The ancient Greek and Byzantine notion of dialektos

Abstract

By studying the different definitions from the Hellenistic era up to Byzantine times, the present paper aims at contributing to tracing the vicissitudes of the term dialektos – and the concept intertwined with it; for this aspect as yet lacks an extensive and systematic treatment. In particular, it shows that Hellenistic authors conceived of dialektos as an ethnically and/or a diatopically restricted speech form, as an anomalous variety of the koinè, and/or as a speech form vaguely characterized by a certain ‘peculiarity’. Later on, Byzantine authors both adopted and enriched this tradition. The pivotal role of the widely used image of kharaktèr also receives attention.

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