Comparing the prescriptivism of nineteenth- and twenty-first-century language experts in France

Abstract

Abstract This chapter compares two sources of language advice: the nineteenth-century publication Le Courrier de Vaugelas (1868–81); and the twenty-first-century website Dire, ne pas dire. Both sources have a question and answer format; readers’ questions about the French language are published alongside responses from perceived experts. The chapter analyses the experts’ responses, exploring, first, the metalanguage and imagery used to give language advice; and second, the extent to which this can be considered prescriptivist. Findings suggest considerable consistency over time in the use of prescriptive imagery but show that, in each publication, this is used to target different aspects of the language and that the perceived experts have different approaches to prescribing usage. Both approaches, however, have the potential to be interpreted as prescriptive by their readers.