Title: The golden mean of languages : forging Dutch and French in the early modern low countries (1540-1620) /
Authors: Haar, Alisa van de
Year: 2019
Subjects: Multilingualism Netherlands History; Languages in contact Netherlands History; Dutch language History; French language Netherlands History; Dutch language; French language; Multilingualism; Netherlands
Abstract: "In The Golden Mean of Languages, Alisa van de Haar sheds new light on the debates regarding the form and status of the vernacular in the early modern Low Countries, where both Dutch and French were local tongues. The fascination with the history, grammar, spelling, and vocabulary of Dutch and French has been studied mainly from monolingual perspectives tracing the development towards modern Dutch or French. Van de Haar shows that the discussions on these languages were rooted in multilingual environments, in particular in French schools, Calvinist churches, printing houses, and chambers of rhetoric. The proposals that were formulated there to forge Dutch and French into useful forms were not directed solely at uniformization but were much more diverse"--
Contents: Introduction: fascinating multilingualism -- The multilingual low countries -- Trending topics in European language reflection -- French schools -- Calvinist churches -- Printing houses -- Chambers of rhetoric -- Conclusions.