It is, strictly speaking, the work of a life, that of a philologist passionate about the history of French. Frédéric Godefroy, born in 1826, died in 1897, devoted his life to going through old manuscripts, to scouring libraries, to going through public and private archives. All with one obsession: to develop a herculean Dictionary of the old French language and all its dialects from the 9th century in the 15th century, work composed of countless entries and still celebrated today.
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And yet, Godefroy did not list all of the words that he was able to unearth in the thousands of texts in which he immersed himself. Only those which, in the meantime, had disappeared or whose meaning had changed, were placed there. Which did not prevent him from delivering no less than… 10 volumes! And their consultation is worth the detour.
Did you know, for example, that in those ancient times a “beer” (without accent) designated a litter or a stretcher? That “abandonment” was synonymous with discretion? That “raise” was enough to mean resurrect? That “passible” should be interpreted as subject to passions?
Let’s continue. A “billiard” was then a stick; a “destroit”, a narrow prison; a “repugnance”, a struggle or opposition. “Heard” meant attention, while “heard” meant attentive. As for verbs, “acropir” (“squat”) was used to degrade; “to doubt”, to fear; “offend”, to obscure.
“Embouger”, “enhucheler”, “enchestoirier”…
The bulk of Godefroy’s dictionary is, however, devoted not to terms whose meaning has evolved, but to words which have disappeared in body and possessions. And, there again, we find real gems. Failing to be exhaustive, I have only noted here examples concerning the single letter e. “Move”? Add pockets to a suit. “Embriever”? Write down, record, inscribe. “Kiss”? Ignite. “Enhucheler”? Lock up. “Entomir”? To numb, to stun. “To get stuck”? Get sad. A “bottleneck”? A sudden arrival. An “engulfment”? A mouthpiece.
Also know that in those ancient times we did not get irritated, we would “get bored”; we were not rejoicing, we were “getting stuck”; one was not desirous, but “entalenti” or “entalentif”; we didn’t harass each other, we “encouraged each other”; we were solving not an enigma, but an “enigma”. Don’t you dare confuse “s’entradosser” (“to unite”) with “s’entradrecier” (“to move against each other”). As for “interfering with each other”, which today would sound a little ridiculous to our ears, it was a noble notion consisting of making a mutual promise to each other.
In those ancient times, we also obviously had a weakness for words beginning with “entre”, as evidenced by this (partial) list: “entrecourager”, “entredesirer”, “entredeviser” (“to speak intimately”), “entredesarçoner” , “entrefiancier”, “entregrogner”, “entremescorder” (“disagree while singing”!), “entresolacier” (“rejoice together”)… It’s very simple: to “entreacointer” (“entreaccointer” (“entreaccointer”) hit each other”, page 279 of volume III) to the adverb “entrevoyes” (“while waiting, in the meantime”, page 305 of the same volume), Godefroy devotes no less than 27 pages to it!
This dive into archaic French is both poetic and fascinating. It also makes it possible to measure the developments of our language at a time when the spelling was not fixed and where everyone could write as they wished. A blessed time when the notion of “spelling error” had not yet been invented…
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Regional language lessons from kindergarten? An excellent idea, assure the specialists!
Although it has been practiced for several decades, this educational method still sometimes causes concern in France. Wrongly, however: it is in fact favored by a majority of linguists.
In Martinique, justice rejects the prefect’s appeal against the co-officialization of Creole
The administrative court of Martinique rejected the prefect’s appeal which requested the suspension of a deliberation recognizing the Creole language as a co-official language alongside French. The decision, however, does not concern the merits. The court simply noted that the article in question was “devoid of any normative significance”, because it “had no other effect than to authorize the president of this assembly to transmit the bill announced”.
The elevator that speaks… Breton
In Cavan, in Côtes-d’Armor, the elevator of the building which houses the association for the promotion of the Breton language Ti ar vro gives the usual indications (“open doors”, “closed doors”) in Breton. An apparently unique model in the world.
Langue d’oc: support Passem 2024
La Passem is a relay race intended to make visible the Occitan language spoken in Gascony and to find funding to transmit it. Its success grows from edition to edition. In 2024, it will travel 1,100 kilometers across five departments in six days and five nights. Here is his precise journey.
Take Picard lessons!
Whatever your level of knowledge of this language, you can progress by following the courses offered by the Picardy Regional Language Agency. Contact : Olivier Engelaere
A conference in Nice on regional languages in public schools
The Federation for Regional Languages in Public Education (Flarep) is organizing a conference in Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) on this theme from October 21 to 23. Objective: to deepen the possibilities for teaching the languages of France offered by the Molac law for the promotion of regional languages.
Algeria drives French out of private schools…
Since the start of the school year, French school programs must no longer be taught in private schools. The Ministry of National Education has in fact put an end to the “double program”, an Algerian specificity allowing students to follow both the Algerian program and the French program.
…Royal Air Maroc abandons it in its planes
Royal Air Maroc cabin crew no longer give instructions in French, but only in Arabic and English. A new illustration of the tensions between Morocco and France.
Say “without station” and no “free floating”
This is the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture when talking about vehicle sharing systems without a docking station which have been flourishing in our cities for several years, whether for bicycles, scooters or cars.
The Dictionary of Hateful Words
Let’s admit it: in the vast lexicon of French, there are words that annoy us. From his personal irritations, Samuel Piquet wrote a book where he singles out “cocooning”, “iconic” and “positive” – three examples among hundreds. The whole thing forms a subjective, gratuitous and often nasty inventory, drawn up however with talent.
Dictionary of hateful words, by Samuel Piquet. Le Cherche Midi, 217 p., €18.90.
TO LISTEN
“India” or “Bharat”? The question of the name of the subcontinent, which the Hindu nationalists in power have just put back on the agenda, is not new. With its three thousand years of history, this country has had several names, reflecting its multicultural identity.
TO WATCH
The moose, a Canadian elk with a… Basque name
This is what we learn in this humorous capsule aimed at raising awareness of the French spoken in Quebec. We also discover that this North American elk was mistakenly spelled “original” in the 1878 edition of the dictionary of the French Academy!
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