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re: Aramaic
>>David M.
>>
>>I don't for one moment believe that all the villagers
>>in Galilee in 31CE spoke Greek to one another all the time
>>but I am curious to know how those who think Greek was quite so prevalent
>>explain the Aramaic literature that has survived. What kind of people do
>>they think produced it and do they think that when they weren't composing
>>Aramaic texts they reverted to Greek?
It actually doesn't require a whole lot special. I would expect that behavior
in any group where two languages are prevalent, particularly if one was
"traditional" and the other imported. Some modern examples might be the
continued production of Yiddish literature among Russian (German, American...)
Jews. One language will tend to gradually supplant the other, but it may take a
long time. They may not have spoken Greek all the time, but I've lived in
several places where dual language speaking and writing was common. Also common
in that environment is borrowing from the other language(s).
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