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Materialisme et linguistique chez Leopardi

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SUMMARYIn several of his letters Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837), much better known as a poet and a man of letters than as a linguist, says that he is writing a book on the theory and history of language. Its title should have been Paralelo delle cinque lingue. As it happens, he did not write the book, but left a considerable number of notes in his intellectual diary, the Zibaldone, which he kept from 1817 to 1832. The paper investigates the relationship between Leopardi's linguistic theory and his materialistic philosophy. Leopardi, who was acquainted with the theories of Locke, Condillac, and Destutt de Tracy, envisaged the formation of words as an inseparable part of the formation of ideas as derived from senses. In this respect, sensationalist knowledge and general theory of language share the same object: the philosophical and materialistic history of mind. In this language plays a very important role. The paper examines Leopardi's notes in Zibaldone where he explains to what extent the materiality of the verbal sign helps in calculations, in memory, and even in the formation of spiritual and abstract ideas.RESUMEGiacomo Leopardi (1798-1837), bien plus connu comme poete et homme de lettres que comme linguiste, dit dans plusieurs de ses lettres qu'il est en train d'ecrire un livre sur la theorie et l'histoire du langage. Le titre en devait etre: Parallelo delle cinque lingue. En fait, Leopardi ne redigea pas l'ouvrage en question, mais il laissa un nombre considerable de notes dans son Zibaldone, journal intellectuel qu'il tint de 1817 a 1832. Notre article etudie les relations entre la theorie linguistique de Leopardi et sa philosophie materialiste. Leopardi, qui connaissait les theories de Locke, Condillac et Destutt de Tracy, envisageait la formation des mots comme une partie, inseparable, de la formation des idees en tant que derivant des sensations. A cet egard, le sensualisme et la theorie generale du langage partagent le meme object: l'histoire philosophique et materialiste de l'esprit. Dans cette histoire, le langage joue un role tres important. Nous examinons ici les notes de Leopardi dans son Zibaldone, expliquant dans quelle mesure la materialite du signe verbal constitue une aide pour le calcul, la memoire et meme les idees spirituelles et abstraites.