Revue de Linguistique Romane

Revue de Linguistique Romane
Title	Revue de Linguistique Romane
Discipline	Romance linguistics
Language	French

Revue de Linguistique Romane is a specialized scholarly periodical devoted to the historical and comparative study of Romance languages, dialects, philology, and textual traditions. Founded in the late 19th century in France, it has intersected with major figures and institutions in European linguistics and Romance studies, maintaining ties to universities, academies, and research institutes across Europe and the Americas. The journal has served as a forum connecting scholars working on Romance philology, comparative grammar, textual criticism, and onomastics.

History

The journal emerged amid intellectual currents associated with Jules Guesde-era academic reform and the philological revival that involved scholars from Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, École pratique des hautes études, and Collège de France. Early contributors included comparativists influenced by Franz Bopp, adherents of the comparative method such as Julius Pokorny, and Romance specialists following the work of Frédéric Godefroy and Gustave Guillaume. Over decades the periodical documented debates linked to the methodologies of Neogrammarians and figures like Hermann Paul, while publishing research from contributors associated with University of Paris, University of Bologna, University of Salamanca, University of Lisbon, and University of Geneva. During the interwar years it engaged with scholarship connected to Émile Benveniste, Antoine Meillet, and Charles Bally. Later editorial boards included scholars from Sorbonne University, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Universidade de Coimbra, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Harvard University.

Scope and Focus

The journal concentrates on comparative Romance phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicography, and textual criticism, publishing work on languages such as French language, Spanish language, Portuguese language, Italian language, Catalan language, Romanian language, Occitan language, Galician language, and Sardinian language. It addresses historical linguistics topics related to figures like August Schleicher, Jacob Grimm, and Rasmus Rask while paralleling studies influenced by Noam Chomsky and Joseph Greenberg in typology. The periodical supports philological editions of medieval texts connected to manuscripts held at Bibliothèque nationale de France, Vatican Library, British Library, Biblioteca Nacional de España, and Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze; it also publishes studies of onomastics and toponymy referencing work from Émile Littré, Henri Lavagne, and Max Vasmer. The scope includes comparative Romance dialectology with fieldwork traditions linked to Fritz Neurath, Camille Lévi-Strauss, and regional institutes such as Institut d'Estudis Catalans.

Editorial Organization

Editorial functions have historically been distributed among editorial boards drawn from learned societies including Société de Linguistique de Paris, Real Academia Española, Accademia della Crusca, Academia Română, and Portuguese Academy of History. Managing editors have included scholars affiliated with École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Institute for Catalan Studies, and universities such as University of Zurich and University of Leiden. Peer review protocols align with practices common to journals tied to International Association for Historical Linguistics, Modern Language Association, and European Society of Comparative Linguistics. Special issues have been guest-edited by researchers associated with Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Friedrich Meinecke Institut, Institute for Advanced Study, and Institute for Romance Philology.

Publication Details

The journal has appeared as a printed quarterly and as part of monographic series in collaboration with publishers like Presses Universitaires de France, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Brill Publishers, and De Gruyter. ISSN and cataloging metadata are managed through libraries including Bibliothèque nationale de France, Library of Congress, British Library, and international aggregators such as JSTOR and Project MUSE. Distribution networks connect to university libraries at University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, Yale University, Stanford University, Universität Wien, and Universidade de São Paulo. The format has evolved to include digital back issues, indexing in citation services like Scopus and Web of Science, and listings in bibliographies maintained by International Medieval Bibliography.

Notable Articles and Contributions

The journal has published influential articles on the vocalism of Vulgar Latin referencing scholars like Alfred Ernout, studies on the palatalization processes discussed by Giuseppe Ragazzini, and articles on syntactic change that dialogued with work by Lucien Tesnière and Émile Benveniste. Seminal contributions addressed the history of Romance verb systems in conversation with Louis Hjelmslev and André Martinet; comparative lexicography papers engaged with J. M. Armando and Roman Jakobson. It has printed critical editions and commentary on medieval texts associated with editors who worked on the Chanson de Roland, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Divina Commedia, Cantar de mio Cid, and Libro de Buen Amor. The journal also featured dialect atlases and fieldwork reports connected to projects led by Fridolin Heer's successors, and articles on language contact involving scholars from University of Buenos Aires and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Reception and Impact

Scholars in Romance studies, comparative philology, and medieval studies—affiliated with institutions such as Princeton University, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, McGill University, and Australian National University—have cited the journal for methodological contributions to historical phonology and textual criticism. Reviews in venues like Modern Language Review, Speculum, and Language have assessed its role in debates pioneered by Ernest Renan, Ferdinand de Saussure, and Émile Durkheim-era intellectual histories. The journal's impact is visible in curricula at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, influence on reference works like Oxford Latin Dictionary and Diccionario de la Real Academia Española, and citations in monographs published by Harvard University Press, Princeton University Press, and Routledge.

Category:Linguistics journals