Bilingualism in Ancient Society : Language Contact and the Written Text

Abstract

Focusing on written texts, this book provides an introduction to the evidence of bilingualism in the ancient Mediterranean world. Language contact intruded into virtually every aspect of ancient life, including literature, philosophy, law, medicine, provincial administration, army, magic and trade, and topics which have been fashionable in sociolinguistics for some time have now begun to attract the attention of scholars working in Graeco-Roman studies. The fifteen chapters in this collection cover theoretical and methodological issues and key aspects of the contact between Latin and Greek and among Latin, Greek, and other languages.