From l’usage to le bon usage and back
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Wendy Ayres-Bennett
Abstract
This paper examines the extent to which the characterisation of seventeenth-century France as the archetypal period of prescriptivism and rigid codification is justified. The major normative texts are presented, as are the sources currently available for comparing their pronouncements with contemporary usage. Whilst the problem of finding sources which approximate to more spoken and informal usages is particularly acute in a period of standardisation, the creation of large-scale and more specialised corpora is leading to a re-evaluation of seventeenth-century French metalinguistic texts. The final section considers whether there is any evidence that normative comments had an impact on usage. In the case of the remarqueurs, we find that whilst some of their pronouncements are prescriptive, others accurately reflect changing usage.
Abstract
This paper examines the extent to which the characterisation of seventeenth-century France as the archetypal period of prescriptivism and rigid codification is justified. The major normative texts are presented, as are the sources currently available for comparing their pronouncements with contemporary usage. Whilst the problem of finding sources which approximate to more spoken and informal usages is particularly acute in a period of standardisation, the creation of large-scale and more specialised corpora is leading to a re-evaluation of seventeenth-century French metalinguistic texts. The final section considers whether there is any evidence that normative comments had an impact on usage. In the case of the remarqueurs, we find that whilst some of their pronouncements are prescriptive, others accurately reflect changing usage.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- The interplay of language norms and usage patterns. Comparing the history of Dutch, English, French and German 1
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Dutch
- Language norms and language use in seventeenth-century Dutch 21
- Language norms and language use in eighteenth-century Dutch 49
- Norms and usage in nineteenth-century Southern Dutch 73
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English
- Norms and usage in seventeenth-century English 103
- Eighteenth-century English normative grammars and their readers 129
- Nineteenth-century English 151
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French
- From l’usage to le bon usage and back 173
- Jacques-Louis Ménétra and his experience of the langue d’oc 201
- From local to supra-local 223
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German
- Language description, prescription and usage in seventeenth-century German 251
- Standard German in the eighteenth century 277
- Prescriptive norms and norms of usage in nineteenth-century German 303
- Index 321
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- The interplay of language norms and usage patterns. Comparing the history of Dutch, English, French and German 1
-
Dutch
- Language norms and language use in seventeenth-century Dutch 21
- Language norms and language use in eighteenth-century Dutch 49
- Norms and usage in nineteenth-century Southern Dutch 73
-
English
- Norms and usage in seventeenth-century English 103
- Eighteenth-century English normative grammars and their readers 129
- Nineteenth-century English 151
-
French
- From l’usage to le bon usage and back 173
- Jacques-Louis Ménétra and his experience of the langue d’oc 201
- From local to supra-local 223
-
German
- Language description, prescription and usage in seventeenth-century German 251
- Standard German in the eighteenth century 277
- Prescriptive norms and norms of usage in nineteenth-century German 303
- Index 321
