Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 15:40:33 CST From: Mike Picone Subject: French Linguistic Legislation & Claude Hagege Concerning Dennis Baron's remarks: Claude Hagege, like many other French linguists, sees a place for linguistic legislation when it comes to protecting French. In his case at least this does not necessarily constitute chauvinism since he is consistent when it comes to having recourse to the law to protect any other endangered language. This does not mean that he is a purist, for the two attitudes can be disassociated. Americans are incredulous at the thought that French could be considered an endangered language, but the French don't see it that way. Of course, it is not endangered in the current sense of that term, whereby imminent extinction of a species is suggested, but it is clearly on the retreat, and has been for some time, in its competition with English. This is even true in former strongholds, like Africa. Furthermore, regarding the penetration of French itself, one must not underestimate the lingering force of Rene Etiemble's warning alarm to France to the effect that French ways of thinking are at stake in the loss of ground to anglicized vocabulary and morphosyntax. So to them it's more than just a war of words. Of course, the issues are more complex than that and lots, lots more can be said on this subject (and will be in my forthcoming book, if I can stay away from e-mail long enough to finish it). Don't forget that France has a history of "dirigisme linguistique" that is practically as old as is modern French itself. The Academie francaise was established in 1635. The Revolution liberated everything but the language: "roi" became an outlaw word. Anyway, updated lists of official replacement words are printed in the Journal Officiel as a matter of public record when they become law and are periodically compiled into a dictionary published by the same concern. For example, publication no. 1468 (may 1989) _Dictionnaire des neologismes officiels_. Mike Picone University of Alabama mpicone[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ua1vm.ua.edu