Re: Une Question

In the reference book "Un point, c'est tout ! La
ponctuation efficace", from Jean-Pierre Colignon
("chef du service correction du journal Le Monde"),
there are 22 (twenty-two) pages about the "guillemets"
(French for "quotes").

First we learn that the name comes from their
inventor, who was called Guillemet, Guimet or maybe
Guillaume.

Then it is said what follows (alas, I have to drop the
accents and figure French quotes as << >>, and I dunno
what will happen to English and German guillemets, but
let's be audacious ):

*En francais, on utilisera, dans l'ordre, les
guillemets... FRANCAIS (= les chevrons: << >> ); puis
les guillemets ANGLAIS (= des paires d'apostrophes,
dont la premiere est formee d'apostrophes a l'envers:
`` '' ); si un troisieme niveau de texte devant etre
mis entre guillemets est interne a la citation entre
guillemets anglais, on recourt aux guillemets
ALLEMANDS (des apostrophes simples, dont la premiere
est a l'envers: ` ' ).

Avec des citations comportant trois niveaux
d'interventions, les differents guillets figureront
comme suit: << ... `` ... `... ' ... '' ... >>. *

The author says among others that "dans un texte
manuscrit ou dactylographie, on souligne ou l'on met
entre guillemets tout ce qui, selon les regles de
l'orthotypographie, doit etre en italique dans un
texte imprime en romain (ou, a l'inverse, ce qui doit
venir en romain dans un texte entierement compose en
italique). Il en sera de meme lorsqu'un caractere
d'imprimerie ne comporte pas la graisse italique."

So, if you haven't any italics around, you should use
the guillemets.

There are 20 more pages on the topic (especially about
the rules in dialogues). I won't quote them all, but
it's all very interesting. I wonder who knows all that
by now.

--- Christophe Grandsire > grumbled :

> I've seen both simple and double quotes in official
> papers, but the rules
> *I* learned said that double quotes were monsters
> imposed on us by
> anglo-saxon computers, i.e. they weren't originally
> part of the French
> punctuation.
>
> So maybe you disagree but what I learned at school
> doesn't fit your views.
> And I have no reason to consider my school was
> wrong...
>
> Christophe Grandsire.
>

=====
Philippe Caquant

"Le langage est source de malentendus."
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

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