The Importance of Vocabulary During the French Revolution

   

        On Thursday, February 18, 2010, Phi Alpha Theta presented a lecture by Dr. Michael Fitzsimmons, a specialist in French history and a distinguished research professor at Auburn University-Montgomery. The stated purpose of the event was to examine the vocabulary of the French Revolution. The title of the lecture was, “Vocabulary of Revolution: Political Engagement and Linguistic Change in France, 1789-1799.”

          My expectations before the lecture were to learn about specified words that shaped the French Revolution and their respected meanings. However, Dr. Fitzsimmons directed his lecture towards the writing and publishing of the fifth edition of the French Dictionary. The dictionary, published in 1798, included an added “supplement” that contained new words since the revolution. It was believed this specialized vocabulary, known as the “revolution’s” language, contributed to the chaos of the French Revolution. The twelve editors of the dictionary, who chose to stay anonymous, believed the mixture of the universal French language and the “revolution’s” language is what brought around much pain and strife to the people of France. They used the dictionary as a way to standardize the French language and legitimize the revolution’s language. They not only studied words, but everything that was done with those words. They believed that one language combined with the principals of the revolution would bring about a unified state. There were linguistic wars against the Patois’ language. Dr. Fitzsimmons emphasized on the strong sense of nationalism displayed by many of the powerful political leader. The reason there was so much hostility towards the people who spoke Patois’ is that it signified loyalty to each other instead of loyalty to the nation. The dictionary’s purpose was to establish a lawful republic that once again would be loyal to the French nation.

          I enjoyed learning about the importance of language in other cultures. This specific situation exemplified the difference between the culture of France and the United States. France was trying to unify the nation around language, but here in the US, we tend to revolve our nation more around democratic ideologies. France believed that one language would create a nationalistic spirit within the inhabitants of the country. However, In the US, there are over 300 languages spoken and one can often find the same nationalistic spirit the French strived to achieve.

Waiting on the Lecture to Begin.                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                       Dr. Ftizsimmons in the middle of his lecture.