The historic study of language sciences constitutes a relatively new field which has undergone very significant changes over the last forty years. Although this discipline is now widely taught, up until now there has been no reliable study of the issues and problems dealt with by specialists. This work was written in the hope of bridging that gap.
Its chronological approach centres around several outstanding moments that have marked the development of ideas about language and languages since antiquity – moments highlighted by the invention of concepts, models, theories and technical objects (grammar books and dictionaries) whose transmission, circulation, successive reorganization and occasional disappearance are successively presented in this book.
Inasmuch as grasping these developments implies an understanding of the function of the function of societies as well as the structure of knowledge, this history is based upon external viewpoints (anthropological, sociological, etc.) and an epistemological perspective.

Bernard Colombat is a Professor of Language Sciences at Université Paris 7.

Jean-Marie Fournier is a Senior Lecturer at Université Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle.

Christian Puech is a Professor of Language Sciences at Université Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle.