Language Attitudes and Social Connotations in Jerome and Sidonius Apollinaris
Jerome of Stridon and Sidonius Apollinaris, two authors particularly sensitive to languages and linguistic differences, frequently evaluate the correctness, adequacy, and aesthetic qualities of ‘classical’ Latin on the one hand, and of ‘foreign’ or ‘barbarian’ languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, or ‘Germani...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
2015
|
In: |
Vigiliae Christianae
Year: 2015, Volume: 69, Issue: 4, Pages: 393-421 |
RelBib Classification: | CD Christianity and Culture KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity ZB Sociology |
Further subjects: | B
Jerome
Sidonius Apollinaris
linguistic value judgments
language attitudes
social connotations hypothesis
|
Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
Summary: | Jerome of Stridon and Sidonius Apollinaris, two authors particularly sensitive to languages and linguistic differences, frequently evaluate the correctness, adequacy, and aesthetic qualities of ‘classical’ Latin on the one hand, and of ‘foreign’ or ‘barbarian’ languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, or ‘Germanic’) on the other. They also evaluate variation within the Latin language, mostly in a negative way. In this paper, I look at Jerome’s and Sidonius’ evaluative statements about languages and language varieties from the sociolinguistic perspective of language attitude research. I start by defining the concepts of ‘language attitude’ and ‘social connotations hypothesis’, and then proceed to the analysis of linguistic evaluations in Jerome’s and Sidonius’ works. In accordance with the social connotations hypothesis, I argue that these evaluations about languages or language varieties are strongly biased by the socio-cultural stereotypes the authors hold about the speakers of these languages or language varieties. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1570-0720 |
Contains: | In: Vigiliae Christianae
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700720-12341228 |