Modernization and Standardization of the French Language
Annotated and Edited by Cesar Hernandez
Introduction
Upon the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire in the 800s, the Serment de Strasbourg was agreed upon in 842. It was in this document where “French” shows up for the first time as the Romana Lingua. By the 17th century, linguistic diversity, in what later would be known as modern France, was substantial. A great majority of people living in France still speak regional languages, and “even in the 1790s one French person in four could not speak French” (Jones, 133) There were two substantially large dialects: The langue d’Oil in the North and the langue d’Oc in the South. What we’ve come to recognize as modern French, comes from the Langue d’Oil dialect (the language of the court and of the Royal Domain) from the Île-de-France as a result of the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts. Signed by François I and established in 1539 due to official attitudes toward linguistic diversity in early France, the Ordonance required any and all administrative documents to be produced in French. Later, in 1635, the Académie Française was established by the Letters Patent which were signed by Louis XIII. Richelieu, its founder, sought to use language as a means to impose order and as an “ornament of the state” since language was a medium through which the state projected outward. The Académie Française had many projects that explored grammar, rhetoric, poetics, as well as the issuing of an official dictionary. In the preface to the dictionary published in 1694, a purpose was written, stating that Le Dictionnaire intended to make the French language pure and eloquent, by disposing of old words, and reflecting how language is used in everyday life. In this critical edition, you will read a transcription of a section from the preface of the 1694 edition of the Dictionnaire as well as some of the articles presented in the Statuts et Règlements de l'Académie Françoise. A translation will also be provided. I have decided to modernize the spelling and orthography to allow for a better understanding of the text, and I hope to put forth an insightful critical edition that will help you, the reader, obtain a better understanding on how the French language we know today came to be.
Statuts et Règlements de l'Académie Françoise
Premièrement
Personne ne sera reçu dans l’Académie, qui ne soit agréable à Monseigneur le protecteur et qui ne soit de bonnes mœurs, de bonne réputation, de bon esprit, et propre aux fonctions académiques.
II
L’académie aura un sceau duquel seront scellés en cire bleue tous les actes qui s’expédieront par sons ordre, dans lequel la figure de Monseigneur le cardinal, duc de Richelieu, sera gravée, avec ces mots à l’entour, Armand Cardinal - Duc de Richelieu[1] Protecteur de l’Académie Françoise, établie l’an 1635; & un contre-sceau où sera représentée une couronne de laurier, avec ce mot, À l'immortalité. Desquels sceaux l’empreinte ne pourra jamais être changée pour quelque occasion que ce soit[2].
III
Il y aura trois officiers, un directeur, un chancelier et un secrétaire, dont les deux premiers seront élus de deux en deux mois, et l’autre ne changera point.
XXIV
La principale fonction de l’Académie sera de travailler avec tout le soin et toute la diligence possibles à donner des règles certaines à notre langue et à la rendre pure, éloquente[3] et capable de traiter les arts et les sciences.
XXV
Les meilleurs auteurs de la langue françoise seront distribués aux académiciens pour observer tant les dictions que les phrases qui peuvent servir de règles générales[4] et en faire rapport à la Compagnie, qui jugera de leur travail et s’en servira aux occasions.
XXVI
Il sera composé un dictionnaire, une grammaire, une rhétorique et une poétique sur les observations de l’Académie.[5]
A translation of the previous text is included below:
Firstly
No one will be received into the Academy who is not agreeable to Monseigneur the protector, and who is not of good morals, of a good reputation, of good spirits and who is appropriate for academic functions.
II
The Academy will have a seal which all acts that are sent by his orders will have and will be sealed in blue wax, in which the figure of Monseigneur the Cardinal, Duke of Richeliue, will be engraved with the words “Armand Cardinal - Duke of Richeliue, Protector of the French Academy, established in the year 1635” surrounding it, and a counter seal where a laurel crown will be represented with the words “To immortality”. These seals can never be changed for any occasion whatsoever.
III.
There will be three officers: a director, a chancellor, and a secretary, of which the first two will be elected every two months, and the other will not change.
XXIV
The principal function of the Academy will be to work with all the possible care and diligence to give certain rules to our language and to render it pure, eloquent, and capable of dealing with the arts sciences.
XXV
The best authors of the French language will be distributed to the academicians to observe not only the dications but the sentences that could work as general rules and to make them known to the company, who will judge their work and will use it on occasion.
XXVI
It will be composed of a dictionary, a grammar, a rhetoric and a poetic based on the observations of the Academy
Préface du Dictionnaire de l’Académie (1694)
On dira peut-être qu’on ne peut jamais s'assurer qu’une Langue vivante soit parvenue à sa dernière perfection; Mais ce n’a pas était le sentiment de Cicéron, qui après avoir fait de longues réflexions sur cette matière, n’a pas fait difficulté d’avancer que de son temps la Langue Latine estoit arrivée à un degré d’excellence où l’on ne pouvait rien ajouter. Nous voyons qu’il ne s’est pas trompé, et peut-être n’aura-t-on pas moins de raison de penser la même chose en faveur de la Langue Françoise, si l’on veut bien considérer la Gravité et la Variété de ses Nombres, la juste cadence de ses Périodes, la douceur de sa Poésie, la régularité naturel des vers, l’harmonie de ses Rimes, et surtout cette construction direct, qui sans s'éloigner de l’ordre naturel des pensées, ne laisse pas de rencontrer toutes les délicatesses que l’art est capable d’y apporter. C’est dans cet état où la Langue Françoise se trouve aujourd’hui qu’a été composé ce Dictionnaire; et pour la représenter dans ce même état, l’Académie a jugé qu’elle ne devoir pas mettre les vieux mots qui sont entièrement hors d’usage, ni les termes des Arts et des Sciences qui entrent rarement dans le Discours[6]; Elle s’est retranchée à la Langue commune, telle qu’elle est dans le commerce ordinaire des honnêtes gens[7], et telle que les Orateurs et les Poètes l'emploient; Ce qui comprend tout ce qui peut servir à la noblesse et à l'élégance du discours. Elle a donné la définition de tous les mots communs de la langue dont les idées sont fort simples…
A translation of the previous text is included below:
Maybe, it can be said that one can never be sure that a living language could manage to reach ultimate perfection; But that was not the the feeling Cicéron had, who after having made long reflections on this subject, had no difficulty in bringing forward that during his time, the Latin Language had reached a degree of excellence where nothing could be added. We see that he was not mistaken, and that maybe we have no less reason to think the same thing in favor of the French language, if we are greatly consider the gravity and the variety of it’s numbers, the justified cadence of it’s periods, the softness of it’s poesy, the regularly of its verses, the harmony of its rhymes, and above all the direct construction, who without moving away from the natural order of thoughts, doesn’t stop finding all the delicacies that art is capable of bringing. It is in this state where the French language finds itself today that the dictionary was composed; and to represent it in the same state, the academy has judged that it should not put old words that are no longer used, nor the terms of the Arts and Sciences who are rarely used in discourse; It is withdrawn to the common language, such as it is in the commerce of honest men, and such as it is used by orators and poets; Those who understand all it can offer to the Nobles and to the elegance of discourse. It has given the definition of all the common words of the language of whom the ideas are simple
Bibliography
Cohen, Paul. Linguistic Politics on the Periphery: Louis XIII, Béarn, and the Making of French as an Official Language in Early Modern France. The Ohio State University, 2003.
Française, L’Académie. Le Dictionnaire de L’Académie Françoise, Dedié Au Roy, Jean Baptiste Coignard, Paris, 1694, p. 8.
Hollier, Denis. A New History of French Literature. Harvard University Press, 2001.
Jones, Colin. The Cambridge Illustrated History of France. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
“L’histoire.” Académie Française, www.academie-francaise.fr/linstitution/lhistoire. Accessed 7 Dec. 2023.
“Our History.” Institut de France, Institut de France, 1 Dec. 2021, www.institutdefrance.fr/en/our-history/.
Richelieu, Cardinal. “Statuts & Réglements de l’Académie Françoise.” France, 1635, France
[1] Armand Jean du Plessis, otherwise known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a key influential advisor to King Louis XIII. He sought to focus on the needs of the French Kingdom through his ideology of Reason of State. Richelieu issued a series of reforms to try and achieve his goals, one of which included the founding of the Académie Français.
[2] Article III helps explain the process through which elections are held to elect two out of the three officials. This directive helps establish a set of rules for proceeding with choosing officials and in articles IV-VII (not shown), the rules for the officials elected are laid down.
[3] "Enriching [the French language] with all possible ornaments" was one of the goals set forth in the letters patent to give the language a renowned reputation, capable of expressing the eloquence of the French state.
[4] This article serves to show one of the Academy's projects: Grammar and Structure of the French Language
[5] This article displays the other main projects of the French Academy. Out of these, the dictionary (in which the Academy fixed the meaning of words) was the only project they could accomplish in 1694.
[6] The preface of the 1694 edition of the Dictionnaire included details as to the purification and modernization of the French Language. The preface here reads that there should be no inclusion of old words (into the dictionary) that are no longer in use. Based on this passage, we can conclude that the dictionary would be used as a tool by the French Academy to not only modernize but establish a set of rules and words that compose the French language.
[7] The term "honnêtes gens" or sometimes referred to as "honnête homme" refers to a worldy, honest man or people. These individuals were sophisticated and elegant and often alluded to people of high society.