The lexical dynamics in Civil Law: a look at the terminology of institutions celebrating and registering official marriages in France throughout the centuries

Abstract

This article focuses on the terminology designating the places where French official marriages were celebrated and registered throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. First, the concepts of terminology, special language, term, neology and necrology are presented. Some questions related to the socio-cultural aspects that can influence the evolution of languages and special languages, are also discussed. Then, the methodology adopted in this study from a diachronic perspective is exposed. After doing this, the evolution of this terminology are analyzed, relating it to socio-cultural and historical aspects of France.