The creation of linguistic metalanguage in Antiquity and Middle Ages as result of translational processes

The dimension of multilingualism and multiculturalism was a characteristic in the Greco-Roman Antiquity which let many traces in different cultural domains and their specific language. Latin and Greek played the main role in this history even after Theodosius’ division of the Roman Empire in the Latin-speaking Western part and the Greek-speaking Eastern part. The interplay between these two languages was only a part of the complex picture of relations in the different parts or provinces of the Empire where other languages were spoken or could arise. The Greco-Roman cultural exchange brought to the development of translation techniques; the dimension of translation was itself a peculiarity of a cultural heritage that continued through time. The direction of the language influence in particular is visible especially in the creation of metalanguages and specialized languages. One thinks of the direct role of Greek in Egypt, of Latin on Gaul, of Greek in Syriac dialects, but also on the direct and indirect influence of both Latin and Greek on the Germanic and Romance languages through the grammatical tradition. This paper aims at providing some insights into the metalinguistic croft of grammars and grammarians as special case of language contact in the Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.