Jean-Luc Fournet, The Rise of Coptic: Egyptian Versus Greek in Late Antiquity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020.Excerpt:
Fournet’s The Rise of Coptic is a substantial and accessible contribution to the ongoing discussion of bilingualism and multilingualism in the ancient world. He incisively illuminates the chronological development of Egyptian as a legal(izing) language and Coptic as a regulated script through use of Coptic documentary papyri - sources that have been understudied by historians and classicists who have traditionally limited themselves to Greek and Latin archives for the study of the Roman Empire. Beyond the scope of sociolinguistics and papyrology, Fournet’s work challenges us not to view language use as a zero-sum game within a particular nation or culture. ...Cross-file under Coptic Watch.
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