Language Policies, 2. Post-Classical Greek

The study of language policies in ancient societies requires us to take into account the different components of language policy, as these are defined in modern linguistic studies. As far as Postclassical Greek is concerned, there are some important issues to take note of: (i) language practices related to Greek in ancient societies; (ii) the values speakers assigned to Greek; (iii) the strategies adopted by the ruling class that affected the use of Greek. In addition, the rise of the Greek koine is another important aspect that touches on the issues of language standardization and standard language(s). A number of different cases from inscriptions and papyri can be interpreted as examples of explicit or implicit language policies, while issues of diglossia related to the contraposition of literary vs. spoken Greek ought to be examined too.