Customer Reviews

Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book's low average rating is, unfortunately, a reflection not of its quality, but of the error of a previous reviewer whose mistake was to expect the book to be a basic grammar rather than a reference grammar for more advanced students. Put simply, there is no better Latin reference grammar available in English. If there is, I am not aware of it. This is the only Latin grammar that rivals Smyth's Greek Grammar in its depth and clarity. That said, students should note that this is a thorough descriptive reference grammar, not a grammar meant to teach Latin or to provide the intermediate student with a basic reference. Those seeking a simpler reference more suitable to the intermediate level may benefit from Bennet's grammar of the same title.

This is one of the great Latin reference grammars. Where most people fail is in expecting a grammar to be a textbook; case in point, another reviewer compared this to Moreland and Fleischer's _Intensive Latin Course_, which is a fine textbook, but not a reference grammar. This and similar grammars by Hale & Buck or Gildersleeve are essential for the advancing student, but should never be approached like a lesson book or be read straight through. They're called "reference" grammars because you're meant to "refer" to them on specific questions of grammar. Get it? For the beginning student or for a simpler (albeit less authoritative) treatment, I recommend Bennett's grammar. But Allen & Greenough is an excellent, excellent grammar. When you've gotten a bit further along you may consider adding Woodcock's _New Latin Syntax_.

It seems a little presumptuous to comment on this classic, but it would be much easier to use if the section numbers were given at the top of the pages (like keywords in a dictionary). Since every reference in the index is by section number, the page numbers emphasized in the current design are extremely distracting. There is no way to find a section number except by scanning the text. I hope the publisher will read this review and change the design in a future edition.

I started using this classic grammar online. When I saw how inexpensive it is on Amazon, even the hardback, I had to order one. I have enjoyed it ever since. Even the most bizarre constructions found in Latin documents are in there someplace. It is so full of interesting items, and lucidly explained, that I enjoy reading it regularly just to keep improving my Latin. I even find the historical explanations valuable. They don't necessarily improve my understanding, but I find it easier to remember forms and irregularities when I see where they came from. For example, I learned that the "ba" in the imperfect tense comes from the same Indo-European forms that produced the verb "be" in English.

I'm not in a position to compare it to other grammars, so I can't call it the "best", but it sure works for me. I just bought my second copy because I found myself in the United States without mine, and I needed to translate Latin documents.

This grammar is probably too advanced for someone who has not already studied Latin. It helps to know English grammar too, which unfortunately even English majors don't know anymore (and shamelessly brag about).

If this grammar is too advanced, Oxford sells a small paperback grammar of Latin by Morwood that is very good, doesn't require as much knowledge of English grammar, and is inexpensive.

Finally, I can't understand why Amazon doesn't make their excellent hardback edition easier to find. They do sell it (I just bought one), but you have to enter the ISBN number in advanced search:

ISBN 1-58510-042-0.

It's a great buy on Amazon, so don't settle for paperback.

This grammar is pretty good. I don't have experience with other grammars but it has been useful in everything for which I have used it yet. My only complaints are that the index lists terms under section number (sections outnumber pages), which took a while to figure out, and that some obscure constructions are listed as being in a nearly unrelated section with sometimes only a very passing mention, unless I'm still not using the thing right. At any rate, very helpful.

This is an excellent resource for Latin teachers or classical scholars, since almost any grammar, syntax or prosody question is addressed within its pages; however, a bit of time is required for the user to become familiar with the general organization of the text. Although it has been recently updated, and the sections on meter have been completely re-written from the1903 edition, the language is still quite formal. For these reasons, it is perhaps a bit difficult for high school students to use as a home reference. It should, however, be on the classroom reference shelf.

Anne Mahoney, in her preface to the Focus edition, seems to recommend this grammar only because it's the one on the popular Perseus website. This is no great praise, and the book has many problems. First are the errors. If you look up "quisnam" in the index you'll see the reference to section 148e, but then in the text there is no 148e. Section 584 has a more dangerous and subtle error when in one place it prints "dixit" for "dicit." The former typo is in the original 1903 printing, but the latter is new to the Focus edition; I'm sure that other such errors have been newly introduced. A minor annoyance is the printing of a sort of circumflex over a diphthong with a consonantal "i" (as in "cuius"; see sec. 6c). A more major annoyance is the cumbersome and redundant language. The book is filled with bold section headings such as "Declension of Comparatives," but in case you didn't get it, the next words are, "Comparatives are declined as follows:--" Why waste so much space? It even makes the page look ugly. Immediately after the heading "Negative Particles" is, "325. In the use of the Negative Particles, the following points are to be observed:--" This much for section 325; keep reading to the next to find anything useful. The book is spoiled by such frequent stupidity.

Instead, try Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar (Latin Edition). The explanations are clearer, and it does a better job of grouping things that ought to go together.

This book is one of the most comprehensive latin books out. It has nearly everything a latin student, like me, would need.

In the Focus edition, this standard text is hampered by lackluster typography and design. For example, I agree with Latin Student's review: section numbers need to be indicated at the top of the page. Section/sub-section names should also be included at the top of the page. Typography could set off notes and quoted text. Old College Classical Series (A.D. Caratzas, publisher, Orpheus Publishing, Inc.) much better in these respects, imho. What I like to call the blight of desktop publishing.

I find it much more difficult to navigate this book than, say, Moreland and Fleisher's book of Latin grammar. Furthermore, it's verbosity is frequently difficult to penetrate. The author seems to have an aversion to synthetic explanation, relying instead on an overabundance of examples that serve to clarify little of the readers confusion.