Les métaphores politico-juridiques dans l'histoire de la linguistique prescriptive du Français au XVII^e s

The close connections between politics and linguistic thought are evident in the use of metaphors in both domains. The metaphors of political and legal power are dominant during the period when Classical French was being constructed. The theoreticians of the state, the founders of modern political science, argued about the best form for the ideal state, principally between an absolute monarchy founded on the principle of divine right, and a limited monarchy constrained by institutions of the state, such as the courts, the Estates General, and the Censor. The notions of sovereignty, tyranny and liberty established in the field of politics were subsequently applied in grammatical debates, between those wishing to curtail creativity and variation in language, and those who saw in such constraints the tyranny of linguistic absolutism. Who has the right to prescribe and to proscribe usage? Malherbe, Vaugelas and Chapelain are generally more aligned towards restrictions, while Mlle de Gournay, Camus, La Mothe Le Vayer and Dupleix argue for greater liberty. Under Louis XIII and Louis XIV absolutism will win out, in grammar as in politics.