Dialect in Aristophanes: The Politics of Language in Ancient Greek Literature

Did the Greeks find it amusing, irritating, or threatening when they heard another Greek speaking in a different dialect? This book exploits the evidence of ancient Greek comedy in an attempt to answer some of the questions about ancient language attitudes. Colvin draws conclusions from a comparative study of the language of dialect speaking characters and other foreigners in Old Comedy, and on an examination of linguistic attitudes in other genres of Greek literature.