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In:Terminology throughout History: A discipline in the making
Edited by Kara Warburton and John Humbley
[Terminology and Lexicography Research and Practice 24] 2025
► pp. 460–475

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Chapter 21
Terminology in France

Evolution of its official framework

 | Université Paris-Cité
Published online: 23 May 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tlrp.24.21can
Abstract
This chapter deals with the history, theories and practices of official terminology in France. The establishment of official French terminology, including neology, was initiated in the 19th century in France but was formalised and intensified in recent decades. Terminological activity in France, which also makes use of work done in other areas of the Francophonie, such as Quebec, carefully organised for over fifty years, involves about twenty committees. They operate on the basis of accumulated experience in a wide range of domains (science, technology, industry, economy, culture). The aim is to show how terminology work fits in with lexicographical activities, establishes links with the official terminology framework and to describe its historical evolution.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Official institutions and international links
  • 3.History of French prescriptivism: Some elements and issues
    • 3.1French, an officially recommended language
    • 3.2Terminological development as a policy
    • 3.3Elaborating official terminology: The official terminology committees, and the role of the Académie française
  • 4.Official French institutional framework
    • 4.1A ministerial decree
    • 4.2The current situation
  • 5.Evolution of official French terminology
    • 5.1The official journal of the French Republic
    • 5.2Official terminology in the Trésor de la langue française and in contemporary lexicography
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Humbley, John
2025. Terminology as the key to language policy. In Handbook of Terminology [Handbook of Terminology, 4], ► pp. 408 ff. DOI logo

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