The Sounds, Forms, and Places of French Across Time: A Critical History of the French Language

A multisensory history of the French language. To foster discussions on the cultural, musical, literary, and epistemological relevance of producing historical linguistic knowledge, we will review the documents and monuments of the history of French, once a regional variation of Latin that turned into a global language. Our overview will include examples such as the spelling "errors" of the Latin graffiti of Pompeii, medieval French poems written in Hebrew script, plurals in "-aux", linguistic innovation in literature from Québec, Martinique, and Maghreb, and contemporary debates on Franco-Malian artist Aya Nakamura's songs.