Comparative Lexicon of the Language of Molière and the Writers of the Seventeenth Century

Génin, F. (François), 1803-1856Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4
Word count
1.2M words
Chapters
120

Tags

Foreign Language Books Language and Writing Dramatic LanguageLiterary GiantsAcademic StudyLiterary CriticismLinguistic ResearchEclectic ReadingFrench Literature

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. Lexique comparé de la langue de Molière et des écrivains du XVIIe siècle by Génin. Author: Génin, F. (François), 1803-1856. Language: French. Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese. Release Date: Oct 21, 2016.

Editor's review

This is a comparative lexicographical work written in French. Génin compares Molière's vocabulary with that of other seventeenth-century writers, tracing the similarities, differences, and evolution of classical French at the lexical level. Published as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg, it preserves the original dictionary-style arrangement, with dense entries and concrete examples, making it suitable for reference rather than continuous reading. Its value lies in providing a lexical reference for studying the language of Molière's plays and in helping readers observe the norms and variants of seventeenth-century French usage. When reading, it is best to consult it alongside specific scenes from the plays and to note the author's distinctions among subtle shades of meaning. For researchers in French classical literature and language history, it is a primary source that can be cited directly; for general readers the threshold is higher, requiring some command of French and patience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Use it as a reference work: read the preface first to understand the arrangement, then look up entries.
  2. Consult it alongside the original text of Molière's plays, putting entries and examples back into their dramatic context.
  3. Keep a French notebook of typical entries and compare how the same word is used by different writers.
  4. There is no need to read the whole book; select entries relevant to your research question and build up notes by topic.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

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FAQ

Is this book suitable for French beginners? Not very. The whole book is a French scholarly work in dictionary form with dense examples, requiring good French reading ability and a background in classical literature. Beginners should first build their language foundation, then use it as a reference tool.
Is this book meant to be read through or consulted? It is better suited to consultation. It compares Molière's and seventeenth-century writers' usage in entry form, structured like a dictionary, so readers can look up specific words as needed or focus on entries related to a particular play rather than reading from start to finish.
Does the Project Gutenberg edition have notes or an introduction? This is a free electronic text that mainly preserves the original content and adds no scholarly introduction or modern notes. For a research edition, look for a print or academic database version with textual collation and commentary.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Génin, F. (François), 1803-1856 Author

François Génin (1803–1856) was a French scholar of language, whose name also appears in Chinese sources as Re Nan. Public information about his life is limited; he is known chiefly for his research on the history of French and on the vocabulary of classical French. His representative work, a comparative lexicon of the language of Molière and seventeenth-century writers, examines the word usage of Molière and his contemporaries, revealing through careful comparison the actual features of seventeenth-century French. His other book, on the variations of the French language since the twelfth century, traces the evolution of French from the medieval period onward from a diachronic perspective. Both works rely on the empirical study of linguistic material, are rigorous in method, and are still consulted by scholars of French language history and of Molière.