FRE 280

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FRE 280

• Introduction to French Language, Linguistics and
  Culture

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Walter - Introduction - pp. 1-6
I. French as the linguists see it. What are
linguists interested in when they study a
language?

• in what they hear people say and how they say it
• providing a descriptive account of a language
• providing an explanatory account of a language
  (how its different from other languages, how it
  evolved and continues to evolve, how it works
  (phonology, syntax, morphology, semantics)

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Intro 2

• Phonology how the sounds of a language pattern
• Syntax how the words of a language are
  structured
• Morphology how morphemes are combined to form
  words
• Semantics meaning of words

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Furiously ideas green colorless sleep.
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Intro 3
Why are French school-children told that their
language is a descendant of Gaulish?

• France was called Gaul and was inhabited by
  people of Celtic origin, the Gauls, who spoke
  Gaulish.
• Only a few dozen words of Gaulish have survived
  in modern French

Is Latin really the ancestor of French?

• Vulgar Latin ? Classical Latin
• Germanic influences, dialects, invaders

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Intro 4
French itself is only a patois that succeeded.

• patois (Latin-based dialect) vs other
  languages-based dialects
• dialectal diversity

Why is Touraine French so prestigious? Should it
be?

• so-called purest form of French
• used in grammars and travel guides for foreigners

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French a myth and a few realities

• French as an immutable institution, respect
  for grammarians and proper Standard French
• accents (pointu, chtimi, pied noir, du midi
• duality beautiful, perfect French language
  but with its own dynamic, changing and evolving

Prescriptive grammar ? descriptive grammar
Prescriptive grammar Standard, proper form of
a language as prescribed by grammarians
Descriptive grammar language as used by its
native speakers as described by linguistics