Désuétude et mots figés : quand les mots désuets et les sens vieillis ne disparaissent pas
Obsolete and fixed words: when obsolete words and ages senses do not disappear

Summary/Abstract: The words we use today reflect the history of our generation, just as those linked to a past context can bear its imprints. In any period, the words or expressions that we use are the mirror of our experience and our time. The fact remains that language has a memory. It certainly evolves at our own pace but sometimes retains turns that send us back to old uses. These are so called survivals when the word lost in usual use remains in a form isolated from the rest of the paradigm or when it is main tained in a fixed expression which refers to an often enigmatic meaning because the word in question is unknown to the contemporary lexicon. These expressions are studied here in order to understand their connotations in the current language and to analyze the hidden meanings of the obsolete forms that compose them.

• Details
• Contents