This contribution discusses two issues: (a) it provides a definition and an analysis of the term "non-linguist", which is conceptualized as a non-discrete category on a continuum and as an activity rather than as a permanent status, and (b) it discusses the general value of folk linguistic theories, which should not, despite their potential imperfections, be a priori excluded from but rather integrated into the scientific data of linguistics. The article will also present a provisional typology of folk linguistic positions based on recent empirical research on folk linguistics conducted by the author. Finally, a plea is made for a new description of the object of linguistics, incorporating the different varieties and degrees of linguistic knowledge ranging from scientific to folk conceptions. 'Oh, stop calling me Madam, it's so annoying! He never says the things I want to hear, he only says things that get on my nerves' (a second-hand goods dealer, Paris, September 2008, 20th arrondissement; translated from the French) Popular prejudice will eventually prevail over scientific incredulity, and the observations of old wives will get the better of learned theories. When it comes to naive observations, science, by nature excessively overweening, is always one step behind public common sense (Raspail, Histoire de la santé et de la maladie; translated from the French).
Introduction 1Folk linguistics appears to have been fairly comprehensively described and defined, not least in this special issue, but also in international and (later) French research conducted over the course of the last fifteen years. 2 A range of linguistic practices known as folk linguistics (or by various other adjectives, including profane, spontaneous, wild, naive, lay, etc.) are now well-established, and a rich field of research has developed as a result, attracting linguists with an interest in the imaginary and representational productions of speakers (whoever they may be).Following Brekle (1989), a tripartite typology of folk practices in linguistics was presented in Paveau (2000) (1. Descriptions, 2. Prescriptions, 3. Interventions). We are now beginning to understand the wide range of settings in which these practices can be found, as well as the variety of folk activities involving the use or study of language (the press, schools, internet forums, conversation guides, everyday conversations etc.), as illustrated by the papers published in this issue. We are also beginning to understand just what it is that non-linguists (Preston 1992) actually do, and precisely