‘In both our languages’: Greek-Latin code-switching in Roman literature

Mullen, Alex

Abstract

After a short introduction to code-switching and Classics, this article offers an overview of the phenomenon of code-switching in Roman literature with some comments on possible generic restrictions, followed by a survey of Roman attitudes to the practice. The analysis then focuses on Roman letter writing and investigates code-switching in the second-century correspondence of Fronto (mainly letters between Marcus Aurelius, who became Emperor in AD 161, and his tutor Fronto). This discussion uses part of a new detailed database of Greek code-switches in Roman epistolography and is largely sociolinguistic in approach. It makes comparisons with other ancient and modern corpora where possible and highlights the value of code-switching research in responding to a range of (socio)linguistic, literary and historical questions.

Citation

Mullen, A. (2015). ‘In both our languages’: Greek-Latin code-switching in Roman literature. Language and Literature, 24(3), https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947015585244

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 12, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Aug 13, 2015
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Aug 4, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 4, 2017
• Journal: Language and Literature
• Print ISSN: 0963-9470
• Electronic ISSN: 1461-7293
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947015585244
• Keywords: Greek; Latin; Code-switching; Roman literature; Letters; Fronto; Cicero; Pliny
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/755688
• Publisher URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963947015585244
• Additional Information: Copyright © 2015 by SAGE Publications
• Contract Date: Aug 4, 2017