers, according to legend, descended from Trojan exiles.
Latin dominated because Roman roads facilitated the travels of Latin-speaking people, who spread vocabulary of the army and farming.
Romans promoted Greek culture throughout conquered lands (such as the water nymph conceit) and borrowed Greed ideas of sentence structure (the periodic sentence).
Pilate wrote Christ's identification in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. As the Christian language, Latin provided unity where the Pax Romana eventually collapsed as people rejected Caesar-worship.
Feudal systems that developed after the Roman collapse helped create new "idiomas," variations of Latin.
Troubadours created Europe's vernacular literature.
"Romance" took on a new meaning when these languages were identified with the genre of love poetry.
"Knight, chavalier, cavaliere," originate in colloquial Arabic poetry about love affairs.
Arabic popularized rhyme and meter.
