26 November 2010
There is an interesting Q&A here, with part two here, on how and why ancient Israelites began writing in Hebrew. Of particular note is the idea that for most civilizations throughout history, most writing is not in the vernacular, but in a cosmopolitan language. For ancient Israel, it was Babylonian. For medieval Europe, it was Latin. Today, it is, to a lesser extent, English.
A similar process happened in tenth century Britain, when English writers, mainly monks, began writing in Old English as opposed to, or rather in addition to, Latin. This was partly due to a lack of qualified Latinists in England, which was the express reason that King Alfred ordered translations of some of the most important Latin works, but there was also a surge of English poetry that riffed on Latin poetic traditions, but took a distinctly different and English direction. The development of English literature was rudely interrupted but continued despite the best efforts of the Norman overlords to impose French on the English, and flourished anew in the fourteenth century with Gower, Langland, and Chaucer.
(Hat tip to Languagehat)
