Code-Switching in the Graecus Venetus Version of Daniel

Abstract This paper analyzes the Greek translation of the book of Daniel contained in ms. Graecus Venetus 7 (fourteenth century; Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, gr. Z. 007). This translation is unique in rendering the Aramaic part of Daniel into an artificial literary language, containing many Doric elements. The paper examines the nature and sources of the so-called Doric dialect used in Dan 2:4b–7:28, and interprets the use of Doric elements as a form of code-switching. This code-switching fits into a broader foreignizing translation strategy, by a translator working at the intersection of Byzantine learning, early humanism and the Jewish-Greek tradition.