P. H. Matthews is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. He has formerly held positions at Bangor University and the University of Reading, and has been an Honorary Member of the Linguistic Society of America since 1994. His many books include The Positions of Adjectives in English (OUP 2015), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics (3rd edn; OUP 2014), Syntactic Relations: A Critical Survey (CUP 2007), Linguistics: A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2003), and A Short History of Structural Linguistics (CUP 2001).

"This little volume is learned, accessible, and delightful to read." -- James B. Prothro, Ave Maria University, Religious Studies Review

"Matthews' book is a good, entertaining and highly informative read, coming in a dozen chapters, each about 15 pages in length. The book is discursive in that it offers insight to all who do not comprehend Latin or Ancient Greek..." -- Stefan Dollinger, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Journal of Greek Linguistics

"More than a book of popularization, this book is a kind of manual for the contemporary linguist, non-specialist of Classics. (translated)" -- Lionel Dumarty, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"The book is a successful introduction to ancient Greek and Roman thinking about language." -- M.L. Goldman, CHOICE

"Matthews has undertaken a massive endeavor and has acquitted himself well. He has not only scrupulously provided refrences to many of the original Greek and Latin texts but has also quoted and translated them -- accurately I might add -- and has used them as points of departure for his analyses, exactly as he should have. That I would beg to differ with him on occasion is only to be expected and does not detract from his accomplishment." -- Daniel J. Taylor, Historiographia Linguistica