The Relevance of the 'Remarques' in the 18th Century. A Linguistic Study of the 'Remarques sur les germanismes' by Éléazar de Mauvillon

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Sybille Große
• Subject Area: Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 514821921

In the 17th century, the discourse around the proper usage ('bon usage') in France and the standardisation of the French language was notably passed down through the 'Remarques', which have acquired higher attention in recent years among linguistic researchers. However, the 'Remarques' that were either published one century later, in the 18th century, or that targeted a different audience outside of France, including two extensive volumes of 'Remarques sur les germanismes' by Éléazar de Mauvillon (1753 [1747], 1754), have up until now not been the focus of linguistic-historical research. Mauvillon's 'Remarques sur les germanismes' stand out from the numerous publications on French as a foreign language during the 18th century in Germany (mainly grammars and textbooks). While these 'Remarques' closely follow the textual tradition created by the 'Remarques' in the French language, in contrast to other 'Remarques', they do not address speakers who have French as their first language, but rather speakers from abroad who are learning French. The various kinds of 'Remarques' treated in Mauvillon's work and the quick succession of both volumes in being published raises the question of whether Mauvillon was able to observe the divergent language structures in the sense of 'gemanisme' among German speakers who were learning French, whom he taught in Germany, or whether he consulted different sources that inspired the composition of his volumes. The aim of this project is to describe in detail Mauvillon's 'Remarques sur les germanismes' through their language-normative and language-critical practices and to capture the dynamics between innovation and a more conservative orientation towards existing treatises, grammars, textbooks and the 'Remarques' on the French language and on French as a Foreign Language. Although Mauvillon's two volumes introduce a complex concept of Germanisms, which incorporate a creative methodology as well as linguistic comparatives, when looking at the content, one can observe evident parallels between the 'Remarques sur les germanismes' and contemporary grammars, textbooks and Remarques on French and on French as a Foreign Language, which prompts further questions regarding the specific addressee highlighted by Mauvillon. Therefore, in this project, potential borrowings will be identified and interactions between different linguistic normative traditions will be elaborated through comparative textual work that encompasses content-related, meta-linguistic and discursive aspects. The 'Remarques sur les germanismes' not only represent a remarkable work of language norm criticism, but they also reflect the pinnacle of language-critical treatises and language-didactic works in addition to the expansion of an idealised linguistic standard norm.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants