Authority, prescriptivism and the French standard language

Abstract

Prescriptive attitudes to language seem to be more deeply engrained in France than in many other speech-communities. This article traces their development between the sixteenth century and the present day within the model of language standardization proposed by E. Haugen and in the light of the notion of ‘standard ideology’ proposed by J. and L. Milroy. It will be argued that early definitions of what was considered ‘the best French’ were based simply on the observed usage of ‘the best people’; later it was felt that the standard required more permanent jusitification, giving rise to the idea that the ‘best French’ was the ‘best’ because it was the variety most closely in line with clarity and reason; a third stage was reached with the French Revolution when this variety of French became mandatory for everyone wishing to be considered ‘French’ and ‘reasonable’. Powerful institutional forces are engaged in promoting and maintaining this ideology in contemporary France, but excessive rigidity in the traditional standard in the face of the alternative norms which exert countervailing pressures on speakers could lead to a sitution of diglossia.

On the Social Nature of Linguistic Prescriptions

“…For example, campaigns for national unification and integration usually want to limit linguistic variation; witness the popularity of prescriptivism in America in the 19th century (Drake, 1977). It is even more obvious for French speakers: after the Revolution, the prescriptive standards became mandatory for everyone who wanted to be 'French' and 'reasonable' (Lodge, 1991). The descriptivist might say that prescriptivism is true in societies where it was widely disseminated.…”

“…So there is a certain form of knowledge asymmetry in such a case. From a sociological point of view, this implies different status, or power positions (Lodge, 1991), and this may explain the emotional overtones of discussions over correct use.…”

Repair in membership categorization in French

“…In general, in France there is an “ideology of the standard” (Fox 2002:203), meaning that everyone should adhere to the same ways of speaking and writing. Lodge (1991:93) observes that the “prescriptive attitudes to language seem to be more deeply ingrained [in France] than in many other speech-communities,” perhaps because nonstandard varieties “are viewed as a threat to both linguistic unity of France and to the purity and universality of the French language” (Bourhis 1997:312).…”

Predicting challenges to English as a global language in the 21st century

“…French, meanwhile, has a long history of deliberate standardization that parallels the centralizing policies of successive regimes and governments and the promotion of a linguistic standard on the basis of its allegedly superior nature in terms of clarity and rationality (Lodge 1991). Over the past two centuries especially, the imposition of standard French constituted a key strategy for the elimination of social, political, and religious ideologies regarded as reactionary and for the promotion of revolutionary concepts such as egalitarianism (Kibbee 1993).…”