Language and Society in the Greek and Roman WorldsCambridge University Press, 30.04.2015 - 204 Seiten Texts written in Latin, Greek and other languages provide ancient historians with their primary evidence, but the role of language as a source for understanding the ancient world is often overlooked. Language played a key role in state-formation and the spread of Christianity, the construction of ethnicity, and negotiating positions of social status and group membership. Language could reinforce social norms and shed light on taboos. This book presents an accessible account of ways in which linguistic evidence can illuminate topics such as imperialism, ethnicity, social mobility, religion, gender and sexuality in the ancient world, without assuming the reader has any knowledge of Greek or Latin, or of linguistic jargon. It describes the rise of Greek and Latin at the expense of other languages spoken around the Mediterranean and details the social meanings of different styles, and the attitudes of ancient speakers towards linguistic differences. |
Inhalt
The linguistic ecology of the Mediterranean | 1 |
States of languageslanguages of states | 33 |
Language and identity | 63 |
Language variation | 96 |
Language gender sexuality | 123 |
The languages of Christianity | 143 |
Dead languages? | 171 |
| 179 | |
| 201 | |
Andere Ausgaben - Alle anzeigen
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
Adams alphabet ancient languages ancient world Aramaic Aristophanes Athenian Athens Augustine Bible bilingual Celtic century bce Chapter Christian Cicero Clackson Classical comedy Coptic cultural discussion documents Doric earlier Egypt English epigraphic Eteocretan Eteocypriot Etruscan everyday evidence example Favorinus female Gaulish gender gospels grammar Greek alphabet Greek and Latin Greek dialects Greek word hardback Hebrew Herodotus hypercorrect identity idiom individual Indo-European Indo-European languages inscriptions Ionic Italy known koinē Labov language change language family languages spoken later Latin and Greek Latin language letters Ligurian Linear linguistic linguistic variation male meaning Mediterranean Migne modern Mycenaean native language obscene Old Persian Oscan Paelignian paperback papyrus period Phrygian pronunciation Punic record reveal Roman Empire scholars script second century Semitic social societies speak speakers speech spelling spoken language standard language style surviving Syriac tablets term Thesmophoriazusae third century tion translation variety verb vernacular versions vocabulary vowel women writing written form