Langues vivantes / langues mortes. Un paradigme en émergence au xviie siècle

Abstract

This paper examines the emergence of the qualifications langue morte (dead language) and langue vivante (living language) in France in the 17th century. It is based on an extensive study of metalinguistic sources (grammars, dictionaries, collections of remarks, various treatises). A first part deals with the evolution of the notions used to qualify Latin, from a representation in terms of alteration and corruption, in use since the 16th century, to those of life and death. The second part shows how the development of the theory of usage is concomitant with a new valorisation of living languages. The third part shows how dictionaries of the end of the century record the opposition between langue vivante and langue morte, paving the way for a new representation of languages that would later spread to educational contexts. Through the study of this emerging paradigm, the question of the representation of languages as having regulated grammars or as changing vectors of human expression is addressed.

Keywords

• living language
• dead language
• grammar
• idiom
• language use