'… Adams' unsurpassed knowledge of the Latin language and his outstanding philological acumen [are] everywhere on display in this book, which contains a wealth of new insights into Latin texts of all periods. There will be a temptation for Latin scholars to buy this book and use it as a work of reference. The organization of the chapters, the level of detail and the excellent indices mean that it could profitably service as such … Those who read [it] will undoubtedly be richly rewarded.' James Clackson, The Journal of Roman Studies
Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Introduction: 'Vulgar Latin' and social variation; Part II. Phonology and Orthography: 2. Phonology: introductory remarks; 3. Vowel system; 4. Diphthongs; 5. Syncope; 6. Hiatus; 7. The aspirate; 8. Final consonants; 9. Contact assimilation; 10. B/V; 11. Phonology: conclusions; Part III. Case and Prepositions: 12. The nominative and accusative; 13. Oblique cases and prepositional expressions; 14. Miscellaneous uses of the accusative; 15. Locative, directional and separative expressions: some variations and conflations; 16. The reflexive dative; 17. Prepositions and comparative expressions; 18. Case and prepositions: some conclusions; Part IV. Aspects of Nominal, Pronominal and Adverbial Morphology and Syntax: 19. Gender; 20. Demonstrative pronouns: some morphological variations; 21. The definite article and demonstrative pronouns; 22. Suffixation (mainly adjectival) and non-standard Latin; 23. Compound adverbs and prepositions; Part V. Aspects of Verbal Morphology and Syntax: 24. Past participle + habeo; 25. The periphrastic future and conditional, and present for future; 26. Reflexive constructions and the passive; 27. The ablative of the gerund and the present participle; Part VI. Aspects of Subordination: 28. Reported speech; 29. Indirect questions; Part VII. Aspects of the Lexicon and Word Order: 30. The lexicon, a case study: anatomical terms; 31. The lexicon: suppletion and the verb 'go'; 32. Word order, a case study: infinitive position with auxiliary verbs; Part VIII. Summing Up: 33. Final conclusions.