Class and Classics: The Social Basis of Ancient Bilingualism  

Oleh:

Gray, Bennison

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Language Sciences (Full Text) vol. 1 no. 1 (1979), page 50-84.
Fulltext: 01_01_Gray.pdf (1.49MB)

Isi artikel

Increasingly sophisticated developments in the examination of language use from a sociological perspective are valuable for illuminating not only present but also past linguistic behavior. A sociolinguistie analysisof classicism-the conviction that archaic language preserved in writing is the arbiter of contemporary usage-offers the key to the development of second languages among the ancient Greek and Roman aristocracies. For the Greeks, the two languages were literary Attic and the Koine. For the Romans, they were at first Greek and Latin but ultimately literary and non-literary Latin. Examination of the social historical context in which the term 'classic' was first used reveals the class interests that gave rise to the concept. The inaecess~ility of literary languages to those who are not wealthy enough to be able to afford an extensive literary-and therefore unpractical-education makes of the literary language a reliable index of socio-economic status. Rigid a'dherence to such a language consequently operates as a powerful means of social discrimination. Finally, analysis of the past clarifies the value of a current linguistic concept-style-which turns out to be chiefly a label for this discrimination.

Opini Anda

Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini!

Kembali