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Linguistic Purism
Language Attitudes in France and Quebec
This book represents the first in-depth, comparative investigation of linguistic purism in modern French. It investigates the relative prevalence of purist ideology in France and Quebec. Both experience influence from English and have similar language legislation, but they differ in their social, political and economic history. Three different levels of society are examined (official, group and individual), allowing a comparison of the ‘voice from above’ and the ‘voice from below’. This is a key element in recent discussions of language planning but is rarely provided in studies of French. The study is also the first to apply to empirical data Thomas’s widely cited theoretical framework for describing linguistic purism (1991), and has evaluated and refined this, enhancing the theoretical underpinnings of the field. The book will be of interest not only to French scholars and sociolinguists, but also to scholars of language planning, language policy and language ideologies in all languages.
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society, 41] 2016. xviii, 324 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 15 August 2016
Published online on 15 August 2016
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- List of Tables | pp. xi–xiv
- List of Figures | pp. xv–xvi
- Acknowledgments | pp. xvii–xviii
- Chapter 1. Introduction | pp. 1–6
- Chapter 2. Linguistic purism: An overview | pp. 7–34
- Chapter 3. State language planning in France and Quebec | pp. 35–96
- Chapter 4. Language societies in France and Quebec | pp. 97–150
- Chapter 5. Purist attitudes in France and Quebec: A quantitative analysis | pp. 151–202
- Chapter 6. Purist attitudes in France and Quebec: A qualitative analysis | pp. 203–238
- Chapter 7. Purist attitudes in France and Quebec: Follow up questionnaire | pp. 239–254
- Chapter 8. Conclusion | pp. 255–262
- References | pp. 263–280
- Appendix | pp. 281–320
- Index | pp. 321–324
“Symbolised by the French Academy, France is often thought to incarnate linguistic purism par excellence. Olivia Walsh's wide-ranging and penetrating study challenges this stereotype and raises important questions about the effectiveness of language policy and language intervention in general.”
Professor Wendy Ayres-Bennett, University of Cambridge
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