An enlightenment linguistics: comments on Rousseau’s “Essay on the Origin of Languages”

Abstract

With the aim of outlining a consistent set of comments on the “Essay on the Origin of Languages” (Rousseau, 2008), in a revisionist-analytical tone, the possibility of contributing to the history of linguistic ideas is revealed, through the scope the target of this article. Therefore, when aiming for a destination, it is believed, in order to meet it, to follow another, consequently, which is not done without the necessary appreciative trace. Thus, to fulfill the design outlined for this text, there is a section, Rousseau's linguistic ideas: a critical panorama, in which the Enlightenment philosopher's cardinal conceptions about language and language are exposed and problematized according to more current perspectives of language sciences. Finally, it is in the Final Considerations that we verify the possible contributions regarding the path taken and possible new openings for other investigations on the same subject that can be summarized, beyond the horizon outlined and reached here, in the observation that there is a small and condensed study of historical ideas about a multiplicity of topics relevant to beginners both in the world of language sciences and in adjacent areas within this investigation. In other words, new examinations are suggested in works both from the same period and from previous moments in search of perceptions different from those that currently constitute the bulk of common sense, as Jean-Jacques did very well in “Essay on the Origin of Languages” Rousseau.