Language variation and linguistic description in 16th-century France

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7794967
AutoresDouglas A Kibbee (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, autor de correspondencia)
Año1990
Volumen17
Número1-2
Páginas49-65
Fecha de publicación1990-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHistoriographia Linguistica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0302-5160 • E-ISSN: 1569-9781
EditorialJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/hl.17.1-2.06kib
OpenAlexW1969856474
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas10

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

Linguistics · Pronunciation · Variation (astronomy · Vernacular · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Medieval European Literature and History · Philosophy