Abstract EN:

This computer-based analysis of a corpus made up of French dialectal texts (1911-1997) identifies systematic approaches to spelling in which variation has a specific function. The spelling systems of the authors studied here, whose aim is to design systems that are contrastive (through orthographical, phonological and lexical contrastivity), function through an interaction with the usual spelling norms of standard French. Beyond their differences, these texts all share common features : their two main modes of operation are orthographical dialectalisation in which the operations both of differentiation and of assimilation confer upon the written form its particular dialectal identity; and the dosing of patois forms, in which careful control of variation allows the author to ensure that his text can be read and easily understood. The dynamics of these written systems is based both on oral registers (noting the spoken language) and on written registers (the conventions of written language), which should be taken together with social representations.