From Lesce to Ljubljana in French: Linguistic Customs of the Nobility of Carniola in the First Half of the 18th Century

Abstract

Linguistic customs of the nobility of Kranjska did not merely have the communicational function, but also social and cultural connotations. The use of words, expressions, sentences, or even whole texts in languages normally not used on everyday basis – such as French, for instance – acted as a social and cultural indicator. An analysis of the nobility’s private libraries shows that even though most of their books had been written in Latin, German was still the primary language. It was also the leading language used in correspondence. A comparison with the situation half a century earlier shows a significant increase in the use of French, which points to the fact that the elite started to open up to cultural influences from abroad. The use of French in correspondence and the usage of French words in marking objects of daily use revealed its significant social and cultural functions. Slovene, on the other hand, served for transmission of everyday, trivial messages and possibly for expressing regressive psychological conditions. Examined are also the language use and the variability of the language code within a family.