Entre la force d’intercourse et l’esprit de clocher : l’intercompréhension en langues romanes comme outil théorico-méthodologique pour l’enseignement et l’apprentissage de l’ancien français
Francisco Calvo del Olmo
Descriere autor:
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität of Munich, Department of Romance Philology
E-mail:
E-mail personal autor:
f.olmo@lmu.de
9
Rubrica:
Studii culturale
Between the “force d’intercourse” and the “esprit de clocher”: Intercomprehension in Romance languages as a theoretical-methodological tool for teaching and learning Old French
Abstract: This article aims to examine the bases that Romance linguistics can provide for language didactics, while mobilizing the potential of intercomprehension (mutual intelligibility) between parent languages. Firstly, we review the process by which modern Romance languages developed from the continuum of vernaculars during the Middle Ages. Secondly, we present intercomprehension, an ancestral practice that has been developed as a didactic approach in recent years. These elements then enable us to sketch out a theoretical-methodological crossroads that propose the reading of Old French texts through comparison and help from current Romance languages. In addition, we examine a sample of lexical examples from the Vie de Saint Alexis, one of the earliest literary attestations in the Gallo-Roman area, to illustrate the relationship between Old French and each of the other languages of the neolatin family. In this way, we hope to highlight the potential of our approach in a perspective of plural and integrated language education. In this way, the implementation of this approach can transform an Old French course into a lesson in Romance linguistics.
Keywords: Intercomprehension, old French, history of language, metalinguistic reflection
Citation suggestion: Calvo del Olmo, Francisco. “Entre la force d’intercourse et l’esprit de clocher : l’intercompréhension en langues romanes comme outil théorico-méthodologique pour l’enseignement et l’apprentissage de l’ancien français”. Transilvania, no. 9(2025): 17-25.
https://doi.org/10.51391/trva.2025.9.03.
Abeillé, Anne, and Danièle Godard. La grande grammaire du français, vol 1 [The great grammar of French, vol 1.]. Arles: Actes Sud, 2021.
Benavente, Susana, et al. Voyage en langues romanes [A journey in Romance languages]. Paris: Didier, 2024.
Bähler, Ursula. Gaston Paris et la philologie romane [Gaston Paris and Romance philology]. (Genève: Droz, 2004).
Calvo del Olmo, Francisco. “‘Il futuro ha un cuore antico’: parcours historique des discours sur l’intercompréhension entre langues romanes” [“Il futuro ha un cuore antico”: historical discourses on intercomprehension between Romance languages]. Revue des Langues Romanes 123 (2019): 123–145.
Cerquiglini, Bernard. La langue anglaise n’existe pas. C’est du français mal prononcé [English language don’t exist: it is mispronounced French]. Paris: Gallimard, 2024.
Ciorănescu, Alexandru. Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române [Etymological dictionary of the Romanian language]. Bucharest: Editura Saeculum, 2007.
Glessgen, Martin. Linguistique romane. Domaine et méthodes en linguistique française et romane [Romance linguistics. Fields and methods in French and Romance linguistics]. (Paris: Armand Colin, 2012).
Hélix, Laurence. L’ancien français – Morphologie, syntaxe et phonétique [Old French – Morphology, syntax and phonetics]. Paris: Armand Colin, 2018.
Paris, Gaston. La Vie de Saint Alexis. Poème du Xie siècle [The Life of Saint Alexis. Poem from the 10th century]. Paris, 1885. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k63263c/f2.item.
Renzi, Lorenzo, Giampaolo Salvi and Anna Cardinaletti. Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione.vol.1 [Great Italian reference grammar.vol.1]. Bologna: il Mulino 1988.
Saussure, Ferdinand de. Cours de linguistique générale [Course in General Linguistics]. Paris: Payot, 2016.
Teyssier, Paul. Comprendre les langues romanes. Du français à l’espagnol, au portugais, à l’italien et au roumain [Understanding Romance languages. From French to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Romanian]. Paris: Chandeigne, 2012.
Tuaillon, Gascon. La littérature en francoprovençal avant 1700 [Literature in Franco-Provençal before 1700]. Grenoble: ELLUG, 2001.
Ronjat, Jules. Essai de syntaxe des parlers provençaux modernes [An essay on the syntax of modern Provençal]. Mâcon: Protat frères, 1913.
Ungureanu, Dan. Historia limbii române [History of the Romanian language]. Bucarest: Cartier, 2024.

