Everyday Communication in Antiquity: Frames and Framings
open access | peer reviewed-
edited by
- Klaas Bentein - Universiteit Gent, België - email
Abstract
This volume explores everyday communication practices in Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt, with a particular focus on Greek papyri and related sources. It examines how language, layout, and materiality – manifesting overtly or subtly, at global and local levels – shaped the production and interpretation of texts. Grounded in a ‘frame-based’ approach, the chapters draw on sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and multimodality to reveal how ancient writers and readers constructed meaning and articulated identities across genres, languages, and cultural contexts.
Keywords Semiotic grammar • Writing technology • Discoursal ‘add-on’ • Indexical order • Bilingualism • Infinitive • Performatives • Multilingualism • Materiality • High-register Greek • Continuative clauses • Documentary papyri • Multimodality • Historical sociolinguistics • Intersubjectivity • Social meaning • Height • Atticism • Discourse analysis • Language of papyri • Papyrology • Apollonios strategos archive • Communication • Post-classical Greek • Layout • Arabic • Everyday communication • Register shibboleths • Administrative papyri • Politeness • Greek • Complementation • Text segmentation • Late antiquity • Afterthought • Register • Ancient Greek • Greek letters • Language • Norms and usage • Papyri • Cross-cultural pragmatics • Relativisation • Speech acts • Documentary roll • Women • Stance • Postscript • Wishes • Framing • Epistolography • Petitions
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-886-6 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-886-6 | ISBN (PRINT) 978-88-6969-887-3 | Published April 24, 2025 | Language en
Copyright © 2025 Klaas Bentein. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.