Sur quelques mots des premiers écrits d’Henri Michaux
On a Few Words of Henri Michaux’s Early Works

Summary/Abstract: In this essay I examine a few words (Belgian French, onomatopoeia, rare words, neologisms) that Henri Michaux used in his early works and that are interesting for historical and geographical lexicography. Among the Belgian French expressions, he used s’encourir and aller à messe. For the particular meaning of the word crochet in boxing, he is the oldest witness. Onomatopoeia pf et csi are also noteworthy for their significance. By studying the words like anaffectivité, comptomètre, omninescient or nutétisme, I show that the words that are absent from dictionaries (Trésor de la langue française, Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch) need to be carefully considered. Henri Michaux’s vocabulary deserves further lexicographical study.

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