La Belle et la Bête

Abstract

The aim of this research is to assess, quantitatively and qualitatively, the aesthetic judgments passed on languages in the French and German-speaking parts of Switzerland. The focus will be on attitudes toward the informant's own language(s) as well as other languages, such as Italian, Romansh, High German, Spanish, Dutch, Latin, English or any other languages that the informants encountered during their lifetime. Judgments about languages are always part of an aesthetic linguistic universe; that is, they are not autonomous but form a system. Attitudes are learnt and therefore shaped by an individual' s cultural background.