The dynamics of the circumflex usage in French in the 18th century (based on the literary works)

The 18th century in France became the century when normalization and standardization of the French language finally gained ground, the first dictionaries and grammar books were printed while the scholars continued discussing the current questions of the French language and arguing on them. The article touches upon one of these questions which considers normalization of the circumflex usage throughout the 18th century and its former and current functions. We present the results of our research based on scrutinizing some literary works of the beginning, the middle and the end of the 18th century in an attempt to trace the dynamics of the circumflex usage. We also focus on the historical background of the circumflex functions performed in the lexis we have encountered in the works. It eventually appears that the use (or, on the contrary, absence) of the circumflex was unreasonable due to some changes in pronunciation that had been taking pace. The need for spelling reforms was clearly seen. We have tracked down how fast the conducted reforms penetrated the written language and settled in. The results of our research are presented in the table.