| Abstract: | Although Richard fitz Nigel's Dialogus de scaccario (Dialogue of the Exchequer) has received extensive critical attention as a source for fiscal and governmental history, its importance in relation to twelfth-century perceptions of vernacularity has been largely overlooked. Richard's work incorporates a novel and sophisticated treatment of the interaction between Latin and the vernacular languages which is integral to the success of his historical project. The source of Richard's linguistic innovation is paradoxically located in a valorisation of patrimonial heritage: in using language history to trace, shape and reify the distinguished past achievements of his own family, Richard constructs Latin etymologies which simultaneously explore the development of the vernaculars, particularly French. This presentation of etymology as genealogy enables the supple and subjective qualities of philology to be exploited both as a witness to the past and to the glory of the Norman present. |
