Left-Dislocation in Latin

Reviews / Votes

"(...) it would be a shame if the specialized nature of the study were to limit its readers to advanced philologists and linguists. The writing is clear and generally precise; the nuances separating related technical terms from different areas of specialization are consistently addressed. (...) Thus, this is a book that makes a valuable contribution to the study of early Latin, the relationship between speech and text, and the connections among genres and contexts in Latin's first century as a literary language. (...) Scholars already familiar with those debates will find much here with which to engage, while Latinists at all levels can appreciate the window into syntax as a cultural, as much as a linguistic, phenomenon." Jessica H. Clark, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019.09.33.

"The book is replete with interesting observations and demonstrating many strengths. Among the latter, first, Halla-aho sharply parses the Latin of a wide variety of authors (see e.g. the bravura analysis of a passage from Lucretius at pages 148-149), while leaving open the possibility for alternative views. She nimbly wields the tools at her disposal and employs all the available information, including, when relevant, the extralinguistic context: in inscriptions, she examines interpuncts, indentations and so on in order to determine whether LD works hand in hand with other visual devices to mark shifts in topic. Readers will be rewarded by working through this book, which sets a firm foundation for future scholarship on Left Dislocation, particularly in later periods of Latin; it also provides a model for how judicious use of linguistic theory can offer robust descriptions of some apparently familiar topics." Peter Barrios Lech, CJ Online 2021.09.03