Statut linguistique et gestion de la variation graphique - article ; n°1 ; vol.108, pg 10-17

Langue française - Année 1995 - Volume 108 - Numéro 1 - Pages 10-17
R. HONVAULT : The Linguistic Status and the Management of Orthographical Variation What makes language unique is the fact that, despite the heterogeneous nature of its realised forms, its structures remain fundamentally homogeneous. The status of variation is to be found in all sectors of the language, both spoken and written. There are phonetic and phonemic variants, lexical and syntactic variants, grammatical variants, variants of speech register, orthographical and typographical variants. In written language, variation is linked to the principles that underlie writing systems in general, and to the notion of invariants. It can be found at various functional levels : I. In the use of writing principles ; II. Graphemic and morphonographic variation ; III. Functional variation linked to the polyvalent nature of certain graphemes ; IV. Variation and Page Layout (especially in dictionaries). Variation appears just as much in total as in partial homonymy. It is a factor that encourages flexibility and progress, because it helps the management of language development.
8 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.