Bilingualism and the Latin Language

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by J. N. Adams

Cambridge University Press

Due/Published November 2002, 900 pages, cloth

ISBN 0521817714

This book deals systematically with communication problems in the Roman world where numerous languages apart from Latin and Greek were spoken. How did the Romans communicate with their subjects in the more remote parts of the Empire? What linguistic policies did they pursue? Differing forms of bilingualism developed, which had a significant effect on the way the Romans and their subjects thought, spoke and wrote. A wide range of cultural, historical and linguistic questions concerning the varying developments in bilingualism are addressed.

Contents

Introduction;
1. Languages in contact with Latin;
2. Code-switching;
3. Bilingualism, linguistic diversity and language change;
4. Latin in Egypt;
5. Bilingualism at Delos;
6. Bilingualism at La Graufesenque;
7. The Latin of a learner (P. Amh. II 26): a case study;
8. Some concluding remarks.