Abstract:
I believe that contacts between popular dialects and high culture languages (mainly
Latin and Greek) were the main factor driving the increase of language efficiency in
the early period of forming literary languages of the European cultural area.
Vernacular language patterns did not prompt developments in vocabulary, syntax
and style until much later. Once intellectualized, dialects served as a tool for
transmitting Greek and Latin culture, as well as logical and abstract thought. A
purely popular language was unable to fulfill this function.
