Les traces des grammaires latine et grecque dans le traitement de l'accent typographique chez les grammairiens et musiciens français vers 1700. (French)

According to the current definition, accent is achieved by one or more of the three parameters which are syllabic length, continuous variation of melodic pitch and intensity. It appears either in the form of a tonic or metric accent, or in the form of an expressive accent in order to emphasize the content of a message or a feeling. However, a long and difficult process, filled with doubts, was needed to arrive at this definition. If the model of extended Latin grammar has long provided a descriptive framework for vernacular languages, for the pronunciation of French, the comparison with ancient languages often proves difficult, for the simple reason that French functions differently from Latin or Greek (see for example the nasals or diphthongs). Not only the quantity, but also the description of the realization of the typographic accent poses problems. When the typographical accents in French were introduced in the 16th century by the printers, one could not simply repeat the Latin model, but the old description had to be filled with a new meaning for French. The problem that arises for grammarians of the 16th century can be formulated as follows: how can we go from one model to another concept, based on different principles while retaining as much as possible of the known and approved framework? In the 17th century, we find not only traces of the ancient model, but we also witness, in particular, the coexistence of old and new explanations. It is interesting in this regard that we find traces of these models also in the compositions of the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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