The Hermeneumata were composed as a Greek-Latin schoolbook in late antiquity, probably around the third century CE.
In the twentieth century, the name of the Hermeneumata inspired scholars to give the name Hermeneutic style to a style of Latin writing found in late Antiquity and the early Medieval West which was characterised by extensive use of Greek loan-words.
[1] The Hermeneumata survive in nine manuscripts, mostly from the Middle Ages,[2][3] one of which attributes the work to Dositheus Magister.
[3] Contents vary dramatically from one manuscript to another, but at its fullest extent the text comprises:[3] The Hermeneumata was later adapted, and further Greek vocabulary being added from the Liber glossarum.
[3] The pedagogy of the dialogues is based on the immediate comprehension of extremely simple phrases, most often limited to a subject, verb and complement.