Liepājas Centrālās zinātniskās bibliotēkas Vecbibliotēkas fonda 17.–19. gadsimta franču valodas vārdnīcas

From the 17th century onwards, the French language dominated international communication and the exchange of current information within educated Europe, strengthening its position in the 18th century with the spread of Enlightenment ideas. The importance of French literature of this period can also be seen by observing the shelves of libraries. In the range of resources offered by the reading library of the city of Liepāja, founded in 1777, books in French occupy second place (second only to books in German, which was the dominant language of the educated part of society at the time studied) according to their number, including those intended for language learning: grammars, reading books, phrasebooks, and other dictionaries. The article studies and analyses the range of 17th–19th centuries monolingual French dictionaries, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries with a French section from the collection of the Liepāja library, a total of 20 units. The research area chronologically covers the period from the oldest dictionary, published in 1674, to the last dictionary, published in 1847. In the context of the study, the status and place of the French language in international circulation and on the local scale of Courland are discussed to study what the mentioned dictionaries say about the social and cultural space of Liepāja. The research does not belong to the field of lexicography, as it does not offer an analysis of dictionary creation methods; it focuses on social and cultural practices possibly linked to the use of dictionaries and uses research methods of intellectual history and cultural transfer. The research results reflect the development trends of language use in Liepāja and provide insight into the interaction of the French language with other languages. Monolingual dictionaries, French sections of bilingual and multilingual dictionaries integrate specific elite cultural knowledge and emphasise accuracy of expression. Travellers’ dictionaries show the importance of mobility and communication with European French-speaking elites, but the dynamic rhythm of Liepāja, a port city, is illustrated by dictionaries for businessmen and sailors, in which the French language is not predominant, but is only one of the possible means of communication.