Le rapport entre langue et musique du point de vue linguistique

Abstract

This article, which aims to bridge the gap between musicology and linguistics, deals with the interactions of language and music. Its starting point is the question of which phonological and especially prosodic characteristics of a language come into play when it is sung, i.e. when it is subject to musical specificities. First, the concept of ‘cantability’ will be critically examined and its essential definitional elements discussed. These form the methodological basis for the musicological and linguistic analysis of opera arias in German, French, and Italian, in the frame of a research project. This project will subsequently be placed in the interdisciplinary context of the cantability of languages, the interaction
of language and music, and the interaction between composer, librettist, and singer.