What Is the Académie Française?

On February 7, 1639, the Academie Française began the Dictionary of French Language. From the article:

"The Académie Française, often shortened and simply called l'Académie, is an organization which moderates the French language. The primary role of the Académie Française is to regulate the French language by determining standards of acceptable grammar and vocabulary, as well as adapting to linguistic change by adding new words and updating the meanings of existing ones. Due to the status of English in the world, the Académie's task tends to be focused on lessening the influx of English terms into French by choosing or inventing French equivalents.

Officially, the Article 24 outlines that "The primary function of the Académie will be to work, with all possible care and diligence, to give our language definite rules and to make it pure, eloquent, and capable of dealing with art and science."

The Académie fulfills this mission by publishing an official dictionary and by working with French terminological committees and other specialized organizations. Strangely, the dictionary is not sold to the general public, so the Académie's work must be incorporated into society by the creation of laws and regulations by the above-mentioned organizations.

Perhaps the most notorious example of this occurred when the Académie chose the official translation of "email." Obviously, this is all done with the expectation that French speakers will take these new regulations into consideration, and in this way, a common linguistic heritage can theoretically be maintained among French speakers around the world. In reality, this is not always the case.

History, Evolution, and Membership
The Académie Française was created by Cardinal Richelieu under Louis XIII in 1635, and the first Dictionnaire de l'Académie rançaise was published in 1694 with 18,000 terms. The most recent complete edition, the 8th, was finished in 1935 and contains 35,000 words. The next edition is currently underway. Volumes I and II were published in 1992 and 2000, respectively, and between them cover A to Mappemonde. When complete, the 9th edition of the Académie's dictionary will include approximately 60,000 words. It's important to note that this is not a definitive dictionary, as it generally excludes archaic, offensive, slang, specialized and regional vocabulary.

The secondary mission of the Académie Française is that of linguistic and literary patronage. This was not part of the original purpose of l'Académie, but thanks to grants and bequests, the Académie now offers about 70 literary prizes per year. It also awards scholarships and subsidies to literary and scientific societies, charities, large families, widows, underprivileged persons and those who have distinguished themselves by courageous acts.

Peer-elected Members
Essentially a linguistic jury, the Académie française is a group of 40 peer-elected members, commonly known as "Les Immortels" or "les Quarante." Being chosen as an Immortel is considered a supreme honor and, except in extreme cases, is a life-long commitment.

Since the creation of l'Académie Française, there have been more than 700 Immortels who were chosen for their creativity, talent, intelligence and, of course, particular linguistic adeptness. This range of authors, poets, theater people, philosophers, doctors, scientists, ethnologists, art critics, soldiers, statesmen and churchmen assembles at l'Académie into a unique group of people who make decisions on how French words should be used by analyzing how they actually are, creating new terms, and determining the beneficiaries of the various awards, scholarships, and subsidies.

In October 2011, the Académie launched an interactive feature called Dire, Ne pas dire on their website in the hopes of bringing pure French to the cyber masses."