Du discours au discours par l'usage : pour une problématique de l'exemple - article ; n°1 ; vol.106, pg 95-120

Langue française - Année 1995 - Volume 106 - Numéro 1 - Pages 95-120
Alain REY : Towards a problematics of the example. Starting from a selection of texts and/or spoken language, dictionaries cannot but extract (exemplum), show or illustrate (paradigma), and quote (citatio) phrases and sentences that are supposed to represent a language ; in fact they construct an ideal state of language properly called a norm. Examples and illustrations in dictionaries constitute the core of their more or less creative aspect in politics. With definitions and semantic analysis which are often inspired by examples, illustration and quotation form their main witnesses of cultural ideology. French lexicography, in particular, is linked to social and cultural values as these are embodied in literature, which comprises in fact only a very small part of the total speech (Saussurean « parole ») in a language. Thus, the choice of examples dictionaries make is one of the best possible ways to understand how a society chooses to construct its own linguistic model and norm.
26 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.