Historiographia Linguistica · 1990 · 21 citations · 7 references
FrenchLanguage VariationSpoken FrenchSyntaxLanguage DocumentationFrancophone CulturesLingua FrancaHistorical LinguisticsGrammarLanguage StudiesSociolinguisticsLanguage ChangePronunciation FeatureComparative GrammarAbsolute RulesFrancophone LinguisticsRomance LanguagesArtsFirst French GrammariansLinguisticsGallo-romance Dialects
Early French grammarians insisted on linguistic uniformity, condemning historical, geographic, and sociolinguistic variation and arguing that French must be governed by absolute rules to maintain its status as a leading vernacular. The study seeks to establish criteria for determining whether lexical items, pronunciation features, or morphological features should be accepted in French. Their opposition to variation was justified as both a biblical and political mission.
Summary The first French grammarians to consider the French language condemned variation – historical variation, geographical variation, and sociolinguistic variation. For the French language to be first among vernacular languages, it had to have fixity, to be governed by absolute rules. How can one determine if a lexical item, pronunciation feature, or morphological feature should be accepted? Some would study the best authors, but the list of such authors is a matter of debate. Others would define the ‘true French’ geographically, but they tend to choose their own regions. Ultimately, the choice depends on a sense of ‘usage’ which is in harmony with the ‘ naïve puissance ’ of the language, the pursuit of which may ultimately lead to a reunification of word and object, a unity lost at the Tower of Babel. The grammarians’ attacks on variation serve biblical as well as political destiny.
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Grammatical Theory in Western Europe 1500-1700
G. A. Padley · Modern Language Journal · 1977 · 66 citations