Abstract
The RIN ConDÉ (Constitution d'un droit européen : six siècles de coutumiers normands) project, financed by the Normandy region, proposes the digitization and enrichment of ten Norman customary law texts, from between the 13th and the 19th century. Thus, this diachronic study promises to shed new light on the long-term evolution of the French language. The contributions in this thematic issue reconsider various linguistic phenomena, such as the use of clitic pronouns and textual organization, in order to refine the chronology of change. The issue also reflects on the role of very large corpora in linguistics, their strengths as well as their limitations.