J. N. Adams
The Latin Sexual Vocabulary.
The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. 0801841062 xii/272 pages.
Softcover volume, measuring approximately 5.5" x 8.5", displays light shelfwear, with sunning to spine. Binding is sound. Pages are clean and bright.
"Like other languages, Latin contained certain words its speakers considered obscene as well as a rich stock of sexual euphemism and metaphor. Our sources for this information range from surviving graffiti to literary works with a marked sexual content. Yet despite its manifest literary and linguistic interest, the sexual vocabulary of Latin has remained uninvestigated by scholars.
J. N. Adams's pioneering study and unique reference work collects for the first time evidence of Latin obscenities and sexual euphemisms drawn from both literary and nonliterary sources from the early Republic ato about the fourth century A.D. Separate chapters treat each of the sexual parts of the body and the terminology used to describe sexual acts. General topics include the influence of the Greek language on Latin, changes in the Latin vocabulary over time (including the evolution of sexual words into general terms of abuse), and lexical differences among various literary genres."
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