Purpose:  This review includes a selection of books in print that may be useful for employing oral Latin and Greek in teaching the classical languages.  It also includes a few items dealing with the oral reading or performance of texts.  The Editor invites teachers of Latin and Greek to submit titles and comments on other materials that they have found useful for possible inclusion in a later revision.  Please send suggestions, corrections, and updates to Jim at jimjohnson@austincollege.edu.  Editor: James F. Johnson, Austin College; Reviewers: James F. Johnson, Austin College; Wallace Ragan, St. Albans School, D.C.

List of Items Reviewed

Works are arranged in categories of primary emphasis.  Note: (G) denotes Greek subject matter; (L), Latin. Prices are for paperback editions unless noted otherwise.

I. Pronunciation & Sound Discrimination

Allen, W. S., Vox Graeca (G), Cambridge University Press, 3rd ed.
Allen, W. S., Vox Latina (L), Cambridge University Press, 2nd ed.

II. Oral Interchanges, ranging from elementary classroom greetings and commands to advanced conversation and oral presentations

Emmanuel, Sr. M., Quomodo Dicitur? (L), ACL
Latin-English Dictionaries (L) (various)
Lebet, P.E. and Perry, D.J., Vocabula et Sermones (L), ACL
Strassheim, L., Total Physical Response (L), CANE
Traupman, J., Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency (L), B-C
Woodhouse, S.C., English-Greek Dictionary (G), Routledge

III. Text Performance and Interpretation, including oral reading, dramatization, and oral questions about texts

Blundell, M. & Cumming, A., Auricula Meretricula (L), FOCUS
Gray, E., An Introduction to Latin Meter (L), ACL
Halporn, J.W., Ostwald, M., and Rosenmeyer, T.G., The Meters of Greek and Latin  Poetry (G & L), revised edition, HACKETT
Lyne, G.M., Personae Comicae (L), B-C
Rummel, E., ed., Plautus. The Pot of Gold - for 1st yr. Latin (L), CANE

Sources for Purchase of Materials (N. Only small classics-specialty publishers are listed.)

Current Revision: June 11, 1998

I. Pronunciation & Sound Discrimination

Allen, W. Sidney.Vox Graeca The Pronunciation of Classical Greek  (G), Cambridge University Press, 3rd edition, 1987,  200pp ($21.95)

This is the standard scholarly guide to the pronunciation of Classical Greek, including a phonetic introduction and detailed surveys on consonants, vowels, vowel-length, vowel-junction, quantity, and accent.  It concludes with a summary of recommended pronunciations, using Southern British English as the standard for English equivalent sounds.  Like Vox Latina for Latin, this is an indispensable reference work for authoritative information concerning what we know about how the ancient Greeks of the classical period pronounced their language.  It also treats a number of problems where our knowledge of Greek practice is unsure or the evidence is inconclusive, such as the Greek pitch accent.  In addition, it discusses a number of subtle points of pronunciation, such as the finer details of vowel junction.  Although some subtle issues of pronunciation treated here may be left to teachers and students especially interested in such, on the whole this book provides standards for Greek pronunciation that have been broadly adopted by classical scholars.  As with Latin, we recommend that the profession allow some latitude in the practice of Greek pronunciation.  In particular, teachers and consequently their students are likely to vary in their treatment of the accent - whether a pitch accent is attempted in accordance with the ancient evidence or, as Allen rather cautiously recommends, a stress accent is used instead.  (JJ)

Allen, W. Sidney.Vox Latina: The Pronunciation of Classical Latin  (L), Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition 1989, 152pp ($16.95)

This is the standard scholarly guide to the pronunciation of Latin, including a phonetic introduction and detailed surveys on consonants, vowels, vowel length, vowel junction, accent, and quantity.  It concludes with a summary of recommended pronunciations, using Southern British English as the standard for English equivalent sounds.  This is an indispensable reference work for authoritative information concerning what we know about how the Romans pronounced their language.  It also treats a number of problems where our knowledge of Roman practice is unsure or the evidence is inconclusive, such as the pronunciation of final -m and vowel junction (i.e., hiatus and elision).  Although the subtler issues of pronunciation treated here may be left to teachers and students especially interested in such, on the whole this book provides recommendations for pronouncing Latin that have been broadly adopted by classical scholars and teachers in North America.  The relative paucity of evidence on pronunciation together with the likelihood of considerable variation of practice over the vast territory of the Roman empire and the great time span of Roman  history means that absolute certainty on many finer points of pronunciation is impossible.  The Task Force accordingly recommends that the profession allow some latitude in the practice of Latin pronunciation.  The recommendations given here and those of what might be called "American Standard" pronunciation to be found in some American dictionaries and textbooks provide reasonable standards for a teacher to select from.  In any case, the teacher provides the standard of Latin pronunciation for his or her students to emulate.  This book and others can help the teacher correct some points of his or her pronunciation and decide how to treat the subtler points in modeling the language for students.  (JJ)

II. Oral Interchanges, ranging from elementary classroom greetings and commands to advanced conversation and oral presentations

Emmanuel, Sr. M., Quomodo Dicitur?  (L),  ACL, 30pp ($1.70)

Thirty lessons, each with brief phrases in English and Latin on a variety of everyday situations - greetings, questions, eating and drinking, expressing emotions, classroom dialogues, health, weather. Pithy sayings to salt conversation or encourage reflection as well as phrases for the teacher accompany each chapter. The book is compact, inexpensive, and, while not apropos to every colloquial situation, can serve a useful and diverting purpose.  NOTE: The same author's Dic Mihi Latine!(also available from ACL) is primarily intended for lessons in composition on contemporary themes. While the word lists appropriate to each exercise have useful vocabulary, the paragraphs for composition are really too difficult and/or dated for current use. The Via Latina that provides translations for these exercises is out of print. (WR)

Latin/English dictionaries, such as the New College  Latin and English Dictionary (J. Traupman, Amsco & Bantam Books), Cassell's New Latin Dictionary (D.P. Simpson, Funk & Wagnall's), and the Collins-Gem Latin Dictionary (D.A. Kidd, ACL) are valuable resources for oral Latin.  Their English-Latin sections list not only single English words and their Latin equivalents, but also some English idiomatic phrases with equivalent Latin phrases.  The New College is especially clear in its layout and treatment of idiomatic phrases.  One should also check the Latin-English section of these dictionaries to confirm that the Latin equivalent selected has an appropriate range of meanings and usages.  Other Latin dictionaries with only Latin-English sections, such as the larger Latin dictionaries published by Oxford University Press and others, are less helpful in finding Latin equivalents of an English word, but good for checking a Latin word's usage. (JJ)

Lebet, Philip E. and Perry, David J.,Vocabula et Sermones (L), ACL, 25pp ($3.25)

A helpful introduction, bibliography, and guide to Latin pronunciation precede the seven lessons which aim to provide basic vocabulary and dialogues on a variety of everyday situations. Greetings, classroom matters, parts of the body, the weather, time, and insults are introduced in words and phrases, Latin and English. Dialogues (colloquia) more or less relevant to the particular vocabulary and theme of the lesson follow the lists. The everyday tenor of the conversations and frequent humor add spice to the value of this little text. While it is impossible to be exhaustive in vocabulary relevant for daily situations, this inexpensive book can serve to divert the student and enhance the sense of Latin as a means of communication.  (WR)

Strassheim, Lorraine. Total Physical Response (L), CANE, 1987, 30pp ($4.00)

Actually two staple-bound items packaged together:  Total Physical Response  (12 pages) introduces and demonstrates the concepts and methodology of TPR using Latin as one of the four languages illustrated (along with French, German and Spanish).  Doce et Disce: Lingua Latina Per Auditionem, Visum Actionesque (15 pp.) provides ten Steps (or mini-lessons) for implementing TPR in Latin.  Items taught include basic commands, numbers (I-X), classroom objects, and place-names on a map of the Roman world.  Also included are illustrations suitable for photocopying and distribution to students.  Throughout both texts there is coordination between "Teacher's Lessons" (instructions and information for the teacher) and "Teaching Lessons" (the scripts to be used in the classroom).  This is an excellent introduction to TPR and its application in the beginning Latin class.  In the first booklet Strassheim capably and succinctly provides the rationale for developing listening comprehension skills before speaking skills and shows how oral communication in Latin can reinforce the learning of basic grammar patterns.  The combination of "Teacher's Lessons" and "Teaching Lessons" in the second booklet make implementation in the Latin class especially easy and straightforward.  Highly recommended.  (JJ)

Traupman, John, Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency (L), B-C, 2nd. ed., 1997, 256pp ($17.00)

This textbook on conversational Latin contains 24 chapters, each organized around a topic (e.g., Greetings, Family, Leisure Activities, Food and Drink, School, Emotions and Qualities, The City and Public Buildings). Beginning each chapter are three short model conversations, graded in difficulty (Levels 1-3), which employ some of that chapter's vocabulary.  Each chapter also contains an extensive list of English words or phrases on the chapter topic with their Latin equivalents. The conversations are designed to introduce the chapter's topical vocabulary as a basis for the students creating new conversations with those and other words in the chapter's list.   Chap. XI ("Useful Colloquial Expressions") contains many colloquial expressions organized by English keywords.  Chapter XXV, the longest, gives grammatical terms derived from the Roman grammarians and illustrates the teaching of grammar in Latin through the use of Teacher-Student pedagogical dialogues.  The book concludes with appendices on Yes and No in Latin, Colors, Numbers, Proverbs and Sayings and a general vocabulary list.  This book will soon become the standard resource for teachers seeking to include conversational Latin in their curricula.  The introduction notes that while the model conversations within each chapter are graded, the chapters and special word lists of each are not graded with respect to each other.  Consequently the chapters can be presented in any order or some chapters may be omitted.  The model conversations are engaging, relevant to today's students, and often clever.  Although the author's sources for words and phrases were primarily classical texts, he obviously coined some Latin equivalents for modern inventions and concepts (e.g., calcifollis = football; televisio = television, exercitator = gym instructor, computator = computer). In doing so he employed principles of coinage faithful to Latin usage and taste.  This practice, as well as supplying some words from post-classical Latin, allows students to engage in Latin conversations about the modern world in which they live.  Although modern colloquial language evolves so rapidly that no book can hope to be completely up to date, the set of English colloquial phrases here are mostly current and certainly an improvement over the more formal and official English of Meissner's Latin Phrase Book.  Some Latin phrases listed here can be updated with still newer English meanings: "Compesce mentem" is the Latin phrase for "Keep your cool" in this text, but could also be used for "Cool it!"  At the least, this book provides Latin teachers with a wealth of vocabulary and phrases on many topics of general interest to students today.  It is ideal for a special course or intensive unit on conversational Latin.  Some teachers will also want to use it  for what it is intended: a textbook to supplement the basic Latin textbook in the beginning and intermediate Latin sequence.  Well done and timely.  (JJ)

Woodhouse, S.C.  English-Greek Dictionary:  A Vocabulary of the Attic Language (G), Routledge, 1985 (Reprint of 1932 edition), 1029pp ($59.95 cl)

An English-Greek dictionary to supplement the standard Liddell-Scott Greek-English lexica.  It also includes a vocabulary of proper nouns with Roman as well as Greek names.  This dictionary is useful for Greek composition and for oral Greek because one can look up English words and phrases (and their Greek equivalents) directly.   It commonly collects Greek synonyms or near-synonyms under one entry, but these can then be appropriately distinguished by reference to Liddell-Scott.  The English vocabulary is vintage 1932 (the date of publication);  don't expect to find more recent American or British colloquial idioms. Still, this is a valuable resource. (JJ)

III. Text Performance and Interpretation, including oral reading, dramatization, and oral questions about texts

Gray, Erik.  An Introduction to Latin Meter (L), ACL, 1993, 48pp ($7.50)

This is a textbook designed for students beginning the study of poetry.  It is organized in chapters - actually lessons - with exercises at the end of each chapter. Chaps. 1-3 introduce length of syllables, dactylic hexameter, and elision. Chap. 4 has the student compose lines of dactylic hexameter as part of the learning process.  To that end the student is led through several exercises which involve word rearrangement to fit the dactylic hexameter pattern.  Chap. 5 introduces caesura and other metrical oddities (e.g. hiatus, hypermetric lines).  Chap. 6, "The meaning of it all," introduces the interpretation of metrical special effects.  Chap. 7 is on accent and oral reading.  There is also a set of appendices.  This book introduces the basic elements of Latin meter, with emphasis on the Latin hexameter.   Throughout the explanations are very clear, full and straightforward with exceptions clearly noted and good illustrative examples provided.  The exercises are also creative and well designed.  It is only in Chap. 7, "Accent and ictus" that Gray's method seems to go astray.  Using the concept of "ictus" as if it were the same (or near-same) as a word accent, he advocates teaching students to ignore the natural word accent when reading hexameters and instead to accent the words according to where the ictus falls (i.e. on the first syllable of every metron).  The concept of "ictus" is a controversial one which some metricians simply choose to ignore (so Halporn et al., below).  My own position is that either the ictus should be ignored entirely or, if recognized at all, should be considered as a "pulse" which occurs naturally in the quantitative rhythm rather than as a stress accent.  The words of Latin poetry should accordingly be read with their natural word accent, which makes the accented syllable louder and higher in pitch (but not longer, in contrast to English).  As the hexameter line is read, it is possible to perceive a pulse in the rhythm provided by the long syllable beginning each foot and also to sense either coincidence or lack of coincidence between the word accents and pulse at different points of the line.  This can be done without any change in oral reading method from that used in reading prose, except for observing elisions. There is consequently no good reason to replace the natural word accents with stress accents on the first syllable of every foot.  To teach students to do so is to teach them to mispronounce Latin in an manner which is artificial, tends to give the hexameter a "sing-song" quality, and interferes with the text's comprehensibility.  A sounder approach to teaching oral reading of the hexameter is offered in Daitz, Pronunciation and Reading of Classical Latin (see the "Review of Non-print Materials").  Apart from this reservation, however, we recommend Gray's little book on meter as one which teachers may find very helpful in introducing meter to their students.  (JJ)

Halporn, James W., M. Ostwald, and T.G. Rosenmeyer,  The Meters of Greek and Latin Poetry (G & L), HACKETT, Revised Edition, 1980, 152pp ($9.95 pb, $29.95 cl)

This is the standard American survey of Greek and Latin metrics.  Written for the advanced student, it includes basic information on metrics and prosody and descriptions, with examples, of various meters ranging from hexameter to complex lyric meters in both Greek and Latin.  It concludes with a glossary of technical terms, a list of meters, and lists of authors cited, all with cross-references to the text.  This book gives a clear and comprehensible treatment of the meters found in Greek and Latin poetry.  It is most useful as a reference work for answering questions about Greek and Roman meters and for consulting when about to teach a particular meter or introduce the subject of meter generally.  Every teacher will probably want to own a copy of this book, as well as having it available for students in the classroom or library. (JJ)

Blundell, Maria and Cumming, Anna.  Auricula Meretricula (L), FOCUS, Revised edition, 1993 ($5.95)

A play, written in the spirit of Roman comedy, intended to follow upon the completion of Wheelock's Latin. Each of the nine short scaenae contains important vocabulary for the particular scene with a complete vocabulary at the end of the book. The grammar is basic and, since largely dialogue, the sense of Latin as spoken is easily conveyed. The possibility of acting out the scenes and thereby reinforcing the meaning of the Latin is a valuable and entertaining option. As the title indicates, however, the subject matter may not be suitable for most younger students or may be found objectionable by vigilant parents and administrators. The intended audience is likelier college-age than secondary school. (WR)

Lyne, G. M.  Personae Comicae, Eight Short Classroom Plays (L), B-C, Reprint 1992 ($5.00)

Drawing upon the rich Roman comic tradition, each of these eight plays (2-5 pp.) is self-contained, with each focusing on one of the "stock characters" (Parasitus, Miles, Senex, Virgo, Servus, Senex Avarus, Coquus, and Ancilla). The Latin, adapted from Plautine scenes, is colloquial and "kept deliberately simple": subjunctive usage is rare, sentences are shorter, syntax is coordinate rather than complex. Repetition of words and phrases with explanatory notes and a complete vocabulary combine to facilitate student understanding and maintain interest. As a handy and relatively accessible example of Roman comic scenes and characterization, this is a most useful book. With the added opportunity for oral dramatization and/or performance, the book is particularly valuable for late-second through third year. (WR)

Rummel, Erika.  The Pot of Gold  (adapted from Plautus' comedy)  (L), CANE, 1987, 9pp ($1.50)

A brief seven-scene adaptation of Plautus' Pot of Gold for use in elementary Latin.  Helps are given for most, but not all difficult vocabulary.  Some frequently occurring vocabulary groups (e.g., interrogative pronouns, relative pronouns, forms of ire, greetings) are given in separate lists distributed throughout the text.  This is a clever, well-edited script appropriate for first-year Latin (presumably toward the end of the year).  It enacts the basic plot of Plautus' play while preserving in Latin a number of clever Plautine jokes and humorous misunderstandings.  Students should first work through the script to learn the unfamiliar vocabulary and get a sense of the plot.  The script can then be acted (read or memorized) by the class either informally or more elaborately (w. costumes, etc.) as the teacher may wish.  A list of dramatis personae would be helpful, but overall this inexpensive unbound edition is nicely done. (JJ)

Sources for Purchase of Materials (only small classics-specialty publishers listed)

ACL:  American Classical League, TMRC, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056.
513-529-7741; Fax:  513-529-7742.

B-C: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1000 Brown St., Unit 101, Wauconda, IL 60084

CANE:  CANE Instruction Materials, available from Prof. Gilbert Lawall, 71 Sand Hill Road, Amherst, MA 01002.  Internet: www.circe.unh.edu/classics/CANE.html

FOCUS:  Focus Publishing, 10 State Street, Box 369, Newburyport, MA 01950.
Orders: 1-800-848-7236.  Internet: www.pullins.com

HACKETT:  Hackett Publishing Co., P.O. Box 44937, Indianapolis, IN 46244-0937