The Development of the Scots Lexicon and Syntax in the 16th Century Under the Influence of Translations from Latin

Linguistically, the importance of Latin decreased during the 15th and 16th century for the benefit of an increase in the importance of the vernaculars. In Scotland, as all over Europe, it was the intention of scholars to make the works of the classical authors accessible to an audience with insufficient knowledge of Latin. Moreover, it was the translators' aim to show that the Scots vernacular was an adequate means to render classical texts and to transform Scots into a full literary language. This book demonstrates how and to what extent the Scots lexicon and its syntax were influenced by translations from Latin in the 16th century.