One of my main goals in this
project was to study the nature of the language used in
L’Encyclopédie, and I thought it might be interesting to consult a
period French dictionary in doing so.
Randle
Cotgrave published
Cotgrave’s French
Dictionary in 1673, which was about 100 years before the
L’Encyclopédie. According to
Wikisource, Cotgrave published
multiple editions of the dictionary, starting in the year 1611 and ending with
the edition in my possession, which was revised and edited by James Howell. Although
it might be more accurate to work with a dictionary published closer to the
time of Diderot and d’Alembert, this dictionary gives a thorough overview of
both old French terms and general language structure.
bulk of the work was
done for
The
dictionary starts with a section on French grammar, which Howell deems is
necessary because starting a dictionary without first addressing grammar would
be as if one were “to make the building precede the basis.” Further, having
knowledge of the use of words in context will make the task of understanding
those words much more reasonable. The first section, Of the French Letters,
begins with the proclamation that the “English [alphabet] hath two letters, K
and W, more than the French, which consists of 22 only, viz. A, B, C, D, E, F,
G, H, I, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Y, Z.” What? This statement not only
asserts that the French (in 1673, at least) did not use the letters K and W,
but also that neither French nor English at the time used the letters J or U!
These two letters are missing from the list of 22 “French letters” provided by
Howell, which, with the addition of K and W, is implied to be the English
alphabet of the time, too.
“French
is a hungry language, for it devours more consonant than any other, which makes
his speaking and writing to differ so much as doth his singing and writing,”
explains Howell in a section concerning consonants. Aside from the fact that I
really like his use of colorful language in describing French as a “hungry
language,” I agree with Howell’s observation. In my own experience, I have found that
speaking French requires the distinct pronunciation of many consonant sounds
that are difficult to English speakers. Learning how to move your and use your
mouth and voice box to create the appropriate inflections and consonant sounds
is challenging. From there, Howell goes through the French pronunciation of
particular letters sounds, explaining how certain letters behave in different
contexts of the language. For example, “X is pronounced in French as in
English, but in these and all other numerical words it is pronounced like Z…[as
in] deuxieme, the second.” What
follows is a lengthy description of everything from the future perfect tense to
the “syntaxis of nouns”, the detail of which is astonishing. In eight years of
formal French study, I have never come across such a thorough explanation of
French grammar and all that it encompasses (though I probably could have used
it while studying for some tests).
Then, after a few
letters to various public officials (some Lords, some Earls), the entries
begin. Frankly, it looks like a pretty standard dictionary; observing the words
and phrases included is fascinating nonetheless. There are so many period terms
that I have never heard of, like the verb “fossailler”, which means “to ditch
it; to make a pit or ditch.”
Studying
Cotgrave’s dictionary was an interesting side project, but next I plan to
explore some of the planche editions
of L’Encyclopédie, which include
diagrams and illustrations that accompany the main texts.
