Home Linguistics & Semiotics Qui a écrit la Grammaire générale et raisonnée ?
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Qui a écrit la Grammaire générale et raisonnée ?

  • Bernard Colombat
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
To Publisher Page
History of Linguistics 2011
This chapter is in the book History of Linguistics 2011

Résumé

This article ponders the identity of the author of the Grammaire générale et raisonnée (GGR): the book was published anonymously in 1660, but it is well-known that the authors are Antoine Arnauld and Claude Lancelot. In the Preface, Lancelot claims to be simply the secretary of Arnauld. In fact, an extensive review of the text and of its context shows that Lancelot’s contribution is greater than he had claimed. The almost exclusive use of “Je” (“I”) to put forward the most original theoretical points as well as many cross references between GGR and Lancelot’s Nouvelle Méthode latine and Nouvelle Méthode grecque are evidence that he was the real author of the book. Lancelot had fully endorsed the proposals of Arnauld and stated them with the greatest conviction, even if he brought some nuances to the editions of 1664 and 1676.

Résumé

This article ponders the identity of the author of the Grammaire générale et raisonnée (GGR): the book was published anonymously in 1660, but it is well-known that the authors are Antoine Arnauld and Claude Lancelot. In the Preface, Lancelot claims to be simply the secretary of Arnauld. In fact, an extensive review of the text and of its context shows that Lancelot’s contribution is greater than he had claimed. The almost exclusive use of “Je” (“I”) to put forward the most original theoretical points as well as many cross references between GGR and Lancelot’s Nouvelle Méthode latine and Nouvelle Méthode grecque are evidence that he was the real author of the book. Lancelot had fully endorsed the proposals of Arnauld and stated them with the greatest conviction, even if he brought some nuances to the editions of 1664 and 1676.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword & Acknowledgements ix
  4. Honorary President’s Address xi
  5. Editors’ introduction xv
  6. Part I. European linguistics in the 17th and late 18th centuries
  7. “Inversions of word order generate higher costs” 3
  8. Qui a écrit la Grammaire générale et raisonnée ? 13
  9. Travail du pouvoir et productions sur la ‘langue française’ au XVIIe siècle 27
  10. The main characteristics of grammar-writing in Slovenia between 1584 and 1758 37
  11. Part II. Linguistics in the late 18th and 19th centuries
  12. Western grammars of the Chinese language in the 18th and 19th centuries 53
  13. L’universalité du discours et le génie des langues dans la Grammaire philosophique et littéraire (1823–1824) de Nicolas Paquis de Sauvigny 63
  14. The reception of Court de Gébelin in 19th-century Portuguese grammar 71
  15. Morphologie du langage et typologie linguistique 87
  16. L’évolution du terme ‘sémiologie’ chez Saussure: 1881–1891 103
  17. Part III. Theoretical issues in the 20th-century linguistic thought
  18. Questioning the idea of ‘founding text’ 117
  19. Earlier and later anti-psychologism in linguistics 127
  20. Looking for a semantic theory 137
  21. Jakobson’s circles 145
  22. Part IV. Russian and Soviet linguistics
  23. Soviet linguistics and world linguistics 159
  24. Anti-positivism in early Soviet linguistics 169
  25. De la fusion des langues au repli sur soi (URSS 1917–1953) 181
  26. Semantics as a background for (pre)semiotic trends in Russian intellectual history of the 1920s–1930s (and beyond) 191
  27. Présence de la Russie dans le réseau phonétique international (1886–1940) 201
  28. Index of biographical names 216
  29. Index of subjects and terms 219
https://doi.org/10.1075/sihols.123.02col

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword & Acknowledgements ix
  4. Honorary President’s Address xi
  5. Editors’ introduction xv
  6. Part I. European linguistics in the 17th and late 18th centuries
  7. “Inversions of word order generate higher costs” 3
  8. Qui a écrit la Grammaire générale et raisonnée ? 13
  9. Travail du pouvoir et productions sur la ‘langue française’ au XVIIe siècle 27
  10. The main characteristics of grammar-writing in Slovenia between 1584 and 1758 37
  11. Part II. Linguistics in the late 18th and 19th centuries
  12. Western grammars of the Chinese language in the 18th and 19th centuries 53
  13. L’universalité du discours et le génie des langues dans la Grammaire philosophique et littéraire (1823–1824) de Nicolas Paquis de Sauvigny 63
  14. The reception of Court de Gébelin in 19th-century Portuguese grammar 71
  15. Morphologie du langage et typologie linguistique 87
  16. L’évolution du terme ‘sémiologie’ chez Saussure: 1881–1891 103
  17. Part III. Theoretical issues in the 20th-century linguistic thought
  18. Questioning the idea of ‘founding text’ 117
  19. Earlier and later anti-psychologism in linguistics 127
  20. Looking for a semantic theory 137
  21. Jakobson’s circles 145
  22. Part IV. Russian and Soviet linguistics
  23. Soviet linguistics and world linguistics 159
  24. Anti-positivism in early Soviet linguistics 169
  25. De la fusion des langues au repli sur soi (URSS 1917–1953) 181
  26. Semantics as a background for (pre)semiotic trends in Russian intellectual history of the 1920s–1930s (and beyond) 191
  27. Présence de la Russie dans le réseau phonétique international (1886–1940) 201
  28. Index of biographical names 216
  29. Index of subjects and terms 219
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 3.3.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/sihols.123.02col/html
Scroll to top button