Le vocabulaire technique en latin médiéval, entre mythe et réalité

Abstract

How can lexicographers deal with words relevant to a field of study in which they do not have expertise ? As an attempt to answer this question, we examined the concept of „ specialisation” : what is what we commonly call „ technical language”, and did there exist such a notion in medieval Latin ? As a result of the present study, three main conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, the same terms were employed to account for the differences between general and „ special” languages. Secondly, the only groups of „ technical” speakers mentioned in our texts are exclusively related to the education. Thirdly, our confused lexicographic practice results in serious difficulties of digitising medieval Latin dictionaries.