Class and classics: The social basis of ancient bilingualism

Abstract

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 sociolinguistic analysis of 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 theterm ‘classic’ was first used reveals the class interests that gave rise to the concept. The inaccessibility 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 adherence 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.