Cross-historical and cross-geographical study of the concept of 'patois' in the Francophonie

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18H00668
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02060:Linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Aichi Prefectural University (2020-2022); Nagoya City University (2018-2019)
• Principal Investigator: SANO Naoko 愛知県立大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (30326160)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 糟谷 啓介 一橋大学, 大学院言語社会研究科, 特任教授 (10192535) ; 石部 尚登 日本大学, 理工学部, 准教授 (70579127) ; 佐野 彩 上智大学, 外国語学部, 研究員 (10910523)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: パトワ / 「言語」概念 / 方言 / 概念の歴史的変容 / 概念の地域差

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study reveals two points. First, the concept of 'patois', which had indicated unintelligible vocalisations (including individuals and animals) in the 15th century, was transformed into a concept to name 'crude' or 'broken' linguistic behaviors that deviated from the 'living language' norm when the 'living (e.g. French) / dead (e.g. Latin)' distinction was introduced for 'language (langue)' in the 17th century, and that it became widely established. Secondly, when the concept of 'patois' attempted to diffuse into the border regions of the French-speaking world, various acceptations (or rejections) occurred, including its properisation as a linguistic designation (Francoprovencal region), its conceptualisation as a 'dialect' (Belgium) and its rejection as a pejorative designation (Catalan region).

Free Research Field

社会言語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年、社会言語学の分野において、ソシュール以来の「言語」概念の体系性などが疑念に付され、「言語」という枠組みを超える人々の言語行動をどのように分析するか、という議論が盛んになっている。その中で、フランス語圏で「言語」の対概念として成立した「パトワ」概念の形成と歴史的変遷、地域ごとの変異を明らかにすることで、「言語」概念自体の揺らぎと政治性と問い直すことが可能になる。